Cold is the Sea: A Novel (Bluejacket Books)

Hailed as heart stopping and almost unbearably suspenseful, Edward L. Beach's third novel is set fifteen years after the end of World War II as the US Navy converts its fleet of conventional submarines to nuclear-powered ships. The book focuses on the USS Cushing, whose sixteen missile silos carry more explosive power than all the munitions used in both world wars. The submarine is on a secret mission to the Arctic Ocean to determine whether her missiles are effective when fired from beneath the ice. When the Cushing is incapacitated with a suspicious Russian sub lurking in the vicinity, the scene is set for a dramatic novel rich in all the technical detail and submarine lore that have entertained millions of readers of Captain Beach's other fictional works.

Edward L. Beach graduated from the US Navy's submarine school in December 1941, two weeks after Pearl Harbor. He commanded submarines in the Pacific throughout the rest of the war. His first novel, Run Silent Run Deep, became an immediate bestseller, and was later made into a Hollywood blockbuster.