Path of the Storm

By Douglas Reeman

Hong Kong, 1960s: The old submarine-chaser USS Hibiscus, refitting in a Hong Kong dockyard before being handed over to the Nationalist Chinese, is suddenly ordered to the desolate island group of Payenhau. For Captain Mark Gunnar, who is driven by the memory of his torture at the hands of Viet Cong guerillas, the new command is a chance to even the score against a ruthless, unrelenting enemy. But Payenhau is very different from his expectations, and as the weather worsens, a crisis develops that Gunnar must face alone.

• Language: English
• Publisher: RowmanLittlefield
• Release date: Feb 1, 2023
• ISBN: 9781493071630

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Reviews for Path of the Storm

[ecw0647 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Alexander Kent, who writes the Bolitho Napoleonic War series, is the pseudonym of Douglas Reeman, who writes modern naval fiction. Unlike the Bolitho series, which features the adventures of Richard Bolitho as he moves up the ranks to admiral, Reeman employs a variety of characters and vessels to populate his modern books, set mostly during WWII or later. Path of the Storm takes place after the Vietnam War. Mark Gunnar, captain of the Hibiscus, an old submarine chaser, has been ordered to sail her to the island of Payenhau, where she will be eventually turned over to the Nationalist Chinese.

The ship has the usual complement of maladjusted naval characters: the captain driven to revenge by the memories of his torture as a captive of the Vietnamese; the semi-competent executive officer; and the AWOL seaman who rapes a local village girl. Reeman, who served on Arctic convoy ships as a British naval officer during WWII is at his best when he describes shipboard activities and particularly the ferocious typhoon that catches the Hibiscus at sea. Unbeknownst to Gunnar, the island has been infiltrated with Communist agents, who try to seize the island prior to a full-scale invasion of Taiwan. Gunnar and the Hibiscus, of course, play a crucial and decisive role in saving the island (very predictably). But for us sea buffs, the portrayal of the ship at sea is worth the predictable plot.

[lassiter_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

One of the strengths of Reeman is his development of characters and their conflicts with each other and with themselves. Captain Gunnar, who is scarred both physically and mentally because of torture during the Vietnam War is now faced with an major decision that could bring war with China.