Rating: 
Summary: You can taste the salt
Review: This book presented a wonderful array of characters and an easy-to-follow, interesting story line. The political games that the characters played, the blatant neglect of the fleet by those in power, and the underhanded actions of shady characters all added up to a fun ride for any reader. Donald Hutton has opened the door of this trilogy in fine fashion.
Rating:
Summary: A Fairly Good Book
Review: This is a book about sevral US Coast Guard Intellingence officer who uncover an ill-legal operation within the Coast Guard. This book starts with the mysterious sinking of one of the Coast Guards Cutters, and when it is invistigated, thier is a lot of suspesion. It takes the setting to sevral diffrent parts of the US, and deals with the point of views of sevral charaecters, both good and bad. I would recomend this book to anyone who knows some things about the Coast Guard, or would like to know about it. Even though there are some slow parts to this book, there are still many exciting parts to it, and it's a fairly good book.
Rating:
Summary: A Fairly Good Book
Review: This is a book about sevral US Coast Guard Intellingence officer who uncover an ill-legal operation within the Coast Guard. This book starts with the mysterious sinking of one of the Coast Guards Cutters, and when it is invistigated, thier is a lot of suspesion. It takes the setting to sevral diffrent parts of the US, and deals with the point of views of sevral charaecters, both good and bad. I would recomend this book to anyone who knows some things about the Coast Guard, or would like to know about it. Even though there are some slow parts to this book, there are still many exciting parts to it, and it's a fairly good book.
Rating: 
Summary: It ain't the great American novel of the U.S. Coast Guard
Review: While author Donald Hutton may have served in the Coast Guard, its obvious from reading his novel that he hasn't stood on the deck of a cutter in ages. While other successful authors of military novels such as Tom Clancey go out of thier way to be factually acurate, Hutton takes a hapharzard approach to exsisting facts that undermines the authority with which he trys to speak about the Coast Guard. He doesn't seem to know the difference between a 210' WMEC and a 110' patrol cutter. He doesn't seem to know the difference between a 44' motor surfboat and 41' utility boat. Although such minutia may be of little concern to the average reader, the Coastie who picks up this book (and I can't imagine many folks outside the USCG even wanting to read it) will become frustrated with the poor research from the very first page. Beyond the factual errors the story itself is rather dull. It contains cookie-cutter characters: There's the alcoholic officer with a heart of gold who's always in trouble with his superiors. He falls in love with the female officer who has beauty AND brains. Then there's the token gay enlisted man trying to hide his sexuality, the commanding officer who's interested only in furthering his own career by stepping on everyone, etc. etc. etc. You've seen it all before in a dozen other formats. It may merit watching Hutton to see what he produces in the expected sequal to A Deep Blue Sounding (to be called "Coxsakie"), but if the factual errors and cardboard characters aren't gone by then, I know I won't be investing in the third volume of the trilogy.
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