Path of the Storm

The Modern Naval Fiction Library

by Douglas Reeman

Arrow 1976 edition paperback vg++ In stock shipped from our UK warehouse

Genres: Historical Fiction, War, Fiction, Military Fiction

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

AKA Alexander Kent.
Douglas Edward Reeman was a British author who has written many historical fiction books on the Royal Navy, mainly set during either World War II or the Napoleonic Wars.

Reeman joined the Royal Navy in 1940, at the age of 16, and served during World War II and the Korean War. He eventually rose to the rank of lieutenant. In addition to being an author, Reeman has also taught the art of navigation for yachting and served as a technical advisor for films. Douglas married author Kimberley Jordan Reeman in 1985.

Reeman's debut novel, A Prayer for the Ship was published in 1958. His pseudonym Alexander Kent was the name of a friend and naval officer who died during the Second World War. Reeman is most famous for his series of Napoleonic naval stories, whose central character is Richard Bolitho, and, later, his nephew, Adam. He also wrote a series of novels about several generations of the Blackwood family who served in the Royal Marines from the 1850s to the 1970s, and a non-fiction account of his World War II experiences, D-Day : A Personal Reminiscence (1984).

Series:
* Blackwood Family

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Old submarine chaser USS Hibiscus has recently completed a refit in Hong Kong dockyard before being handed over to the Nationalist Communists in Taiwan. Suddenly she is handed over to Captain Mark Gunnar to command along with a quickly gathered crew scraped from various other US ships in port at the time and ordered to the desolate island group of Payenhau.

Gunnar has recently recovered from injuries sustained during his torture by the Viet Cong guerrillas and is haunted by the memories of what he had to endure. Initially he sees his new command as a poor reward for his experiences but soon comes to realise that he has been given a chance of redemption against a cunning and vicious adversary.

I don't know what it is but I love Reeman's books when he writes under the pseudonym of Alexander Kent and have read virtually all those books but when he writes under his own name they rarely seem to grab me in the same way. Perhaps it is the different ages when the books are set, the Kent series are set in the days of sailing ships and Nelson etc whereas Reeman's own are set during or just after WWII or perhaps it is because Kent's are part of a series so we see how the characters grow over several books whereas Reeman's are generally one offs. Who knows?

In many respects this book is stereotypical of so many in the genre. We have a honourable, brave, captain damaged by previous events who is given an aged ship to command, then fights and wins against impossible odds finding both love and redemption along the way. There are incompetent officers, double crosses and even a love interest squeezed in. But when all said and done it's a rollicking tale told at a breakneck pace. There is little character development other than what's absolutely necessary but you still end up hoping that the hero will ultimately succeed. Reeman is definitely at his best when describing life on board the ship as it and its crew's struggles to stay afloat during a typhoon.

If you are looking for some thought provoking, long living in the memory read then this is not for you but if you are looking for an escape into days when honour, duty and comradeship had real meaning then give it a whirl.

[Nigel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not one of Reeman's best. Set aboard on old US Submarine Chaser, the USS Hibiscus and in a fictitious conflict in the south east Asia, the plot drags along with little in the way of redeeming features until the action filled final 3 or 4 chapters. Regular readers of Reeman will recognise the usual old unfashionable ship and captain needing a fresh start as he struggles with his new command and crew that believe this would be a short trip as the ship was being sold off to the Taiwanese.
Things don't go quite to plan and ship's company find themselves stuck on the Payenhau island chain under the command of the local Marine Major who doesn't want them there and takes no notice of anything Captain Gunnar has to say.

[Nooilforpacifists · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of Reeman's last, most tortured books--and (not coincidentally) the only one, to my knowlege, centering on the U.S. Navy. The time--late 1960s. The place--the Formosa Straits. But some things don't change:



"She looked down at his fingers biting into her smooth skin and said quietly: 'I would do anything for you. I do not understand my own feelings, but I know what they mean towards you.'

Gunnar dropped to his knees besides her, his eyes searching her face. 'But I've told you nothing of myself, of my own life?'

'I know a lot about you, Captain. The rest will find its own way.'

Gunnar felt as if he was spinning round in tight circles. 'You must not call me "captain". It's indecent!'

She touched his mouth with her fingers, her eyes moving across his face as if to search out the tension and destroy it. 'But you are my captain now!'"


