Rating: 
Summary: What happened?
Review: I have been following this series since it came out in the 1980s. Being a former Marine and Viet-Nam Vet, I could identify with some of the characters. This is a supposed series dealing with WWII. In the first 8 books all was well. When book VIII ended in 1943, McArthur was preparing to return to the Phillipnes, several characters were stranded in the Gobi desert, The Japanese codes were being read like the Sunday NY Times. I eagerly awaited book IX.
Lo and behold it comes out and it starts up in 1950! What happened!? It appears to me that 7 whole years were lost and no one seems to find this odd but me! You cannot write a series on WWII and have it end in 1943. The war went on until 1945. Yet I keep seeing reviews written and only 1 person so far has alluded to this serious gaffe.
Will some one please offer me a plausible reason for this. It appears that someone at the publisher has gotten the series out of sequence but will not admit it. That is what I think but the publisher is not responding. I guess they feel as if they are so big they don't have to offer an apology or explanation.
Rating: 
Summary: Another tale of the Marine Corps
Review: I've read about 20 Griffin books and, frankly, I don't like his characters or a lot of his attitudes. Major Kenneth "Killer" McCoy, the principal character of this and about 10 others of the Marine Corps series is one of my least favorite. McCoy is an arrogant, impertinent, know-it-all twerp and just once I would like to seem him get his just desserts of humiliation, humble pie, and a foxhole for life on the front lines. So why do I read Griffin? Because despite his obnoxious characters, he writes about war and the politics of war and he builds a story with lots of interesting details, mixing fact and fiction. His characters may be incredible, but he spins a mean yarn -- at great length it may be noted, but he's easy reading. He creates an air of authenticity with his military jargon and his confident descriptions of military culture. This is one of his moderately good efforts, about the beginning of the Korean War. Truman is here as a character and MacArthur -- and Griffin can't seem to make up his mind whether MacArthur is more of a great man or a buffoon, which makes Big Mac interesting. I would recommend that the reader start with the first book in the series and then continue reading the series in sequence -- until he can no longer tolerate another word about the detestable Ken McCoy.
Rating: 
Summary: Not Up to Griffin's Usual Standard
Review: Don't get me wrong -- Griffin could write the phone book and I'd read every word of it. And an average Griffin book is leagues ahead of most other popular authors' excellence. But this one just doesn't sing like most of his other books. I guess I'm getting a little weary of Griffin's trademarked characters who use, in this case, the Marines as their personal country club. I agree with other reviewers who feel that this book has a "churned out" feeling to it. Characters lacked Griffin's usual credibility. Some things border on the incredible, such as allowing McCoy's wife to be in on Top Secret - Presidential plans and some aspects of the lady reporter character. The novel is an excellent primer, however, on the Korean War and the military genius of McArthur. I just hope Griffin's not getting tired. Maybe he needs a little Famous Grouse...
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