A Call to Colors: A Novel of the Leyte Gulf [Mass Market Paperback]

John Gobbell (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 26, 2006

“Wonderful . . . a rousing dramatization of history’s greatest sea battle.”
–James D. Hornfischer, author of The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors


“I shall return” is General Douglas MacArthur’s promise to the Filipinos. It will take 165,000 troops and 700 ships in the bloody battle of Leyte Gulf to do it.

Among them is the destroyer USS Matthew and her skipper, Commander Mike Donovan, a veteran haunted by earlier savage battles. What Donovan doesn’t know is that Vice Admiral Takao Kurita of Japan has laid an ingenious trap as the Matthew heads for the treacherous waters of Leyte Gulf. But Donovan faces something even deadlier than Kurita’s battleships: Explosives secretly slipped on board American ships by saboteurs are set to detonate at any time. Now the Matthew’s survival hinges on the ability of Donovan and his men to dismantle a bomb in the midst of the panic and the chaos of history’s greatest naval battle.

“Gobbell’s sea tales . . . will have you looking up your nearest Navy recruiter.”
–W.E.B. Griffin

“[John Gobbell is] a first-rate storyteller.”
–Stephen Coonts

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John J. Gobbell served as a U.S. Navy deck officer assigned to Pacific fleet destroyers in the early days of the Vietnam conflict. In civilian life, Gobbell entered the executive recruiting field, conducting assignments for prime defense contractors, among others. His other novels include The Brutus Lie, The Last Lieutenant, A Code for Tomorrow, When Duty Whispers Low, and The Neptune Strategy. He lives in Laguna Niguel, California. You can visit his website at www.JohnJGobbell.com.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 512 pages
• Publisher: Presidio Press (September 26, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0891418903
• ISBN-13: 978-0891418900
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.1 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #340,903 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

JOHN J. GOBBELL is a former Navy Lieutenant who saw duty as a destroyer weapons officer. His ship served in the South China Sea, granting him membership in the exclusive ATonkin Gulf Yacht Club.@ As an executive recruiter, his clients include military/commercial aerospace companies giving him insight into character development under a historical thriller format. A Code For Tomorrow is the second of four stand-alone novels in the Todd Ingram series. Altogether, he has written six novels involving U.S. Navy action and is currently at work on his seventh. He and his wife Janine live in Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at [e-mail]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars So-real ficitonal account, November 14, 2006

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Call to Colors: A Novel of the Leyte Gulf (Mass Market Paperback)

(Historical fiction)

The Battle of Leyte Gulf took place on October 24 and 25 in 1944. Without a doubt it was the final battle in the history of the world where naval surface combatants were in actual physical sight of each other.

In John J. Gobbell's A Call To Colors he takes us back to that tenuous time late in the war when most of the strategic minds within the U.S. and Japanese militaries were certain of one thing. The Japanese had lost the war. The questions that remained were, how would the remaining resources of the Japanese armed services be used.

Gobbell has constructed a fictional account of an American destroyer and her crew and placed them in the unenviable location of the famous squadron of ships known to most World War II historians as Taffy 3. The under armed, outnumbered men of Taffy 3 faced the most powerful force of Japanese warships ever assembled, all centered on the super battleship Yamato. Gobbell's account of the battle concentrates on Commander Mike Donovan, Captain of the destroyer USS Matthew, taking us through the events that lead Donavon from his terrifying experiences during his first engagement with the enemy to his taking command of the Matthew.

Interspersed are two side stories. The first involves the U.S. military railway and how it underwent some determined foreign sabotage. This story does deviate from the Donovan story--just when you want to know more. From a historical standpoint, the military railway story is very interesting, and Gobbell does use it to tie a lean parallel story concerning an estranged friend of Donovan's now back into his life, however the book could have stood alone without it. The second perspective is a Japanese point of view and is helpful because the Japanese simply don't write about their failures in WWII. I have no doubt this is a fictional account, but without the real thing, this is a great addition to the book.

The writing is good; and the character development is paced well. From a historical standpoint, everything appears to be in the right place.

Armchair Interviews says: Anyone who likes a good historical WWII fiction can't go wrong with A Call to Colors.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A real page turner, January 9, 2007

By 

Eric Hench "The Henchman" (Tehachapi, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Call to Colors: A Novel of the Leyte Gulf (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a really nice yarn about WW II in the Pacific with enough subplots to keep you interested. I thought Gobbell did a really good job of tying all the pieces together and keeping the story compelling. A good read for all history buffs.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is such a great book!, June 2, 2007

By 

Nanday Conure (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Call to Colors: A Novel of the Leyte Gulf (Mass Market Paperback)

This is such a great book! I will admit I was surprised ... because it is so much better than so many books I have picked up that are novels at the top of the best seller list. This is an exciting story and because it was filled with such a wide variety of interesting facts ... historical as well as not .... it made it such a book of substance for me, so that I did not want the story to end.

At first I was daunted that I might not get into it, but immediately I realized I should not have been thrown off by the attention to detail that this author pays in his organization of this story. By that I mean he has done exactly what it is that I have so wanted to be done in a book that I might be reading that has many interesting characters and takes place over many areas, as well as from different perspectives. He has laid out a brief character cast description in the beginning of the book. The few maps are perfect for referring to and I used them constantly to understand the logistics of the events that were happening. I was so surpised by how enthralled I got. It is a story set somewhat from a Naval perspective during World War II but boy, the narrative goes all over the place in personalizing each and every character - as if you were right there with them. And this is with characters extending from General MacArthur to Japanese Naval Admirals! Not my every day cup of tea in the past that I would have thought I would have been interested in. But he does not write in a boring way at all so that it was wonderful to read about men in the Japanese navy from such a REAL perspective. There are characters on both sides of varied enlisted status but also civilians living in California towns surrounding the railway transportation routes. There is a wonderful female doctor who plays a good role in the story because she lives right near this important rail line. I was enthralled learning a little about the history of the Northern California railroad development because of the way that he made historical facts so accessible to me. I avoided history in school but this book wove facts into such a great story that I became eager to read on about the escalation of naval battles that were taking place and I kept on being able to sense where everything was taking place because of the 2 maps. It just was great that the story encompassed a wide geographical area and a wide variety of facts.

It is a very knowledgeable novel that remains exciting through out. And unlike so many best sellers that are knee deep in murders and swarmy facts that make me always feel a bit down, this story is uplifting and the facts are so interesting. There are numbered notes in the back to explain terms that come up. You remain hooked into the story even though it is a far reaching array of characters. It's a cliche I know but he truly has a gift with bringing his characters to life - their dialog .. their descriptions. I was captivated and I really regretted it ending this week. I definitely now want to read another of his earlier novels. The Neptune Strategy