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Close Combat
  
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Close Combat [Large Print] (Hardcover)

by W. E. B. Griffin (Author) "First Lieutenant William Charles Dunn, USMCR, glanced up at the Pagoda through the scarred Plexiglas windshield of his battered, mud-splattered, bullet-holed Grumman F4F4 Wildcat ..." (more)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

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Product Details

Product Description

From Publishers Weekly

Set in 1942, the sixth book (following Line of Fire ) in Griffin's series about The Corps revolves around a war bond tour featuring Marine heroes of the Guadalcanal campaign. Series fans will recognize the central characters, among them Marine general and presidential troubleshooter Fleming Pickering, his fighter pilot son Pick, and movie mogul Homer Dillon, a Marine for the duration. Griffin has Marine Corps lore and trivia down pat, and he uses the bond-tour story line to convey the public-relations aspects of modern war. Essentially, however, the novel succeeds because the alcoholic and amorous exploits of its stateside heroes could be mink-lined wish fulfillment for the fantasies of the average soldier--most of the "close combat" here takes place in various bedrooms.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Ingram

While a captain leads his squadron into the fiercest air battles of the Pacific, a news correspondent learns more about combat than he bargained for and a Marine embarks on a top-secret mission. Reprint. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.
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First Lieutenant William Charles Dunn, USMCR, glanced up at the Pagoda through the scarred Plexiglas windshield of his battered, mud-splattered, bullet-holed Grumman F4F4 Wildcat. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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1.0 out of 5 stars A Waste of Time, Jan 13 2003
By Dean E. Robertson (Wooster, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Corps #6 Close Combat (Mass Market Paperback)
I picked up these books hoping to gain some insight into the actions of the Marine Corps in the Pacific during World War II. What I found instead was a sort of soap opera that rambles on for hundreds of pages without getting around to much actual fighting. For example, The Marines don't even get to Guadalcanal (their first major offensive) until the end of book III, some 1200 pages into the story. Those 1200 intervening pages are mostly conversations (ad nauseam) between stateside Marine Corps officers as they sit around headquarters, or go out on the town chasing skirts.

The small portion of the books that is devoted to actual battles is done in such a cursory fashion that you're left with the impression that the author either finds this aspect of the Marines' mission distasteful, or doesn't understand it well enough to write about it. Mr. Griffin could have deleted about 80% of his material, and would have ended up with better books, albeit still not good ones.

If you're the sort of person who likes to watch daytime soap operas, then you may enjoy these books. If, on the other hand, you're interested in military history, the banality of these books will leave you screaming in frustration.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Great balance of fear, romance and historical fiction, Jan 8 2003
By "mark17970" (Houston, Texas United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Corps #6 Close Combat (Mass Market Paperback)
Griffin pulls off what so many writers get close to but never quite seem to manage -- an authentic, if slightly romantic, portrait of the US military during the 1930s, 40s and 50s. True, many of the protagonists are wealthy, but many are not. For example, Ken Mccoy is dirt poor until he marries up. There are a lot of promotions to keep things moving, but there's also a number of guys who stay enlisted. What is captured accurately is the look and feel of serving in the pre-Vietnam US military. The Brotherhood of War and The Corps both remind me of Bernard Cornwell's series about Richard Sharpe, tracing his advancement from a Redcoat private and then sergeant in 1799 India to his elevation to Lt. of the 95th Rifles at the Battle of Assaye, and then through the Napoleonic Wars in Portugal, Spain, Denmark and ultimately Waterloo. He retires a Lt. Col., which was almost unheard of for someone raised from the ranks of the British Army, but the chronology is plausible, particularly given the wartime death rate. all in all, I go through the Griffin novels like Doritos and beer -- you can't read just one of them. He is indeed the poet laureate of the American military. Read the Sharpe books too -- you will really enjoy his ability to put you in the action of a 19th century battlefield. They also were made into a first-class series of fourteen 2-hour movies by the BBC, starring Sean Bean as a very convincing Richard Sharpe.
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4.0 out of 5 stars Do the guys always get the girl and the good scotch?, Jul 31 2002
By Former SF guy (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Corps #6 Close Combat (Mass Market Paperback)
I really like this series as well as "The Brotherhood of War" series. The stories are great, the characters are very likeable and the little bit of history you can get from the books are nice. I have read each of Griffin's series at least twice. I like them that much.

However, I AM REALLY GETTING TIRED OF THE SAME OL' THING. Follow me here. Have you noticed:

1- The guy always gets the girl
2- The girl is always "so ... beutiful"
3- It is nearly almost always love at first sight.
4- The main characters generally start out young and enlisted
within a few chapters they are being gererously promoted.
Most are promoted to officers, some right out of boot-
camp or basic training. It appears promotions are handed
out like meals.
5- The girls are all easy, but they are still "nice girls".
6- None of the main characters die or become handicaped.
7- They all drink scotch (famous grouse)
8- Most of the main characters are rich and of course from
Philly or near there.
9- They all make wonderful and reluctant heroes.
10- etc... etc...

All-in-all, I would recommend Griffins series to anyone who is male. I don't think women would much like them.

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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars We're Finally Getting into the Real War!
In this,the sixth volume of The Corps series,Griffin seems to have all of his characters introduced and is now starting to utilise them in some action. Read more
Published on Dec 24 2001 by Rodger Raubach

4.0 out of 5 stars The ongoing saga
Needless to say, if you are reading Corps: Close Combat, you are either a fan of Griffin, a fan of the series, or you found a copy propping up the corner of your bed at the Motel... Read more
Published on May 17 2001 by G. A. Festian

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