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Retreat, Hell! (The Corps #10)
It is the fall of 1950. The Marines have made a pivotal breakthrough at Inchon, but a roller coaster awaits them. While Douglas MacArthur chomps at the bit, intent on surging across the 38th parallel, Brigadier General Fleming Pickering works desperately to mediate the escalating battle between MacArthur and President Harry Truman. And somewhere out there, his own daredevi...more
Paperback, 640 pages
Published
December 28th 2004
by Jove
(first published January 1st 2004)
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A stirring romp through the early days of the Korean War, with interesting characters and apparent verisimilitude. The semi-fictional characters and discussions appear realistic, except for the miraculously (unnecessarily) multilingual hero. Unfortunately (spoiler alert) the plot never really gets to the historical point exemplified in the title... there's not even much actual fighting described. But Marines will love it for the banter and political infighting and descriptions of protocol observ...more
This book is the last of "The Corps" series. It's full of action with plenty of human interest events in it. Wish I had started this series with the first of "The Corps" series (Semper Fi) and continued down the series instead reading the last first. Griffin is pretty much into keeping the same characters in his novels, and makes you look forward to following the characters from book to book.
Griffin has a way of making you feel you are part of the plot. His description of the characters make you...more
Griffin has a way of making you feel you are part of the plot. His description of the characters make you...more
Apr 07, 2013
Valerie Curtis
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Shelves:
series,
korean-war,
war,
war-military,
historical-fiction,
historical-novel,
pacific,
military,
military-history,
military-ops
At first I was just going to say that I didn’t enjoy this. It was totally unbelievable the way that all the military people were being disrespectful, etc., etc. But then, I started thinking – all the books have been like that. The only problem with this book is that the story line sucked. I really didn’t “feel” with the characters. I read for entertainment and this book made me feel like I was working to get through the chapters.
Okay, I've finished the book and I'm still not "satisfied". This is...more
Okay, I've finished the book and I'm still not "satisfied". This is...more
So this is the end.
It was all in all an entertaining book series, even if the author completelly missed his own premise to tell something about "the Corps". If you get over that expectation and read it as a mixture of a James Bond novel and a historical fiction set in wartimes (WW2 & Korea) then it's highly enjoyable.
Sadly all the volumes don't even paint half an image of the decade and a half the action is set in, but then there never was the label "precise history of the War". And at the e...more
It was all in all an entertaining book series, even if the author completelly missed his own premise to tell something about "the Corps". If you get over that expectation and read it as a mixture of a James Bond novel and a historical fiction set in wartimes (WW2 & Korea) then it's highly enjoyable.
Sadly all the volumes don't even paint half an image of the decade and a half the action is set in, but then there never was the label "precise history of the War". And at the e...more
I guess I learned a little about the beginning of the Korean War, but this book had too too much trivial trivial detail that was constantly constantly repeated repeated over and over. For example, calling Gen. Douglas MacArthur, "Supreme Commander, General of the Army", maybe 476 times. If he was trying it for effect or getting paid by the word, it began to distract from the story. The main story was interesting, but finished with a half hearted attempt at beginning a romance in the last 50 page...more
Sep 02, 2010
Benjamin Thomas
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
thriller-military,
historical-fiction
This is the 10th book in WEB Griffin's fictional series involving the US Marine Corps. I almost always enjoy Griffin's work, especially the historical tidbits that make it all interesting. He takes ordinary people and thrusts them into extraordinary historical circumstances, a technique which alows us to go along for the ride and see perspectives on events that you wouldn't normally experience in history textbooks.
This particular entry in the series was one of the best of the entire Corps serie...more
This particular entry in the series was one of the best of the entire Corps serie...more
Book 10 of the Corps covered the time period between the invasion of Inchon and the battle of the Chosin Resevoir or the Frozen Chosin as it is referred to in Marine Corps Lore.
I liked the development of longtime characters and the introduction of many new ones. My favorite parts were the evolution of warfare due to technological advances (helicopters) and the early evolution of spec ops (both military and CIA).
A great read that I recommend to military buffs and fans of historical fiction.
I liked the development of longtime characters and the introduction of many new ones. My favorite parts were the evolution of warfare due to technological advances (helicopters) and the early evolution of spec ops (both military and CIA).
A great read that I recommend to military buffs and fans of historical fiction.
Apr 28, 2013
James Burns
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
fiction,
my-librairy
This Was a surprise, this the first web Griffin biik that I had read, It was superb,history in novel form. It may be fictin but has historical accruacy and truth. It describes fictional events with historical to describe events leading to the Chinese intervention in the Korean War. The Patrayel of the Historical Characters was Right on.
This series stunk! I read the entire series hoping for some kind of combat action, but was disappointed time after time. The main character seemed to miss every major action of WWII...the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the invasion of the Philippines, etc. I would not recommend this series to anyone I liked!
Was a great way to wrap up the series.....I was hoping for more details on the characters as they move on in life.....but I will not go into details as I do not want to let anything out.....I did find it a great read and loved it.....wished that there were move in the series.
The only reason I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 is because I loved the series so much when it was set in WWII. Mr. Griffin threw me a curve when this one came out. After saying this, most of my favorite characters are back and better than ever. A great read.
I have read the "Corps" series no less than three times!!! I am a big fan of these books.. The characters are relatable. I have a difficult time putting them down once I start!
I really enjoyed this series. I wished some of the story lines were tied together a little tighter at the end.
one of my favorite in the series---being a Marine Veteran I really enjoyed this series of his books. read it years ago
Better than book 9, definitely some of the old Griffin magic in this one.
it was great
but it was long and boring in parts
but it was long and boring in parts
This lost a star because of the abrupt ending. Here I've gone ten books following the exploits of a handful of awesome Marines, but mostly of Ken McCoy and Pick Pickering, and W.E.B. cuts off before Korea is resolved! Does Pick stick with this latest greatest girl? Does McCoy get to stay a Marine or do he and Ernie get into the Hilton Head development scheme? Is their baby okay? SO MANY QUESTIONS. As with the rest of the series though, there is plenty of excitement, humor, and for me, historical...more
Aug 19, 2009
Rick Breeden
added it
War and Espionage go hand and hand.
Oct 08, 2012
Mark Stuart
added it
Excellent!
Korean war cont.
WB Griffin does a better job storytelling a Marine/CIA saga then a cop yarn but nonetheless , he leaves so much action & details out of the book that you come away unsatisfied after finishing.
Good book. Last in the series. Didn't care for the ending. Seems like there should be more.
This concludes Griffin's series on the Marine Corps during WWII and Korea. I think I liked this series better than his Army series because I was able to get closer to the characters. Not that they were necessarily more likeable but there was more to them. A very enjoyable series and I highly recommend Griffin's books to anyone who enjoys a good read.
I've read this whole series "The Corps". Not my usual, but I found myself caught up in the characters, a group of young Marines as they battle from Korea to Vietnam. I always look for Griffin's next book, although I ahven't read the Badge of Honor or Men at War series.
a great start, but way too long. I guess he wanted to write the single greatest book on the korean war. would have worked better as a series.
Shift to Korea. The last in Corps series.
Excellent!
M Gri
May 18, 2013
Heather
marked it as to-read
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W.E.B. Griffin is one of several pseudonyms for William Edmund Butterworth III.
From the Authors Website:
W.E.B. Griffin is the author of thirty-six epic novels in six series, all of which have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly and other best-seller lists. More than forty million of his books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chine...more
More about W.E.B. Griffin...
From the Authors Website:
W.E.B. Griffin is the author of thirty-six epic novels in six series, all of which have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly and other best-seller lists. More than forty million of his books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chine...more
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