James H. Cobb Books In Order

Publication Order of Amanda Garrett Books

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Covert-One Books

Publication Order of Anthologies

James H. Cobb was a popular American fiction novelist from Idaho Falls, ID. He has written a variety of novels since he started writing in 1996. The great majority of his novels are political, domestic, and international espionage thrillers. His most popular series is the Amanda Garrett series of novels, of which the first was the highly popular Choosers of the Slain published in 1996.

James Cobb was born in Tacoma in Washington State where he spent most of his life before passing away in 2014 aged 61. A late Bloomer, Cobb would only start writing novels in 1996 as a 43 year old. However, he would soon prove a prolific writer, penning over 15 titles in a career spanning about twenty years. With his first novel garnering a lot of attention among fans of political and espionage thrillers, his career took off. He went on to publish novels in the Amanda Garrett, Covert-One and other freestanding novels. He would also team up with some of the most popular writers in his genre, including big name writers such as Robert Ludlum and Dean Ing. He was cowriter with Covert One series creator Robert Ludlum on the seventh novel, The Arctic Event that is a fan favorite. He also co-wrote Victory: On the Attack with Dean Ing in 2004.

James H. Cobb is a military historian par excellence with his knowledge on the intricate technologies and affairs of the military matched by very few writers in the genre. He has variously been compared to other great military novelists such as Tom Clancy and Dale Brown. His knowledge of technical maritime warfare and his excellent research skills are what saw him collaborate as cowriter with Dean Ing and Ludlum who needed that technical touch in their novels. Nonetheless, while his novels bear a great resemblance in tone and theme to the other greats of the genre, Cobb’s work is leaner than Clancy’s and livelier than Brown’s or Ing’s. Nonetheless, like his contemporaries, most of his novels are about dramatic international firestorms that threaten to destroy a country or the world, as we know it, and a person or group of persons determined to stop it.

James H. Cobb most popular series is the Amanda Garrett novels that feature the chief protagonist Amanda Garrett, a headstrong, bold, and tenacious commander. Sleek and swift in leading her elite team in countering cyber, terrorist and political threats, she grows from an untested junior officer into a hardened commander as the series progresses. A master of red hot action, Cobb takes the series readers through a variety of dramatic international destinations such as Antarctica, Argentina, the UK, Singapore, and Nigeria to mention but a few. Unlike many other writers that typically create a James Bond type of character as the lead, James Cobb’s goes against the norm. He successfully creates a female lead who is just as good and ruthless in the field, yet manages to remain feminine.

As an author compared to Ludlum and Dean Ing, all out action that involves many international actors is to be expected from any of James H. Cobb’s novels. For any military and political thriller buff, Cobb makes for a very good read. Thumbing through a few chapters of his novels shows just how much research and attention to detail the author goes through in the writing of the novels. He writes about state of the art military and cyber technologies, and has an intimate grasp of the technical details and inner working of the army and intelligence services that perhaps only Clancy could better. The author also goes to the same lengths when writing his political thrillers as was seen The Arctic Event. His great knowledge of political theory and how the intelligence services and the military work enable him to speculate to a believable degree, likely geopolitical crises and scenarios.

Choosers of the Slain is James H. Cobb’s first novel and one of his most popular. The story is set on a remote British outpost in Antarctica, which is without warning, attacked by Argentina. After losing the war for the Falklands, the resurgent Argentines are now on a quest to grab for themselves one of the remaining untapped sources of natural resources they can get their hands on. With a looming polar winter and the Argentines upping their military buildup, the global community remains helpless to do anything. However, docked in the Rio de Janeiro harbor is the U.S. Navy destroyer Cunningham. The ship is one of the latest state of the art destroyers and is deemed one of the world’s finest oceangoing stealth vessels. With her custom Aegis sensor arrays and a 580-foot hull that cannot be detected by hostile radar, she is a master of the seas for up to a 250 nautical miles radius. She has some of the most sophisticated arsenal that include: virtual reality helmet piloted reconnaissance drones manufactured by Boeing, top of the range Sea Comanche choppers with the latest APG 65 radar, and a wide range of sophisticated precision guided armaments. She is secretive, swift, and untested. Similarly, Amanda Garrett of the US Navy is a relative greenhorn commander of the ship. However, she boasts tenacity, boldness, and brilliance in leading her team into war. Together they face up not only to the military might of Argentina but also have to deal with the desolate ice clad landmass of the Antarctic. This is no ordinary war; the destiny of the earth’s last frontier is in their hands.

Another popular novel by James H. Cobb is the second book of the Amanda Garrett series, Sea Strike. In this sequel to Cobb’s first novel Choosers of the Slain, Garrett returns with her USS Cunningham destroyer finding herself at the center of a tussle between the People’s Republic of China and Taiwan. It is all hands on board as she gathers data on the PRC’s nuclear exercises and submarine movements before engaging in a daring battle and sea rescue in an ocean full of enemy subs. Cobb humanizes the Amanda character putting her in a secret relationship with Vince Arkady, a helicopter pilot. Their secret love affair threatens to derail her focus from the most important job of captain of the ship. The author writes an enthralling whodunit narrative right from the start to the end as the ship’s crew collates data to identify lethal threats and eliminate them. The novel is sure to leave any political thriller enthusiast with a hangover for anything James Cobb.

One Response to “James H. Cobb”

1. bob weir: 2 years ago

   while re-reading ‘arcric event’ my ongoing pleasure
   was on recognizing how well it was written.

   and looking at who the author was. a new name.
   and covert-1 or not i want to get and read more
   of his stuff.
   whoever asked him to write a covert-1
   novel made a good choice.

   Reply