The Circle: He Pledged To Serve With Duty And Honor. Instead He Fought Betrayal On A Ship Bound For Danger. [Mass Market Paperback]

David Poyer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 15, 1993

For four years at Annapolis he prepared for this, pledging his youth, his ambition, and even his life. But when junior officer Dan Lenson finally gets his commission, it's an aging World War II destroyer. Now, with a mix of pride and fear, he heads into the world's most dangerous seas.

As the Ryan plunges into the dark waters of the Arctic Circle at the height of storm season, Lenson and the crew pursue a mysterious and menacing enemy. But he soon discovers a foe even more dangerous within the Ryan, advancing a shocking agenda that drives the ship closer and closer to disaster-testing Lenson's life and loyalty to their very limit.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in the early 1970s, Poyer's impressive techno-thriller tells of an obsolete destroyer that meets an unhappy fate while tracking a renegade Soviet missile sub in the teeth of an arctic storm. Author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Each of Poyer's books is a treat: timely, exciting, deeply affectionate and respectful of the naval men, women, and traditions he portrays. Here he describes the first tour of duty for Dan Lenson, series protagonist last seen in The Gulf ( LJ 8/90). Dan's ship, the destroyer Ryan , is a worn-out veteran; the men he must learn to supervise are a rag-tag group who test his every order. First Arctic storms, then catastrophe culminating in court martial test Dan's courage. Vivid scenes of shipboard life and duties--refueling, navigating under zero visibility, maneuvering the destroyer as part of a fleet of ships--serve as a backdrop to moving conflicts among the Ryan 's men. The author (who has a naval background) infuses his books with authentic detail, but his special gift is the creation of complex characters, among them the insolent Lassard and the mystical Evlin. Most highly recommended.
- Elsa Pendleton, Boeing Computer Support Svces., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 543 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (June 15, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312929641
• ISBN-13: 978-0312929640
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,036,655 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally! A Destroyer Sailor's story of the "Tin Can" Navy., February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Circle: He Pledged To Serve With Duty And Honor. Instead He Fought Betrayal On A Ship Bound For Danger. (Mass Market Paperback)

I was stationed on two FRAM-II Destroyers. I am a "Blue Nose", a "Shellback", and earned a Combat Action Ribbon while a crewmember on the USS Ozbourn (DD-846) off the coast of Vietnam. I am tired of all these glorified ("gun-decked")stories and movies about submarines and aircraft carriers, usually written by retired admirals or authors who were never even in the military never mind the navy. This story tells it like it is. I've often times wondered how young Ensigns dealt with the crap and stayed sane never mind got advanced and survive to make successful Navy careers. I truly enjoyed this book. I'm reading "The Med" now and I have also got "Passage" standing by. Only a "Tin Can Sailor" could have written this book. The terminolgy and slang terms are right on. I can understand how a person who never served in the Navy would have a hard time with this book. Perhaps Poyer should have a glossary in the back of his books to help decipher Navy jargon. I highly recommend this book, especially to former Navy anchor clankers. To Mr Poyer, from one ol' Tin Can Sailor to another, I bid you fair winds and follwing seas.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The closest thing to being there, October 23, 2001

By 

Bryce D. Butler (Edgewater, MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Circle: He Pledged To Serve With Duty And Honor. Instead He Fought Betrayal On A Ship Bound For Danger. (Mass Market Paperback)

David Poyer's seminal naval work The Circle takes you directly in to the life of a young naval officer. Of all the books I have read about my profession, US Navy Surface Warfare Officer, it is the closest thing to actually being there. The long hours of watch and work, the mistakes you make being over-tired, and the lessons you learn from men who have spent their lives at sea are all contained within this book. In addition the, Poyer paints a vivid image of the environment of shipboard life and the perilous sea. Reading this book makes me cringe and want to return to sea duty as soon as possible.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Authentic, character driven, November 18, 2000

By 

Jon R. Schlueter (Grand Terrace, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Circle: He Pledged To Serve With Duty And Honor. Instead He Fought Betrayal On A Ship Bound For Danger. (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm not an ex-Navy man, so the constant Navy jargon left me sometimes only vaguely understanding what was going on. Nevertheless, I had the sense that this was what I would really experience if I were hidden, watching action from the back of the bridge of a Navy destroyer, and I valued that authenticity. But the setting was only a pallate for what was the deeper part of the book: men striving with tremendous stress and moral dilemmas. How do they cope, what do they think and do? Mr. Poyer is a keen explicator of human nature. After reading this novel, you'll feel as you had been there and struggled as the characters struggled.