In Danger's Path (Corps #8) [Hardcover]

W.E.B. Griffin (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 11, 1999

Through seven books, Griffin's bestselling chronicle of the Marine Corps has proven itself to be one of the country's most enduring and popular series. But In Danger's Path is his most absorbing story yet. Desperate to find someone to unite the warring interests of General MacArthur, Admiral Nimitz, and OSS chief Donovan, FDR puts Fleming Pickering in charge of the OSS's Pacific operations. Immediately, two urgent missions fall into his lap: to contact and rescue a band of former American servicemen and their dependents on the run from the Japanese in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia; and at the same time, to set up a weather station in the Gobi to help direct planned aerial attacks against Japan. Pickering has a free hand to use whomever he pleases, and he is soon surrounded by many of the Marines on whom he has come to rely during the war: men like Ken McCoy, Ed Banning, Jake Dillon, Ernie Zimmerman, and--much to his surprise--a certain scapegrace pilot named Malcolm Pickering, his son. Together, they will venture into terra very much incognita--and with luck they may even come out alive... Filled with the crackling realism, adventure, and rich characters that have earned his novels such praise, In Danger's Path is further proof, as Tom Clancy says, that "W.E.B. Griffin is a storyteller in the grand tradition."

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The gung-ho Marines familiar to readers of Griffin's seven Corps novels (Behind the Lines, etc.) return for an eighth adventure?and not their best. Young Marine officers and enlisted men with high morale and low morals such as Ed Banning, Ken McCoy and Ernie Zimmerman are perfect for a secret (but remarkably improbable) OSS operation behind enemy lines in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia in 1943. Their mission: to establish a clandestine weather station and rescue a wayward group of Americans who fled China after the Japanese invasion in 1941 and have been lost in Mongolia for nearly two years. While the plot teases with a promise of suspense in an exotic and forbidding locale, the reality is that not a shot is fired, not a cliffhanger is encountered and three-fourths of the narrative is set safely back in the States, where the characters spend most of their time drinking, womanizing, disobeying orders and wringing their hands over how they can rejoin the war. Under the leadership of fatherly Brigadier General Fleming Pickering, a kind of Marine den daddy, they do return, although the result is anticlimactic. Numerous side plots provide color and historical perspective, but overwrought dialogue, flat narrative and soap-operatic storytelling leave this lengthy tale without snap.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Griffin continues his best-selling series on the Marine Corps with a new work featuring the improbably named Fleming Pickering. Pickering, who is in charge of the OSS's Pacific operations during World War II, gets some interesting assignments in the Gobi Desert.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 549 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult; 1ST edition (January 11, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399144218
• ISBN-13: 978-0399144219
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (128 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #546,633 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

W.E.B. Griffin is the author of more than thirty epic novels in five series, all of which have been listed on The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly and other best-seller lists. More than forty million of his books are in print in more than ten languages, including Hebrew, Chinese, Japanese, and Hungarian. Mr. Griffin grew up in the suburbs of New York City and Philadelphia. He enlisted in the United States Army in 1946. After basic training, he received counter-intelligence training at Fort Holabird, Maryland. He was assigned to the Army of Occupation in Germany, and ultimately to the staff of then-Major General I.D. White, commander of the U.S. Constabulary. In 1951, Mr. Griffin was recalled to active duty for the Korean War, interrupting his education at Phillips University, Marburg an der Lahn, Germany. In Korea he earned the Combat Infantry Badge as a combat correspondent and later served as acting X Corps (Group) information officer under Lieutenant General White. On his release from active duty in 1953, Mr. Griffin was appointed Chief of the Publications Division of the U.S. Army Signal Aviation Test & Support Activity at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Mr. Griffin is a member of the Special Operations Association, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, the Army Aviation Association, and the Armor Association. He was the 1991 recipient of the Brigadier General Robert L. Dening Memorial Distinguished Service Award of the U.S. Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association, and the August 1999 recipient of the Veterans of Foreign Wars News Media Award, presented at the 100th National Convention in Kansas City. He has been vested into the Order of St. George of the U.S. Armor Association, and the Order of St. Andrew of the U.S. Army Aviation Association, and been awarded Honorary Doctoral degrees by Norwich University, the nation's first and oldest private military college, and by Troy State University (Ala.). He was the graduation dinner speaker for the class of 1988 at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He has been awarded honorary membership in the Special Forces Association; the Marine Corps Combat Correspondents Association; the Marine Raiders Association; and the U.S. Army Otter & Caribou Association. He is the co-founder, with historian Colonel Carlo D'Este, of the William E. Colby Seminar on Intelligence, Military, and Diplomatic Affairs. Mr. Griffin's novels, known for their historical accuracy, have been praised by The Philadelphia Inquirer for their "fierce, stop-for-nothing scenes." "Nothing honors me more than a serviceman, veteran, or cop telling me he enjoys reading my books," Mr. Griffin says. Mr. Griffin divides his time between the Gulf Coast and Buenos Aires.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars This REALLY isn't the end ,is it?, February 15, 2001

By 

Rodger Raubach (Converse County ,WY USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: In Danger's Path (Corps #8) (Hardcover)

This book comes closer to being "vintage" W.E.B. Griffin than the two works that followed. As usual,there is a compelling plot line in mounting a mission to the Gobi desert in order to establish a weather station for forthcoming B-29 raids against the Japanese home islands. As usual "Killer" McCoy and Ernie Zimmerman are involved as "the doers". As usual,Fleming Pickering is the behind-the-scenes manipulator and planner. As usual, Franklin Roosevelt is Machivellian. As usual, Bill Donovan almost manages to screw up the works. As usual, McCoy manages to pull off the mission.

