David Poyer

No one writes about the nitty gritty of navy life like Poyer. He has the skill and insight to get inside several different heads in this novel -- a black marine, navy chief, navy wife, a commodore in charge of the whole shebang and, of course, Dan Lenson, the star of his series. I most enjoyed the chief on the USS Ault who falls for a woman in Naples and repairs a shaft bearing underway in storm conditions. Less convincing were the commodore (how did this ass kisser get in charge?) and show more Lenson's wife, Susan. show less

The Gulf tries to be at least three different things: 1) A naval procedural about life on frigates and minesweepers -- the vital, unglamorous “small ships” of modern naval warfare ; 2) A sprawling, multi-stranded chronicle of U. S. naval operations in the Persian Gulf during the closing years of the Iran-Iraq War; 3) A chapter in the ongoing chronicle of the career of U. S. Navy officer Dan Lenson. It is, in short, hugely ambitious. It would take a superb writer – a C. S. Forester or a show more Patrick O’Brian – to integrate the three stories successfully, and David Poyer is merely a competent one.

The naval procedural – centered on the frigate Turner Van Zandt and the minesweeper Audacity – is, by far, the most successful of the three stories. Poyer uses his own experience as a surface-warfare officer to good effect, bringing to life the rhythms of shipboard routine and the complex web of relationships that binds the crew. He captures the feel of the Persian Gulf equally vividly: the smothering heat, the grittiness of blown sand, and the unnatural warmth of the water. The drama built around the larger naval campaign is intermittently effective: gripping in the small moments of confrontation, but unconvincing in the big set-piece battles, which too often seem dictated by the demands of the plot rather than by any real-world strategy.

Lenson’s story, by a wide margin, works least-well and least-often. Part of the problem is Lenson himself: a hero too blandly two-dimensional to engage the reader or generate sympathy or interest. Clearly meant to be a Horatio Hornblower or Richard Bolitho for the 20th century, he lacks both their verve and their vulnerability. The book’s least convincing (and least necessary) subplot, involving the captain of the Van Zandt and his thirst for revenge against the Iranians, seems shoehorned into the story in order to provide Lenson with a career-defining crisis in the midst of a story that wouldn’t otherwise provide one. Later in the story, for the sake of giving Lenson a love interest, Poyer transforms the book’s only significant female character – Congressional staffer Blair Titus – from a tough, competent professional woman on a mission to a simpering girlfriend anxious about Her Man’s safety in battle.

Poyer, to be fair, faces a significant challenge in writing his tales of the modern U. S. Navy: the lack of a full-blown war to provide life-or-death challenges for his hero. C. S. Forester and Patrick O’Brian had the wars against Napoleon, Douglas Reeman had World War II, and Stephen Coonts (Flight of the Intruder and The Intruders) had Vietnam. Poyer is forced to make do with the “little wars” and politically constrained interventions of the eighties and nineties. It’s not an insurmountable problem, but – in The Gulf at least – Poyer still hasn’t figured out how to solve it. show less

This is the 22nd book in the author's Dan Lenson series but it was my first one read. Even so, I was easily able to get situated, with ease, in the series and enjoy it.

I love reading nonfiction about the service academies, as well as the occasional fictional work. This is one of the best service-academy novels I've ever read.

A real page turner full of nonstop action. Absolutely loved it.

I especially loved how the author alternated scenes between Midshipman Dan and Admiral Dan.

Though show more military thrillers aren't my usual thing, I've picked up the first book in the series and hope to read through them all.

Highly recommended!!

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.) show less

Lt Clairbourne commits to his home state, Virginia, and is off to war. First, as an artillerist supporting the army, then as the commander of Confederate commerce raiders. He is extreme/y successful until he engages in a fight to the finish with one of the USN cruisers sent out to run him down. Good insights into the struggles of individuals as they are forced to take sides in this War Between the States.