Call to Duty [Hardcover]

Richard Herman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1993

When modern-day pirates cruelly target a group of well-connected Americans on their yacht in the China Sea, a high-stakes political brushfire sweeps the halls of the White House and Capitol Hill. 100,000 first printing. $60,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This engrossing, character-based thriller by the author of Firebreak divides its time between the present day and WW II. In the present, a feared drug-smuggling organization kidnaps the daughter of powerful Sen. William Courtland, planning to use her as leverage against U.S. narcotics agents. Courtland, who cares less about his daughter than his career, pressures President Matthew Pontowski to order a Delta force raid on the smugglers' home base. Either way the senator wins: if his daughter is saved, fine; if she's killed in the raid, Pontowski loses face and Courtland is positioned to win the next presidential election. Faced with this dilemma, Pontowski reflects on his experiences as a downed RAF pilot making his way across occupied France during WW II. The two plots mesh well in a briskly paced narrative. Herman's characterizations are fluent and convincing; he depicts combat, both past and present, with involving realism, and his sparing use of gore makes those scenes which contain it all the more effective. The novel closes with two highly dramatic and satisfying climaxes.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A group of young Americans with important political connections is kidnapped in the Pacific, launching an odyssey of political and military action that involves a wide variety of characters, including the president of the United States. The author, a retired U.S. Air Force officer, demonstrates an impressive familiarity with his subject; both the writing style and the attention to technical detail are reminiscent of his other works (e.g., Firebreak, Morrow, 1991; Warbirds, LJ 2/15/89). The primary problem is that Herman has tried to write two novels in one: the main plot of the rescue of the youths is interlaced with another story of the president's World War II experiences. This, combined with the large casts of characters involved in both plots, makes Call to Duty confusing to follow at times. Still, the tale is well told and worth reading by military fiction buffs. Recommended for larger public libraries.
- Jim Cunningham, Illinois Mathematics and Science Acad., Aurora
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 432 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow & Co; 1st edition (January 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0688114385
• ISBN-13: 978-0688114381
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #264,301 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not bad., December 27, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Call to Duty (Mass Market Paperback)

"Call to Duty" was not bad as novels go. The idea of the two parallel plots, one in WW II and the other in the present-day, was an interesting concept, and each of the two plotlines on its own was excellent, however the constant switching between the two in the text did get a bit tiresome. A great insight into the background of Herman's characters, with favorites from The Warbirds, Firebreak, etc. A must-read for Richard Herman fans.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Horrible: Nothing like Against all Enemies, April 10, 2000

By 

Jenn I Am (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Call to Duty (Mass Market Paperback)

This book had a good theme, but Herman did not play on this...this book was slow and full of more inside lingo than the last ones. i was very disappointed!

4.0 out of 5 stars One Book - Two Closely-Knit Stories, July 30, 2008

By 

Timothy J. Mccarthy "Mongo" (Chicago) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Call to Duty (Mass Market Paperback)

There are authors out there who can write good WWII war stories. And there are authors who can write good, modern, military techno-thrillers. I wouldn't have believed you could find someone who could do both, and do it in one book. Herman weaves a taut, suspenseful pair of stories with President Pontowski and his wife "Tosh" serving as the common thread between them. In the present (the 1990s), the President has to make tough choices about saving the daughter of a political rival - a daughter that rival doesn't particularly want saved, but would rather play as a pawn on his way to the White House. In 1942, we meet Pontowski serving in an RAF fighter squadron, only to be shot down over occupied France. In the next year, he meets two women; one will become his wife . . . but which? As the present day events unfold, he finds himself reflecting back to his war years, and pondering the parallels between the two sets of crises he had to resolve.

This is the first book by Herman that I've read, but it won't be the last. This is some great writing, real edge of the seat stuff - not quite on par with Tom Clancy at his best, but far better than Clancy's latest works. Not only is the action compelling, but there's a remarkably touching love story here as well. I'm frankly amazed at some of the negative reviews here; it makes me wonder if we were reading the same book. I'd give this 4.5 stars, so I'll round down to 4 for the Amazon ranking. If you can get this used or in the library, grab it, you'll be glad you did.