Commander Todd Ingram is on the bridge of his ship, the destroyer USS Maxwell, on radar picket duty on a misty, overcast day when four Japanese Val dive bombers emerge screaming from the overcast. The coordinated attack is sudden and devastating, the ship rocked by massive explosions as the bombers hit their target. The concussions hurtle Ingram overboard and he watches in horror as his embattled ship leaves him behind.

Ingram barely lasts the night, clinging to a floating piece of his ship's lifeboat in rough seas. As he begins to lose hope, a periscope cuts through the water and in moments a submarine surfaces nearby. His joy turns to horror as he spots the numbers I-57 on the conning tower. He is now a prisoner of a Japanese U-boat and his troubles have just begun--but so has the race to save him.

A secret U.S. Naval Signal Intelligence Service station in Australia intercepts a situation report from the Commander of the submarine to his superiors in Tokyo--they have an American prisoner, Alton C. Ingram. A strategy is developed by the U.S. Navy and a classified plan put in motion: ensure that the I-57 escapes a net of ASW HUK groups (anti-submarine hunter killer) laying across the sub's path to Lorient, France and ambush it when it reaches shore. But the I-57 has other plans as it dodges depth charges and Allied ships in a deadly game whose outcome may effect the balance of power in a war that threatens to consume them all...

From the Philippine Sea to the Nazi U-boat pens in Lorient, France, The Neptune Strategy is a complex cat and mouse game between the Japanese submarine 1-57 and a U.S. Navy determined to save one of their own and is the most thrilling novel yet by a master of the WWII thriller.

From Publishers Weekly

Gobbell's fourth WWII naval adventure (after When Duty Whispers Low) brings series hero Todd Ingram up to the rank of commander and near the end of the war. Datelined chapters span the months from February to October 1944 and skip from California to Madagascar to France. As Ingram's destroyer, the U.S.S. Maxwell, cuts through the north Pacific, it's attacked by a Japanese dive bomber. Ingram is rescued from the waves, but since it's by the Japanese submarine I-57, his troubles are by no means over. In one sense, Ingram's war is at an end; in another, it's just beginning. A test of wills as well as of physical strength and endurance unfolds for Ingram at the hands of his captors, who run the gamut from humane to sadistic. In nice counterpoint to this plot line is the experience of Capt. Jeremiah "Boom Boom" Landa, of the U.S.S. Morgan. Landa is assigned to a full-tilt espionage adventure (the mission of the title) involving Nazi U-boats, Swiss banks and even a cameo appearance by Arturo Toscanini. Gobbell's robust, colorful prose bears more of a resemblance to that of Patrick O'Brian or C.S. Forester than to the language of the gritty, laconic men-at-war tales the novel otherwise models itself after. The story covers an impressive territory, supplemented by multiple maps and a comprehensive list of characters, identified by ship, location, vocation and nationality. This is a solid addition to Gobbell's developing war chronicle, as much historical fiction as military adventure.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gobbell's protagonist, World War II destroyer officer Todd Ingram, begins this adventure being blown overboard from his ship by a Japanese bomb. His rescuer next morning is a Japanese submarine, which begins an odyssey across the Pacific and into the Indian Ocean. On the way, Ingram endures the frequently brutal treatment the Japanese meted out to POWs, and readers get an uncommonly vivid portrait of the Imperial Japanese navy's little-recorded submarine service in action. Even after he escapes, Ingram's travels aren't over, and code-breaking, historical characters such as Arleigh Burke, Yakuza gold, and a thuggish Nazi out to feather his own nest each play parts in resolving this conflict and preparing Ingram for his next adventure. Gobbell has been reasonably justly compared to W. E. B. Griffin, although he is considerably more concise, perhaps at the price of some desirable background information and fuller characterization. Still, he offers an undeniably seaworthy tale for military-action buffs, and, fortunately, Ingram has much of WWII yet to serve. Roland Green
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

"Gobbell's sea tales featuring Commander Todd Ingram will have you looking up your nearest Navy recruiter."
-W.E.B. Griffin, The New York Times bestselling author of Honor Bound and Brotherhood of War

Praise for When Duty Whispers Low

"Dramatic...convincing historical detail that really distinguishes this novel from the competition."
- Publishers Weekly

"Gobbell, a former destroyer man himself, always uses some real event in his novels...the combination of careful research, fascinating back story, and the author's own experience makes this series-and this installment-a real winner. Fans of naval adventure will almost smell the fetid jungle of Tulagi and be deafened by the ship's guns. They will be infuriated by the corrosive careerism of various self-aggrandizing officers. Gobbell's books are naval kin to W.E.B. Griffin's hugely popular army series. Buy this one, and put the Griffin junkies out to sea."
- Booklist

"Readers can smell the smoke and sea water, hear the explosions and screams and feel the relief of surviving a Japanese air strike. This is an exciting read by an author who knows how to spin a story."
- Tulsa World

About the Author

After graduating from the University of Southern California, John J. Gobbell was a U.S. Navy deck officer assigned to Pacific fleet destroyers. Rising to the rank of lieutenant, he participated in the early days of the Vietnam conflict, serving in such positions as antisubmarine warfare officer, fire control officer, and weapons officer. In civilian life, his career has been in the executive recruiting field, where he is retained by corporate clients to find senior managers. In the 1970s and 1980s he conducted assignments for prime contractors serving the military, interviewing hundreds of executive responsible for multimillion-dollar tactical and strategic defense systems. These assignments piqued his interest in character development for technically aligned executives. That, coupled with a keen interest in the events of World War II, led to the development of his first four novels, all vigorously researched.