When Ensign Peter Maxwell was called up from the reserves just after Pearl Harbor, he didn't think he'd be defending his country by leading the Navy choir. After two years entertaining VIPs he wants to see some action, and a posting on the new ammunitions ship, the USS Liberty Hill Victory, seems just the ticket. Unfortunately, the ship's captain has no respect for junior officers like Maxwell, and even less for the African-Americans who make up his crew. Despite tensions between captain and sailors, the two-week shakedown cruise goes unexpectedly well. But as the ship approaches San Francisco’s Port Chicago, a series of horrific explosions virtually destroys the port. Then the Liberty’s second in command is murdered. There is an enemy within, and Maxwell will do everything to stop him, including putting himself on the front line of danger.
Joe Barrett's raspy tenor voice individualizes all the characters in this nautical WWII novel, giving everyone a distinct personality and voice. The protagonist's wife sounds like a stevedore with a sexy whisper, and in a rare moment Barrett mimics her talking with toothpaste in her mouth. When there's singing, he even does his best at that, too. The scenes take place on a Liberty ship near the end of the war, and the characters are white officers, an entire crew of "coloreds," and two "homos." Barrett portrays the blacks like they'd talk in a minstrel show and the gays like they're flaming queens. The cultural conflicts lead to a couple of killings, and the ship becomes a maritime version of MURDER ON THE ORIENT EXPRESS. J.A.H. (c) AudioFile 2009, Portland, Maine
About the Author
PATRICK CULHANE (is a pen name of Max Allan Collins) has earned an unprecedented ten Private Eye Writers of America Shamus nominations for his historical thrillers, winning twice for his Nathan Heller novels, True Detective and Stolen Away. He scripted the internationally syndicated comic strip Dick Tracy from 1977 to 1993. His graphic novel, Road to Perdition, was made into a feature film starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman.
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