Book
Under fire / W.E.B. Griffin
Record details
- ISBN: 0399147888
- Physical Description: 576 p.
- Publisher: New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, c2001
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Korean War, 1950-1953 > Fiction. United States Marine Corps > Fiction. United States > History, Military > 20th century > Fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Interlake Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stonewall Library | FIC GRIFFIN (Text) | 1000017286 | Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Monthly Selections - #2 December 2001
Griffin's dozens of novels about macho military men in combat situations occasionally make best-seller lists. One subset of Griffin's oeuvre showcases the U.S. Marine Corps, in which the typical plot features a lower ranking officer who has connections with top brass, even the president. The leatherneck's combat actions, always detailed with the exact weapons and tactical plan he carries into battle, therefore pulse up and down the chain of command. In this instance, Captain Ken "Killer" McCoy, a protege of ex-OSS officer Fleming Pickering, who knows a senator, who knows President Truman, has reported to General MacArthur that North Korea will be invaded. The report disappears, McCoy gets busted to the ranks (detailed in page upon page of "drama" hinging on marine protocol or breaches thereof), and the Communists start pouring across the thirty-eighth parallel. Truman, suspicious of MacArthur, gets wind of the report, and appoints Pickering and McCoy to the CIA. Boats, bullets, and carrier-launched avengers and corsairs make up the balance of this expansively told story. Should prove to be popular fare among fans of the genre. ((Reviewed December 15, 2001)) Copyright 2001 Booklist Reviews - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2001 December #1
The ninth paean to Griffin's Marine Corps (Behind the Lines, 1996) makes for a whopping 32 blockbusters on his shelf: the Honor Bound, Brotherhood of War, Badge of Honor, and Men at War series.The most recent volume in this series, 1999's In Danger's Path, was widely received as his most "sonofabitch" absorbing ever-sonofabitch being Griffin's one swearword. Still covering the campaign against the Japanese, Path is set largely in Mongolia's Gobi Desert (by presidential declaration, part of the Pacific ops of OSS during WWII) and features Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, appointed to head the Pacific arm of OSS, his son Malcolm (a kick-ass pilot called "Pick"), OSS Director Wild Bill Donovan, President Roosevelt, Admiral Nimitz, General Douglas MacArthur, Marine Sgt. Ed Banning, and Marine Captain Ken "Killer" McCoy, most of whom again show up as Griffin closes down the Pacific Theater and moves on to global politics, Marine ops, and intelligence work in Korea. Even at this many pages, Griffin can handle only the first six months of the Korean War, ending with MacArthur's recapture of Seoul and his returning of the battered capital to President Syngman Rhee. In June, now as civilian owners of Trans-Global Airways, Fleming and son Malcolm break their own speed record for a scheduled commercial flight from San Francisco to Tokyo, where Ken McCoy shows Fleming his Top Secret report on the forthcoming North Korean offensive-a report that gets McCoy bounced from the Corps. For new readers, Griffin backfills with relish about his characters and Far Eastern politics until the war breaks on June 25th, Seoul falls, Griffin's major characters reassemble, and MacArthur leads the retaking of Seoul, despite huge Marine losses, with Mal flying exciting combat missions and going down behind enemy lines.The aborted Yalu River offensive and MacArthur's firing by Truman offer richly blood-soaked ground for volumes ahead. Catchy dialogue that rouses like a sonofabitch. Copyright Kirkus 2001 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2001 September #1
Griffin is moving on; he's shifted the setting of his latest military adventure from World War II to the Korean War. Capt. Ken McCoy is thrown out of the Marine Corps when he suggests that North Korea might attack and then hired by the newly minted CIA when it does. Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information. - Library Journal Reviews : LJ Reviews 2002 January #1
This ninth of Griffin's "Corps" novels (after In Danger's Path) jumps from World War II to the opening weeks of the Korean War. As usual, the U.S. military and intelligence communities are dreadfully unprepared and uninformed. The wartime OSS has been disbanded, and the new CIA is still trying to find its way. Many characters from the previous "Corps" novels are reprised here, including Marine Capt. Ken McCoy, who suspects a north Korean attack but is forced out of the marines for making such wild assertions; the Pickerings, father and son; and a number of others who are recalled from the comforts of civilian life for a brand-new and totally unexpected war. As always, the action is fast and intense and the story very satisfying. Griffin's novels are complex, even epic, and, while some may find the dialogalmost flippant, his many loyal readers like that just fine. For general collections. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 9/1/01.] Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information. - Publishers Weekly Reviews : PW Reviews 2001 December #3
After eight books in the popular WWII Corps series, Griffin's latest kicks off on the Korean peninsula, where forces from the Communist North have just stormed over the 38th Parallel. Within a few weeks, the old team is back together, most under the steady command of Brig. Gen. Fleming Pickering, whom President Truman recalls from the helm of Trans Global Airways to assume the CIA's top Asian post. As the U.S. Army flounders to contain the North, Pickering struggles to restore Washington's faith in Comdr. Douglas MacArthur and his daring proposal to invade at Inchon. Meanwhile, as Capt. Ken McCoy and Master Gunner Ernie Zimmerman skulk behind enemy lines, seizing a crucial island in preparation for the invasion, a new calamity breaks out: Pickering's son, daredevil pilot Malcolm ("Pick"), gets shot down over a North Korean rice paddy. This new entry in the series moves more slowly than previous ones, as Griffin who served in the army in Korea sets up the historical elements of the conflict and positions all his characters. But once he gets going, he writes with even assurance and a keen eye for military camaraderie and nuance, offering galvanizing drama and a respectful yet irreverent treatment of military procedure and attitudes, not to mention plenty of Scotch. As the book ends with U.S. forces digging in for battle and Pick still missing the dean of the American war adventure has left himself room for plenty of action ahead. National television and ad campaign. (Jan. 14) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.
