Retreat, Hell

Rating:
Summary: Killer McCoy Goes to Korea, Part II : Inchon to Chosin
Review: A major improvement over the mediocre Under Fire, Griffin returns to form with Retreat, Hell! He shows his usual impeccable attention to detail and histoical accuracy, which was sadly lacking in Under Fire.

This novel covers the peiod in the Korean War in which the situation turned around for the UN forces and the overextended North Koreans were chased back across the 38th Parallel with the US Army and its allies in full pursuit. The Pick Pickering-is-MIA situation is resolved in an imaginative way I didn't see coming; a couple of new characters are introduced who seem very interesting (and don't I just wish Griffin could rewrite the Brotherhood of War series to integrate them into it!); and a character is killed off in a way that is utterly consistent and tragic, with the potential for serious impact on others in the next book. Good writing.

I have to admit that I find what Griffin is doing with Ken McCoy a little disconcerting. He seems to think McCoy's name is Mac MacMillan and that he is running Task Force Able. However, as Griffin seem to have no intention of crossing any Brotherhood of War characters over to The Corps (given what he has his characters doing, I would have expected at least passing references to the activities of MacMillan and Mouse Felter, if not to Duke Lowell and his panzers), I suppose there are no grounds for complaint.

The timeline is heading into the final confrontation between Truman and MacArthur. The one thing that surprised and disappointed me, given El Supremo's frequent appearances and conversations with Brigadier General Pickering, is that there is no sign of the animosity that was building, not even at the Wake Island Conference (or 'summit') between Truman and MacArthur; at which he has Pickering present at Truman's orders. Both men commented extensively on it in their autobiographies, but their dislike for each other is absent here. Griffin usually has a better feel for interpersonal relations between major real people than that.

Griffin also, which earned him my respect, addresses the issue of medals for valor that are awarded for other than the type of actions for which they are supposed to be presented. The problem was epidemic in Vietnam, but I didn't realize its roots went back to Korea. This subplot, involving Ken McCoy, Billy Dunn, Pick Pickering and General Clyde Dawkins (and I wish we saw more of The Dawk), offers an informative look not merely at the process by which medals are awarded, but also at the warrior ethos which permits warriors to accept them - or not.

The bottom line: While I wish W.E.B. Griffin would go back and finish the World War II portion and the interbellum part of this series (in particular the sections dealing with McCoy's time at the Command & General Staff College, how and why he was reduced in grade from major to captain when by time in grade he would have been in the zone for promotion to lieutenant colonel, how on earth the cowardly, self-serving Macklin was promoted and why he wasn't run out of the service, and whatever happened to a number of characters I care about), this book is a page-turner I gulped down in one afternoon. The tempo is fast and the visual melody sharp and clear. It's well worth reading, and more than once.

The trouble is, now I have to wait impatiently for the next one!

Rating:
Summary: An entertaining read, well-written, but not what I expected.
Review: As it happens, I have not yet read any of Griffen's other "Brotherhood of War" novels, so this review may be less insightful than those written by persons who are more familiar with the series. I picked this one up because the Korean War has always interested me, and I am always up for a rousing novel about the courage of the US Marines!

This novel was not what I expected, not meaning to be critical. First of all, virtually the whole novel takes place during what amounts to a slow point in the Korean War--where the US/UN forces have the North Koreans on the run after the brilliant Inchon landing, and before the Red Chinese intervention. The story is essentially centered on the interaction between President Truman and MacArthur during this period, and the stupidity of MacArthur's intelligence staff in failing to predict the Chinese entry into the war.

The story dwells on small personal and intricate political matters within the American command in Korea. Evidently some of the characters hail from earlier (and later?) "Brotherhood of War" novels, and possibly readers of these books will appreciate the sub-plots involving these characters more than I did. One thing Griffen does exceedingly well is to create the atmosphere of what it might have been like to be in Korea during this time. The author writes with an authenticity that is indisputedly real. The reader feels transported to the early days of the Korean War.

My overall evaluation is that this novel never quite takes off, although it does make for an entertaining read. First of all, I expected a story dealing with the first desperate days when the Chinese caught the American forces unprepared for their onslaught. Not at all. This novel deals almost entirely with the period before this, where the possibility of Chinese involvement was being hotly debated. There are no "Retreat--Hell" scenarios in this novel. Instead, this book sets the stage for possibly a later story along these lines. Griffen does a good enough job here that I'll probably be up for it.

Rating:
Summary: REALISTIC, RAW, AND RIVETING
Review: Award winning actor James Naughton has garnered Tonys and won accolades for his screen and TV appearances. He masterfully takes center stage for this no holds barred reading on the Abridged and CD editions of the latest from the literary master of the military W. E. B. Griffin.

With the fifth in his series covering the history of the U.S. Marines we are taken to the year 1950 in Korea. General Douglas MacArthur is bent on crossing the 38th parallel and the Yalu River convinced it is safe, that Chinese are not lurking there. However, Major Ken McCoy has an entirely different idea. This is not the only disagreement: as many will remember General MacArthur and President Truman were fighting a different battle of their own. General Fleming Pickering finds himself in the middle of this dispute as tries to bring peace between the two stubborn men.

Realistic, raw, and riveting. Don't miss "Retreat, Hell!"

