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A review by ncrabb
Semper Fi by W.E.B. Griffin
2.0
I suspect this series gets better, but the first book seems like a trailer for something that comes out soon.
Ken McCoy is a street-smart young man who has entered the marines partially to escape the horrors of his life at home with a hypocritical abusive father. He is assigned to China in the late 1930s where he learns both Chinese and Japanese, and he employs his street smarts to get connected both to Shanghai's police force and its gambling factions. Indeed, he ultimately makes a good bit of money at gambling, something he refers to as his retirement fund.
But when he kills an Italian marine in self defense, things change for him. His superiors are aware of his linguistic and other talents, and soon he is doing reconnaissance for the U.S. disguised as a driver for American missionaries.
This book, then, charts McCoy's meteoric rise into Officer Candidate School. It essentially ends a few weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At this point, McCoy has had short-lived sex with the wife of a homosexual preacher in China, and he's bedded a society girl who didn't make her position of prominence known to him until after their encounter. Initially outraged, McCoy ultimately falls in love with the girl, and she him. But by now, World War II is the elephant in the room that will impact all their decisions moving forward.
A caution to some who follow me here, the profanity index goes pretty high for this, as you might expect for a military novel. The sex is rather frequent and casual.
My final thoughts: I have other books by this author on my hard drive; and, I may give them a try when the roll to the top of the TBR pile, but it's unlikely I'll shift the pile about so one of these additional books comes to the top more quickly than it might otherwise.
Ken McCoy is a street-smart young man who has entered the marines partially to escape the horrors of his life at home with a hypocritical abusive father. He is assigned to China in the late 1930s where he learns both Chinese and Japanese, and he employs his street smarts to get connected both to Shanghai's police force and its gambling factions. Indeed, he ultimately makes a good bit of money at gambling, something he refers to as his retirement fund.
But when he kills an Italian marine in self defense, things change for him. His superiors are aware of his linguistic and other talents, and soon he is doing reconnaissance for the U.S. disguised as a driver for American missionaries.
This book, then, charts McCoy's meteoric rise into Officer Candidate School. It essentially ends a few weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At this point, McCoy has had short-lived sex with the wife of a homosexual preacher in China, and he's bedded a society girl who didn't make her position of prominence known to him until after their encounter. Initially outraged, McCoy ultimately falls in love with the girl, and she him. But by now, World War II is the elephant in the room that will impact all their decisions moving forward.
A caution to some who follow me here, the profanity index goes pretty high for this, as you might expect for a military novel. The sex is rather frequent and casual.
My final thoughts: I have other books by this author on my hard drive; and, I may give them a try when the roll to the top of the TBR pile, but it's unlikely I'll shift the pile about so one of these additional books comes to the top more quickly than it might otherwise.