Rating: 
Summary: Perfect member of the Corps Series--But fire the publisher
Review: Whenever a new volume in "The Corps" series is published my life is on hold until I finish reading it. I'm hooked and all of the characters are friends of mine or are people I really dislike. Griffin takes me, holding my hand all the way, to that segment of time when our Marine heroes are saving the world from (fill in the blank) and having fun in the process. This version fit the style and tone perfectly and was oh so well worth my time. But I have one serious complaint--apparently no one at the publishing house read this book before sending it to me. Beginning in the first chapter where our hero Captain (Former Major) "Killer" McCoy is repeatedly identified as Corporal McCoy there were just too many errors and typos. I have read rough drafts with fewer words left out of sentences and fewer factual errors (Factual errors of the kind that show up in early drafts and are dressed up in the final product--these were never identified). The author got it right but the editors at the publishing house must have been on vacation. I am distressed, disturbed and find myself in disharmony--the publisher owes me an apology for the lack of professionalism they exhibit in this product. Mr. W. E. B. FIRE YOUR PUBLISHER!
Rating: 
Summary: Killer McCoy Goes to Korea, or Where's 1944 - 1950?
Review: I wait impatiently for new W.E.B. Griffins; he's one of my favorite writers. That, I suppose, is why I am so disappointed with Under Fire. I was expecting a book that would follow Major Ken McCoy through C&GS College as ordered by President Roosevelt and cover his wedding to Ernie; followed by a posting in Intelligence to a line outfit either at Iwo Jima or Okinawa; with subplots involving Pick Pickering, General Pickering, Ed & Ludmilla Banning, Charlie Galloway, et.al. - and hopefully concluding with that despicable coward Macklin's final cashiering from the Corps as arranged by Generals Pickering and Stecker. Instead, I got a rather dull military soap opera complete with a cliffhanger ending. Griffin seldom disappoints, but when he does, he REALLY disappoints. The only bright spot is that he now has the characters from two of his series in the same place at the same time. Personally, I think a meeting between Killer McCoy, Mouse Felter, Mac McMillan, Duke Lowell and the two Pickerings could be downright amusing. Perhaps Task Group Able could be called on to rescue Pick from behind the lines; or the Duke might stumble over him during the Task Force Lowell operation; or some similar doubletalk generator device. Improbable as such a plot development might seem to be, it would be a substantial improvement over the plodding pace and overall dullness of Under Fire. I can honestly recommend this book only to completists. Dammit, W.E.B., we expect better from you.
Rating: 
Summary: Decent Story, Terrible Characterization
Review: "Under Fire" is pretty good read, but Griffin's characterization is awful. All of the main characters are heroes, rich, good looking, very well-connected and married to understanding, low-maintenance hotties. This kind of crap makes me groan (esp. since I just finished reading Stephen King's The Stand and the Dark Tower series. Griffin also resorts to military stereotypes where the line officers are wonderful go-getters and the staff types are lazy regulation loving chair warmers. If I wasn't enjoying the easy-to-read story, I'd be putting this book down.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding addition to this excellent series
Review: This is the first time I have written a review on this excellent series. I am suprized I haven't before, however I suppose that there are so many reviews written about the previous books in this series that my opinion is in agreement with those who enjoy this series immensely. This is an excellent addition. The main characters, Ken McCoy, Fleming Pickering and his son Fleming Pickering Jr, Ed Banning, Ernie Zimmerman and all the others are important in the plot of the book. The year is 1950, and it is the beginning of the Korean War. Capt. McCoy is convinced that the North Koreans are a threat and will start a war, however the higher brass dosen't share his opinion and try to kick him out of the USMC. It turns out that McCoy is 100% on the money. Thus begins the interesting story. There of course is combat, political and military intrigue, and of course the women who love their Marines are in the book as well. My favorite is Ernestine "Ernie" McCoy, Capt McCoys wife, she is the type of woman that any man would be fortunate to have as a girlfriend or wife. This is a fine addition to "The Corps" series. It is a definite page turner that will have the reader well up into the early morning hours. I just got finished and am eagerly awaiting for Mr. Griffins next addition to this fine series. Highly recommended!
