The Cold War was nearly over by 1986, yet under the sea the deadly game of hide-and-seek played by Soviet and American submarines continued unabated.
Off the east coast of America, an ageing Soviet ballistic missile sub, a "boomer", suffered a crippling accident, coming within moments of a nuclear meltdown. Had her reactors exploded, the radioactivity released into the Gulf Stream would have dwarfed the Chernobyl disaster.
'Hostile Waters' is the gripping story of the Soviet sailors whose secret struggle and sacrifice prevented a nuclear catastrophe. Told in the words of the survivors, the book reads like a Tom Clancy thriller of underwater intrigue and terror. But this story is true.