- Gail Cooke

Rating:
Summary: still the Five Star General
Review: By late September 1950, sent by General Douglas "El Supreme" MacArthur, the marines make a key landing on the Korean Peninsular. The General plans to send his forces across the 38th parallel in order to repel the North Koreans beyond the Yalu River. Though he expects no Chinese forces, he has USMC Major Ken "Killer" McCoy and his "lost" patrol seek enemy information.

Meanwhile BG Pickering earns frequent flyer miles as he struggles to lessen the growing dispute between Commander-in-Chief Truman and ex facto supreme commander of the United Nation's forces MacArthur. Pickering also has a personal concern with his son "Pick" missing in action beyond enemy lines. Pick knows if the Commies capture him, they will execute him. He has survived fifty-eight days due to luck, some local help, and by constantly moving about, but staying near his downed plane. Killer finds evidence that Pick still lives, but cannot search for the MIA as he and his men have captured an apparent Intel Officer with information that massive Chinese forces await the Americans.

No one does American military history novels better than W.E.B. Griffin does as he shows with this deep look at the early stages of the Korean Conflict. The story line grips the audience from the moment Pick struggles to survive and never lets up. The key as always to the Corps novels (this is the tenth) is the support cast that brings out real events so that the audience feels the battle as much as the political intrigue at home. Genre fans will once again salute the Five Star General for his wonderfully exhilarating book.

Harriet Klausner

Rating:
Summary: from inchon to where?
Review: Good action book, however title doesn't reflect book, since the story ends around 5 Nov, about 3 to 4weeks before the Chosin campaign. ONLY mention of the Chosin campaignis is the AFTERWORD, in which Griffin completly underestimates the numer of Chinese that attacked 8th Army, X Corps & 1st Marine Division by over 290.000 men. He ought to have checked the official records, rather than using "El Supremo's' figures. In addition, the cover art is of the late Marine Paul Ison of Florida, and his dash through the 'Valley of Death' on OKINOWA in 1945! What does this have to do with Korea, except Mr. Ison was a Marine. Other than poor facts, book was good. He had the Chinese estimates better in the fiction part of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Just not the same
Review: I became a fan of W. E. B. Griffin in 1994 when I read the first book in the Corps series. I was hooked and subsequently read all of his offerings that were in print, and eagerly awaited his new releases that generally came out once a year. I have noticed a substantial change in Mr. Griffin's books in recent years. They still have the detailed description of characters, equipment and military policy of his past works, but there is little plot and the recent releases certainly are not "page turners". If you expect this edition to rival his earlier efforts you will be disappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Terrible war story!
Review: I have read hundreds of books on warfare, both fiction and nonfiction, and this one is definately the worst. Hundreds of pages long, many unnecessary digressions and almost no action. Also, some parts are in questionable taste, particularly where a "hero" while actually viewing the casket of his fiancee who had been killed in Korea, falls in love (lust?) with a woman who had, the day before, attended the funeral of her Marine flyer husband. This subject actually closed the book.

Rating:
Summary: Where's the story?
Review: I read the first 7 or 8 of Griffin's books on the Corps, but this one leaves me flat. Griffin's goes into great detail on his characters but there is no real plot. In many parts of the book there is page after page of meaningless descriptions and dialogue. I get the feeling that Mr. Griffin is only filling pages. After skipping some of his later books, I wanted to try him again. "Retreat Hell!" just doesn't do it for me.

Rating:
Summary: Great from Griffin,but.....
Review: This book is an epic, in the grand style, set during the Korean War of 1950-53. Following the Inchon landings, the North Korean Army is on the run. But, even as they follow, the leadership of the American army is locked in internecine war of its own, even as General MacArthur plunges ahead taking advice only from those who tell him what he wants to hear. But, this is not just a story of generals. This is also the story of a downed Marine fighter pilot who begins to learn humility, and an intelligence team whose hard-earned information is not wanted.

OK, I must admit that this is the first W.E.B. Griffin book that I have read, so I cannot compare it to any others. But, what I read impressed the heck out of me. This is a great story, less about wars than about the men who fight them; their loves and hates, their sense of duty and their overweening pride. I really enjoyed this book, and highly recommend it to you.

Rating:
Summary: A little long on padding and short on story
Review: This is the 10th in Griffin's Marine Corps series and I've read them all along with another 10 or so of Griffin's other military novels. In portraying U.S. military culture, folkways, and technology he's unmatched.

"Retreat Hell" tells the story of the Korean War in the couple of months of 1950 while the North Koreans were on the run and it looked like the U.S. would have its troops "home for Christmas." The surprising intervention of hundreds of thousands of Communist Chinese soldiers was to set the US troops back on their heels and force a bitter, bloody winter retreat. This book tells the story of a CIA unit gathering evidence that the Chinese are going to intervene and the unwillingness of "El Supremo" (General Douglas MacArthur) to believe the evidence.

That sounds interesting and it is, but "Retreat Hell" is crowded with too much minutiae and too little story. Much of the book describes the preparation, distribution, and reading of memoranda, eating and drinking, and military machinations to steal men and material from each other. Endless and tiresome accolades are showered on the omnipotent hero, Major Kenneth "Killer" McCoy. Calling this a book about the Marine Corps is a stretch, as most of the book is about a CIA unit, politicians, and generals, including Harry S. Truman and the aforementioned El Supremo.

I like Griffin's books and this one has some nuggets of interest, but "Retreat Hell" doesn't have much of substance or story to recommend it.

Smallchief