Yuk. I count four eyes, two faces, two fingers, skin, some knees, a mouth, and a metaphorical bite. Not to mention plain awful, outdated writing.


Yet…for all that, the actual plot and action weren't bad. Quite a few twists; it didn't become obvious until about 25 pages from the end.

[Philip Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has all the elements you would expect from a Douglas Reeman book: damaged skipper seeking redemption on a ship bound for the knacker's yard with its full complement of crew courtesy of Central Casting. Thankfully their "last mission" isn't as simple as it seems. Stuff happens, there's a girl - cue token lovey dovey stuff - and a climactic sea battle. This book isn't going to change your life but it delivers the good old-fashioned 'derring do' you expect from this author.
It's not one of his finest perhaps because he chooses to switch to the US Navy for a change. This mostly convinces with perhaps the first documented "PTSD Viet Nam flashback hero" I've come across (the book was written in 1963, way before Rambo etc). There's the odd mis-step (would US sailors say "buggers" or "arse"?) and it drags a fair bit before the action hots up: Red China stirring up trouble in the Formosa Straits. The dialogue hasn't date well and is occasionally sniggersome ("I guess it'll be up to my little three inch sir?").
The geo-politics are handled fairly evenly in this reader's view and there's even a critical eye cast on the Royal Navy (returning refugees to Hong Kong in the knowledge they'll be handed back to China). Some of the characters deviate from cliche: Maddox is a flawed first officer and there are a couple of pantomine villains who get to redeem themselves heroically in an ending that doesn't have an ounce of fat.

[Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely a different feel to other Reeman stories, whether due to being set on US Navy vessel instead of an RN one, or the Cold War setting as opposed to a World War 2 one. A few British-isms in the dialogue came through here and there, and some of the characterisation felt definitely within the formula, but the lack of an obvious enemy until the end made it interesting. That said, the description of seafaring and the battle scenes were riveting as per usual.

[John Taussig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personalities and naval war.

A complex story but very strong 2nd half of the book. No super heroes but different men and women coping with life and war. Not always pretty but Iwill try another of the author’s books

[Ed Cotey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read, but a abrupt ending.

The editor of this book left a lot of type O’s in this book. Good read though. I had hoped there was more of an ending, and not just a abrupt drop off.

[Lyle Lawson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A bit dated but a pretty good yarn!

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook.

[Peter Dundee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great tale

Story carries you along to a satisfying . Loved it for the entertainment and honesty. Want more like this to enrich my life.

[Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

Might not be the worst sea story between two book covers, but it would make the finals list. Worst I plowed through in a long time.

[Eric_W · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alexander Kent, who writes the Bolitho Napoleonic War series, is the pseudonym of Douglas Reeman, who writes modern naval fiction. Unlike the Bolitho series, which features the adventures of Richard Bolitho as he moves up the ranks to admiral, Reeman employs a variety of characters and vessels to populate his modern books, set mostly during WWII or later. Path of the Storm takes place after the Vietnam War. Mark Gunnar, captain of the Hibiscus, an old submarine chaser, has been ordered to sail her to the island of Payenhau, where she will be eventually turned over to the Nationalist Chinese.

The ship has the usual complement of maladjusted naval characters: the captain driven to revenge by the memories of his torture as a captive of the Vietnamese; the semi-competent executive officer; and the AWOL seaman who rapes a local village girl. Reeman, who served on Arctic convoy ships as a British naval officer during WWII is at his best when he describes shipboard activities and particularly the ferocious typhoon that catches the Hibiscus at sea. Unbeknownst to Gunnar, the island has been infiltrated with Communist agents, who try to seize the island prior to a full-scale invasion of Taiwan. Gunnar and the Hibiscus, of course, play a crucial and decisive role in saving the island (very predictably). But for us sea buffs, the portrayal of the ship at sea is worth the predictable plot.

[Michael Koch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reeman has been one of my favourite authors for several decades. He might not always be five stars but he is always consistent. He writes in a way that puts the pressure squarely on the protagonist who has to fight through the issues himself or he and his team (often a ship) will fail. The protagonist has to be a great leader as well as exercising great technical skills; in this case as a ship's captain. In this book, the protagonist is always addressed as Captain since he is commander of the ship, his rank is actually Lieutenant Commander.

Often

[Xdw · Rating 2 out of 5]

so so navy action adventure