Off the east coast of America, an aging Soviet ballistic missile sub, a "boomer," suffered a crippling accident, coming within moments of a nuclear meltdown. Her reactors exploded, the radioactivity released into the Gulf Stream would have dwarfed the Chernobyl disaster.

This is the gripping, true story of the young Soviet sailors who fought to save their submarine, risking fire, smoke, poison gas, and intense radioactivity. Their secret struggle and sacrifice saved the American coast from nuclear catastrophe.

Told in the words of the survivors, it is a story never before revealed outside the submarine community. Hostile Waters reads like a page-turning thriller, a Tom Clancy tale of underwater intrigue and terror, but this story really happened. The Hunt for Red October was a novel, Hostile Waters is true.