Rating:
Summary: W.E.B. Griffin has done it again
Review: UNDER FIRE, the 9th book of W.E.B. Griffin's "Corps" series, moves from World War II to the prelude and opening days of the Korean War. As in previous "Corps" and "Brotherhood of War" novels, Griffin uses actual historical events as background while skillfully putting his characters into the action. In UNDER FIRE, he uses the intelligence failure that allowed the North Koreans to mount a surprise attack, and the sad state of our military at that time, as the opening, following with an excellent description of the mauling our troops received during the early days of that war, finishing by using a highly fictionalized account of a little known, but highly successful special operation to clear the Inchon Approach Islands of North Korean troops prior to the Inchon Landing. To this end, Griffin uses many of his characters from previous "Corps" novels -- Ken McCoy, Ernie Zimmerman, Fleming Pickering and his daredevil son, "Pick" Pickering, and others. Overall, UNDER FIRE is a "page turner" that offers insight, via Griffin's well developed military fiction writing style, into the beginnings of the Korean War and Korean War special operations.
Rating:
Summary: Typical W.E.B. Griffin!
Review: Known facts are extremely accurate and Mr. Griffin continues his masterful writing with "Under Fire" which makes the reader feel as if he personally knew the characters. The thoughts that go thru the minds of his characters are as interesting as the words they speak and make for a most enjoyable read. I have all Griffin books and anxiously await the next one. Keep up the good work, Mr. Griffin.
Rating:
Summary: Decent Story, Terrible Characterization
Review: "Under Fire" is pretty good read, but Griffin's characterization is awful. All of the main characters are heroes, rich, good looking, very well-connected and married to understanding, low-maintenance hotties. This kind of crap makes me groan (esp. since I just finished reading Stephen King's The Stand and the Dark Tower series. Griffin also resorts to military stereotypes where the line officers are wonderful go-getters and the staff types are lazy regulation loving chair warmers. If I wasn't enjoying the easy-to-read story, I'd be putting this book down.
Rating:
Summary: Not up to par
Review: I'm a fan of "The Corps" series, so naturally I read this one and added it to the stack. But I daresay that if it had been written first, the series would never have gotten off the ground. I enjoy a couple of mainstream characters who can dodge bullets, do a triple somersault over an exploding grenade and keep on truckin', break some rules in order to get the job done in the face of overwhelming odds...but this one is over the top. And it shows signs of hurry-up. There are so many typos and sentences with missing words that I felt like getting a pencil and making corrections. Did anybody proof-read this thing? Sloppy, sloppy implementation to the point of being distracting. Apart from that, the main guys are still there, still larger than life, brought together in a totally different war by interesting circumstances. McCoy diminished in stature for me in this installment...he seems more like a loose cannon than the respectful, very capable Marine captain I had grown to like. I did miss Jack NMI Stecker in this one (please, please leave out the NMI...I get it already). The series gets a high rating...this installment doesn't. I agree with a previous reviewer...maybe we should chip in and buy Griffin a case of Famous Grouse to help keep him on track.
Rating: 
Summary: Lousy writing
Review: I got sick of almost every mention of a character having to include his full rank and service. I got sick of the stupid jargon of the weaponry. The writing is very low quality, and the story is hardly worth telling.
Rating:
Summary: A real disappointment
Review: I really enjoyed Griffin's Brotherhood Of War series, the first three of The Corps and a couple of his Badge of Honor series also. But there's a similarity arising in all of these books that is beginning to get tiresome. For Instance: 1. All his protagonists are extremely wealthy, or are loved by a person who is.
2. In his war novels, enlisted men apparently do not exist -- certainly not for long -- and his heroes are military geniuses and extraordinarily heroic.
3. All have an antagonist who hates their guts and completely misunderstands them. (I'm still mad as hell at his character Robert Bellmon (Brotherhood of War) who, as written, was a mediocre [very wealthy] officer who somehow managed to become a general despite the fact that he never did anything worthy of note. He should have been retired as a light colonel and forgotten. He misunderstood everything, without exception, about the protagonist, Lowell. He refused to accept the fact that Lowell was an outstanding officer, interpreted everything he did in the worst possible manner, and stepped in his way at every opportunity. At the same time, he promoted MacMillan and favored him constantly. MacMillan was a lousy officer, completely out of his depth at every job he undertook. He was, at best, a good sergeant, but Griffin couldn't have a mere enlisted man as a heroic figure in his books, so Mac became an officer.) Enough of that.
4. All of his heroes are handsome, easy-to-like, and charming.
5. All attract women who are unusually beautiful who immediately fall desperately in love with them.
6. All friends and acquaintances are wealthy or soon will be. This book is no different in those respects, and to make matters worse the story itself is not nearly as interesting as most. Even for those of you who are Griffin fans, in my opinion, you can forget about this one. It's not worth your time.
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