Red Tide: A Novel of the Next Pacific War
Sep 2025 · Naval Institute Press
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About this ebook
“An adrenaline-laced naval thriller ripped straight from tomorrow’s headlines.” —Jack Carr, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Sky Mourning
From the New York Times bestselling author behind the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr. books and former U.S. Naval Intelligence officer comes a gripping and timely military thriller.
America’s Navy is stretched to the breaking point. China’s combat fleet grows. And both countries compete for access to advanced semiconductor chips produced only in Taiwan. When the Chinese strike first, casualties mount and high-tech arsenals are exhausted. It’s a war of attrition—and the Chinese are winning.
Rear Adm. Will Cole outgoing operations officer (N3) of the Pacific Fleet is on the brink of retirement. After a thirty-year career, he’s ready to settle down, rebuild his marriage, and pass the torch to the next generation of the “Fighting Coles”: Their oldest, Henry, flies F-18s. Their middle son, Jamie, is a merchant marine officer. Their daughter, Lucy, has a high-tech job with a defense contractor.
But all plans are scrapped when war drums start beating. The Pacific Fleet commander sends Cole stateside to challenge a hardened political bureaucracy into getting serious about the threat to peace in the Pacific. Proven right when the missiles start flying, Cole is ordered to do the impossible: destroy the Chinese fleet and retake Taiwan—before it’s too late. He’ll risk everything in a final fleet amphibious action—his career, his Navy, and his family.
With the pacing of a master storyteller and a flair for riveting action sequences, M. P. Woodward captivates readers while raising important questions about the U.S. Navy’s ability to remain the world’s guarantor of a free sea in the twenty-first century.
From the halls of Washington to the mountains of Taiwan to the waters of the South Pacific, Red Tide is the story of America at war, as depicted through the eyes of one courageous naval family.
From the New York Times bestselling author behind the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr. books and former U.S. Naval Intelligence officer comes a gripping and timely military thriller.
America’s Navy is stretched to the breaking point. China’s combat fleet grows. And both countries compete for access to advanced semiconductor chips produced only in Taiwan. When the Chinese strike first, casualties mount and high-tech arsenals are exhausted. It’s a war of attrition—and the Chinese are winning.
Rear Adm. Will Cole outgoing operations officer (N3) of the Pacific Fleet is on the brink of retirement. After a thirty-year career, he’s ready to settle down, rebuild his marriage, and pass the torch to the next generation of the “Fighting Coles”: Their oldest, Henry, flies F-18s. Their middle son, Jamie, is a merchant marine officer. Their daughter, Lucy, has a high-tech job with a defense contractor.
But all plans are scrapped when war drums start beating. The Pacific Fleet commander sends Cole stateside to challenge a hardened political bureaucracy into getting serious about the threat to peace in the Pacific. Proven right when the missiles start flying, Cole is ordered to do the impossible: destroy the Chinese fleet and retake Taiwan—before it’s too late. He’ll risk everything in a final fleet amphibious action—his career, his Navy, and his family.
With the pacing of a master storyteller and a flair for riveting action sequences, M. P. Woodward captivates readers while raising important questions about the U.S. Navy’s ability to remain the world’s guarantor of a free sea in the twenty-first century.
From the halls of Washington to the mountains of Taiwan to the waters of the South Pacific, Red Tide is the story of America at war, as depicted through the eyes of one courageous naval family.
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About the author
M. P. Woodward is the New York Times best-selling author of the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan Jr. series and The Handler CIA espionage series (The Handler and Dead Drop). He served as a U.S. naval intelligence officer before going on to an international career in tech and streaming media. He lives in Redmond, Washington.
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