Customer Reviews

A FLOCK OF SHIPS

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4 star:		(1)
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I remember this book being on my fathers bookshelf when i was a kid. I can still remember asking him what it was about. So, recently I was obliged to finally read the book. I can honestly say it is one of the top ten books i have have ever read. The story starts off at a fast pace and never stops. If you are a fan of World War Two naval action, do yourself a favor and read this book. The story goes: A survey vessel enters the harbor of an island in the middle of nowhere to find the rusting hulks of some merchant vessels and German submarines. After searching one the freighters they find a ship's log which tells the story of the fateful trip. The rest of the story is told in flasback to world war two through the log. The version I have has a quote from Alistair Maclean on the back cover, "This is the best war story I have ever read". I would have to agree.

This book certainly has all the details of military and civilian shipboard life done in a way that is sure to keep your interest. Historically set in World War II, the ship's log details how these vessels came to this remote island ,and the fate of the crews who had manned the ships. The dialog is quick paced and mirrors the attitudes of the Allied crews vs. their German adversaries. If you want to explore a sea mystery from a bygone era; I would recommend that you try this one, for its rendering of the seafarers' trials during the time when the Allied victory hinged on the performance of civilians, as well as military personnel. Their heroism has been overlooked for the most part in history books, but you will find it vividly described here in their performance under adversity.

Decades ago I acquired a Berkley paperback of this book copyrighted 1970 and read it for the first time around then. It stuck in my mind since then as a gripping seafaring mystery yarn. Last month (Dec. 2010) I plucked the now-crumbling paperback from my shelf to re-read during Chrismas travel. It grabbed me again immediately and I devoured it. With the perspective of time I now regard it as the the best sea-based novel I've ever read. It combines elements of real mystery with nautical verisimilitude, interesting characters, and a palpable sense of English merchant marine-ing during WWII. Not to be overlooked is the ship's engineer, a Scotsman, and his obsession over his wee engines akin to the famous Star Trek character Scotty. And the villain(s), when you find out who and how they are, prove to be really such. And then there is a certain old gun named Phyllis...

Long story short, I was delighted to find this still available on Amazon and have just ordered two copies, one to replace my physically crumbling one and the other as a gift for a fellow U.S. Navy veteran.

As with his other books, this is a very worthwhile read that is long on character development, as well as the evolution of the plot. The technical parts are nicely done and consistent with what I know of marine technology of the times.

Before Matthew Reilly or Clive Cussler, there was...Brian Callison. No one wrote war at sea better than Callison and his gritty, no holds barred prose puts you right in the center of boiling seas, flying schrapnel, strafing Stukas and stalking U-boats - so close in fact you can taste the salt on your skin. Flock of Ships was one of his big sellers and I was so glad to see it come to Kindle. I just wish, having devoured it in a couple of nights, that more of his back catalogue would find its way to the digital platfrom. In my opinion the one to watch for is his epic, 'Dawn Attack', a novel inspired by real events surrounding the British defence of Narvik in Norway against a German amphibious landing. Though i read it 20 years ago the writing is so vivid that I can recall whole passages still today...the fear of a British Tommy cowering in a ditch, terrified by the clatter and clank of an approaching tank, only to find it is a small fat German private with a wheelbarrow of looted silverware. Or the suicidal determination of a Messerchmitt pilot putting his fighter into a terminal dive, knowing he can either hit his target, or pull out of the dive, but not both... If anyone reading this owns the digital rights to the rest of Callison's body of work, PLEASE release on Kindle!