The Commander

by Patrick A. Davis

Unfairly passed over for promotion, Air Force investigator Burton Webber resigns from the service to work with his wife but reluctantly takes the case of a murdered Asian American girl, whose killer is being protected by the highest levels of the Korean and American governments. 25,000 first printing.

Genres: Mystery

352 pages, Hardcover

First published July 8, 2002

About the author

Patrick A. Davis is the national and New York Times bestselling author of six previous novels: The Commander, A Slow Walk to Hell, A Long Day for Dying, The Colonel, The General, and The Passenger. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and the Army Command and General Staff College, and a former Air Force major who flew during the Gulf War. He helped plan and direct U-2 surveillance operations for Operation Desert Storm and flew eleven combat sorties. He is a former pilot with a major airline.

Reviews

[Wendy]

This is an Excellent thriller/mystery set South Korea. It has enough plot twists to make your head spin.
A former Commander is asked to help solve the brutal murder of a South Korean "bar girl". Still pissed that he did not get a well deserved promotion, he balks at the very idea of helping his former superior. He reluctantly agrees. He is on a rocky ride with dirty US military politics, South Korea's irritating criminal system and culture.
As with many poor countries, South Korea has a very large sex trade that uses and demeans desperate destitute young girls. Patrick Davis depicts this glaringly well. He makes a good point: There would be no Sex Trade if the American Military kept their pants on.

[Cindy]

I found this interesting at first but felt it dragged in parts. The cultural aspects of the story were compelling, particularly the stigma of the bar girl and how her lifestyle is tied to how her family gets treated. Sad. The twists and turns the story took were at first intriguing but then became a bit unbelievable; particularly with regard to the inner workings of the military. I’ve enjoyed some of the authors other books, but I don’t consider this one of his best.

[Logan Weatherly]

This one was a little underwhelming for me. Started out very interesting but I felt like it was predictable and somewhat slow paced about half way through. Still worth the read but not one of my favorite Patrick Davis novels.

[Ed Stoll]

Lots of twist and turns - never know who you can believe.

[Lea Engeldinger]

3.5⭐️

[Len]

The book is not as good as the blurb wanted me to believe. It was okay but not as good as I expected it to be. The story happened in Korea, and about a girl who was gutted and the suspect was believed to be an American soldier.

When the current investigators couldn't identify the suspect, an American general wanted to bring into the investigation a former soldier who was supposedly the best investigator there was, but who resigned from his post. The reason for the resignation was the general didn't approved the former soldier's promotion because he married a Korean. This was the opening plot.

I was expecting more conflicts and international espionage, sadly I was disappointed.

[Bill Shuey]

First Davis book I have read, and after reading this one, I ordered two more. This is fast moving narrative concerning a murder outside of Osan AB, Korea and has several twists and turns to keep one interested and guessing.

The bigotry of race is discussed in the margins and will probably be little understood unless one has been in the military in the Far East--then it will resonate.

All in all a very interesting book.

[Stefan]

Patrick A. Davis’s military thrillers never fail to disappoint. ‘The Commander’ was no exception. The story moved along at a fast pace and the author weaved a lot of interesting commentary on U.S.-Korean tensions into the storyline.

[Andrea]

Locale is Osan Air Base South Korea. Air Force investigator resigns his commission and works in his wife's shop off the base. He becomes involved in a murder of a local at the request of a friend, and the trouble starts.

A page-turner.

[Mason]

He gets better with every book. I like the AF angle to his books. I hope he keeps writing. This was a great read.

[Tom]

Good story and explanation of the Korean culture.

[Marianne]

Davis's plot had more twists and turns than a highway in the Andes.
I like this author.

[John]

Easy read, pretty good

[Kaye Sivori]

I picked this book up because I'm going to S.Korea and this mystery takes place there...not a great read, I soon tired of it?

[Jim Moffett]

03-06 so.korean call girl set up in apt .killed . Affects govt and army

[Greg Ford]

Really like the writing and the characters developement.