Rating: 
Summary: Great from Griffin,but.....
Review: A typically absorbing read from the Master with brilliant,deadly accurate battle descriptions,but,like Roy Jaruk (an earlier reviewer), I still get confused about where in Killer McCoy's life we really are.I've felt familiar with the Pickering family for years,but so many unfilled detail about their lives between the end of WW11 and the start of the Korean conflict. And what happened to Clyde Dawkins and all the guys we left in the Pacific? Please WEB,write us some fill-in novels to bring us up to speed!
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: Brilliant Historical Fiction!
Review: There have arguably never been more substantial real-life characters than Harry S. Truman and Douglas MacArthur. To bring their personalities and significantly different styles to a work of fiction, and do so in a manner that makes the reader feel " in the room" with these men, is nothing short of masterful. To bring the historical significant year of 1950 to life, and then weave through it a tale replete with anguish, danger, intrigue, frustration, elation, humor, heroism, and moral outrage, is nothing short of phenomenal. To develop fictional characters with dynamic and diverse personalities, and bring them to life through dialog, is nothing short of fantastic. A work of fiction that can do all three is brilliant. Retreat Hell! is W.E.B. Griffin at his finest. Retreat Hell! is brilliant, and the W.E.B. Griffin is a literary genius by any standard. This is his best work to date. If you can read this book without laughing out loud, you never served in the military. If you can read this book without tears, you never served in the Marine Corps. If you can read this book without feeling outrage, you must be related to MacArthur. If you can read this book without being thoroughly entertained, then great historical fiction is beyond you. Five Stars!
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.
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