Close Combat

CLOSE COMBAT is W.E.B. Griffin's epic novel of World War II--a powerful, dramatic tribute to the brave men and women who lived it...The captain who led his squadron in to the fiercest air battles of the Pacific. The correspondent who learned more about combat than he bargained for. The Marine who embarked on a top secret mission from which there was no certain return... From Publishers Weekly Set in 1942, the sixth book (following Line of Fire ) in Griffin's series about The Corps revolves around a war bond tour featuring Marine heroes of the Guadalcanal campaign. Series fans will recognize the central characters, among them Marine general and presidential troubleshooter Fleming Pickering, his fighter pilot son Pick, and movie mogul Homer Dillon, a Marine for the duration. Griffin has Marine Corps lore and trivia down pat, and he uses the bond-tour story line to convey the public-relations aspects of modern war. Essentially, however, the novel succeeds because the alcoholic and amorous exploits of its stateside heroes could be mink-lined wish fulfillment for the fantasies of the average soldier--most of the "close combat" here takes place in various bedrooms. Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.