COUNTERATTACK CST

Rating:
Summary: Confusing, convoluted, not one of his better books...
Review: Griffin's books normally run in a chronological order, with frequent and sometimes confusing flashbacks. Yes this book goes back and starts chronologically somewhere in the middle of book one of The Corps and revisits people and places we've already seen and been to. This book also throws names at you, LOTS and lots of new characters and places, people who didn't exist in the first two books and yet appear in the time frame those two books take place in. If you put finished the 2nd book in the series and expected this to pick up where that left off with the characters you were reading about and interested in, you'll be sadly disappointed as most of the people we've already met have only supporting roles in this novel.

Rating:
Summary: A Waste of Time
Review: I picked up these books hoping to gain some insight into the actions of the Marine Corps in the Pacific during World War II. What I found instead was a sort of soap opera that rambles on for hundreds of pages without getting around to much actual fighting. For example, The Marines don't even get to Guadalcanal (their first major offensive) until the end of book III, some 1200 pages into the story. Those 1200 intervening pages are mostly conversations (ad nauseam) between stateside Marine Corps officers as they sit around headquarters, or go out on the town chasing skirts.

The small portion of the books that is devoted to actual battles is done in such a cursory fashion that you're left with the impression that the author either finds this aspect of the Marines' mission distasteful, or doesn't understand it well enough to write about it. Mr. Griffin could have deleted about 80% of his material, and would have ended up with better books, albeit still not good ones.

If you're the sort of person who likes to watch daytime soap operas, then you may enjoy these books. If, on the other hand, you're interested in military history, the banality of these books will leave you screaming in frustration.

Rating:
Summary: If you missed The Big One (WWII)
Review: This is the third installment of Griffin's epic about the Marine Corps in World War II. It begins with the attack on Pearl Harbor and ends with the landing on Guadalcanal. It's the usual Griffin fare.

It's an absolute must for those who, like my husband, feel cheated because they missed out on WWII (he was too young).