Convoy of Fear [Paperback]

The military-series genre hasn't a finer craftsman than McCutchan (the Halfhyde and Cameron books). The fifth in the Commodore Kemp series ( Convoy East ) demonstrates his usual firm grasp of both shipboard life and a large cast of characters whose daily routines mix with occasional graphic moments of war horrors. Kemp, before WW II a skipper of ocean liners, has brought most of his convoy into Malta. Now flying his flag from the troopship Orlando , Kemp shepherds his flock through the Suez Canal toward Ceylon. The convoy soon contends with an outbreak of cholera, a German sea raider and a typhoon--plus a nasty popinjay of an Army general and the uxorious Kemp's attraction to a Wren officer. Whether discussing seamanship, inter-Service wrangling, or the immediate and back-home worries of his characters, McCutcheon has his details bang-on. A chief engineer with symptoms of cholera exhibits a stiff upper lip: "Well, the cholera would have to wait, that was all." Readers of earlier Commodore Kemp titles may become addicted given this sterling addition.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Setting forth in a convoy from Malta to Egypt, battle-worn Commander Jack Kemp wonders what will happen during his new posting and if, as some believe, he is a Jonah. Devotees of WWII will revel in McCutchan's finely detailed descriptions of naval maneuvers. Christopher Scott gives a clear, crisp reading that renders both a sense of military attitudes and, more specifically, British hierarchical postures, his strongest characterization being that of a priggish madman. While his rendition provides the atmosphere of the times, it also shows up some monotonous writing that almost obliterates emotional content. Still, this is a praiseworthy effort. S.B.S. © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to the Audio Cassette edition.