Can’t speak too highly of this British novelist, who has written fifty books in all. Five stars. Finishing Mr. Fullerton’s "The Gatecrashers" now, the last of his Nicholas Everard World War II saga. Going to miss the Everards and their various crews on their submarines, destroyers and cruisers.
The great thing about the saga is that it fills in my ignorance of the Royal Navy’s participation in World War II. They did a lot of convoy escorting through nightmarish U-boat packs and Junkers 88 and Stuka divebomber attacks. So much of the history of the war I had read was confined to what the Americans were up to. Other than the Battle of Britain, my knowledge of their contribution was very limited.
The saga, which you should try: "Storm Force to Narvik," "Last Lift From Crete," "All the Drowning Seas," "A Share of Honor," "The Torch Bearers" (probably the most harrowing), and "The Gatecrashers." I got onto them when I chanced on a review copy of "Patrol to the Golden Horn," a submarine tale of the Everards in World War I, the second of three on that war. I’ve always been a sucker for submarine stories. Probably because submarines scare me. Smashing good read, that one, as well as Mr. F.’s first book, "Surface."
Naturally, after ten books in all, I’ve picked up some 1940s Brit lingo, and affection for all. Makes me wonder, sometimes, why so many Brit civilians now are so unwilling to see their country fight the war on terrorism. Not their soldiers or sailors, of course. They haven’t changed.
THE TEXAS SCRIBBLER 