Retreat, Hell!

Written by W.E.B. Griffin

Narrated by James Naughton

It is the fall of 1950. The Marines have made a pivotal breakthrough at Inchon, but a roller coaster awaits them. While Douglas MacArthur chomps at the bit, intent on surging across the 38th parallel, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering works desperately to mediate the escalating battle between MacArthur and President Harry Truman. And somewhere out there, his own daredevil pilot son, Pick, is lost behind enemy lines—and may be lost forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Penguin Audio
• Release date: Jan 1, 2004
• ISBN: 9780786558230

W.E.B. Griffin

W.E.B. Griffin is the author of six bestselling series—and now Clandestine Operations.   William E. Butterworth IV has worked closely with his father for more than a decade, and is the coauthor with him of many books, most recently Hazardous Duty and Top Secret.  

Reviews for Retreat, Hell!

[buffalogr · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Every month, I found myself wanting to read the book in this series first. The characters are familiar and the plot is fun, if repeatable. Set in the Korean conflict, it's got all the elements of a fast paced, enjoyable novel. It is very long; almost 18 hours. I particularly enjoyed Griffin's interpretation of Truman's impressions of MacArthur. This is the end of the series and there are so many unfinished threads. It feels like there ought to be another novel.

[utbw42 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A satisfying and fitting ending to the Corps series, if somewhat rushed and clunky near the end. I really enjoyed the sections that dealt with the rescue of Pick Pickering and his recuperation in San Diego, as well as Killer McCoy's exposure of Douglas MacArthur's faulty Korean intelligence where China's involvement was concerned. This one flowed much like the previous nine Corps novels, tracking multiple well-developed characters across history, but I get the sense Griffin tried to kind of wrap everything up quickly. This usually leads to a lot of unanswered questions about what happened to certain characters. Maybe this was his intention...to be described in future novels or series? Overall I still immensely enjoyed this series.

[adriel_2 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

A slow and awkward book that fictionalizes the beginning of the Korean war, weaving a number of characters, including McCoy a CIA operative, through the first American response to the North Korean Army's attack on South Korea through the point when, despite McArthur's intelligence (and the ignored intelligence of the CIA) that there were no Chinese or Russian plans to enter the conflict, the Chinese attacked from their border and began to drive the US back to the parallel. This book is set around and interesting historical context but is obviously written by a person involved too closely with the day-to-day operations of the military, there were so many characters and unnecessary details that the book was very bogged down. The perspective and voice changed continually and was not satisfying.