Mexican noir. I love it.

I love military historical fiction, and this book is one of my faves. Sadly, the book-buying public didn't agree with my opinion, and John Biggens was dropped by his publisher after four novels that didn't make money. The sad truth is most of the people who read this kind of fiction want a more standard-issue kind of hero, like Jack Aubrey or Dan Lenson; someone who is heroically going on to bigger and better things, which will be written about in due course. Lieutenant Ottokar Prohaska is in the service of Austria-Hungary, a decaying empire with a small navy; an empire that broke apart after World War One and lost all it’s oceanfront property in the process. This greatly limits opportunities for promotion to higher rank, among other things. Sadly, while Ottokar Prohaska is a certifiable hero: loyal, brave and extremely competent (a winner of the Military Order of Maria Theresa, no less!), his opportunities for heroic action are limited by circumstances beyond his control: rinky-dink u-boats with limited range and offensive capabilities; exploding submarine toilets; defective torpedoes; flatulence-inducing rations of tinned stew with sauerkraut. Yet he bravely sailors on with his multilingual crew with no little success, and only a bit of friendly fire. You have to love this guy; he’s loyal to the end and fun at parties.
The good news is this book is back in print again and can be easily found, along with the other three books in the series. This was not always the show more case. Even better, John Biggens has written a fifth novel, not about Austrian sailors, titled "The Surgeon’s Apprentice", which is available only as a kindle book. It’s on my to-read list. show less