All that said, I really did like the book. Aside from too much time being spent by Fleming Pickering doing his little political intrigues to offset Bill Donovan's little political intrigues, the book was a fairly satisfying read and manages to hold the reader's interest very well. I found that several of the characters introduced early in the series (Milla Banning) to have their roles resolved , and others moved on to new levels of future importance (Easterbunny). I thought the mission to the Gobi desert was quite unusual and the cameo of "vinegar Joe' Stilwell was a nice touch.

My major compliaint about this series is that it is moving too slowly,and at one book every 2-3 years it will take about 20 years to complete. C'mon WEB! Speed things up before your readers all croak!

I would like to see McCoy marry Ernie Sage,see Flem Pickering run out of Famous Grouse, and move on to Korea. As things stand,there is little left for McCoy to do as an intel officer in W.W.II. I enjoy a faster paced story line and this one seems to be starting to drag a bit. A little less time spent on "filler" of various sexual/bedroom antics of various young officers and more time spent on the actual mission in the Gobi with Zimmerman and McCoy would have upgraded the rating to 5-stars.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Never get enough of W.E.B. Griffin, January 6, 2000

By 

T. F. Weber (Chesterfield, Missouri, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: In Danger's Path (The Corps, Book 8) (Mass Market Paperback)

What a great read! I've become an avid reader of Griffin's books since the summer of 1999. My library now has 26 books - all read and eagerly awaiting another - and another. A friend of mine started me with a few "out of sequence" Brotherhood of War books and that did it! I immediately purchased the remainder through AMAZON.COM. The other series fell quickly into place as well. This man has a great style, one that puts him right "up there" with my other favorites, Tom Clancey and Joseph Wambaugh. Acutally, W.E.B. is "numero uno" as far as I'm concerned. In reading some of the reviews, yes - there are editorial mistakes, along with some factual ones as well (for example: operations plan is correctly abbreviated OPLAN not "Opplan," and the message formats are a bit "off" - however, none of this detracts in any significant way from the story-telling ability of Griffin and the spellbinding effect he has on the reader. In my opinion, having spent 32 years of active duty in the U.S. Coast Guard (enlisted to Chief Petty Officer; Warrant Officer (Comms); and Ensign through Commander (regular commission) - he KNOWS the inside/outside of military life - the pomp & circumstance - the "games" - the whole nine-yards! There is little doubt that anyone who has spent more than a tour of duty in the military has picked up on these nuances. He makes the reader feel as if he has been there. That's what separates him from the "pretenders." Kudos to W.E.B. Griffin.

43 of 56 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars My enthusiasm is on the wane..., March 8, 2000

By 

A Central Illinoisian in Chicago (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: In Danger's Path (Corps #8) (Hardcover)

As a longtime reader of the estimable Mr. Griffin, I'm really starting to see my enthusiasm fade for the Corps. I read the Brotherhood from Start to Finish, and was lucky enough to begin in 1986, when most of it was finished and the last new books were being written.

The Corps premeired at about that time, when I was McCoy's age. Now I'm 14 year's older, and he's still in his early 20's - I won't begrudge him (!) that, but I'm mightily worried about this series.

The Brotherhood carried, pretty intactly, the story of 4 main characters through 25 or so years in 8 books. There were many secondary characters, but the focus was on these 4.

Now, how many characters does the Corps have? And how many were introduced or given new prominence in this book? This Weston guy acts no differently than Pick Pickering... Is he a necessary character? Chief McGuire? Sampson? Williamson? Janice whatsername? How many new characters do we need to keep this thing moving forward?

I remember when Ken McCoy was actually a pretty sympathetic character, and now he pretty much comes off as a jerk. Let's see - he meets Sgt. Sweatly in the desert after not seeing him for 2.5 years, and Sweatly - immensely pleased to see him - calls him "Killer", a nickname McCoy doesn't like. McCoy then withdraws his handshake, "dresses Sweatly down and eyes him coldly".

What a jerk.

For one thing, after 2 years of wandering around the Gobi desert, enduring much deprivation and toughening, I think Sweatley would have pretty much:

a)Laughed in McCoy's face

b)Given more than half a thought to casually cracking McCoy over the head for being such a Jackass, regardless of the consequences.

What about the other characters?

Fleming Pickering - OSS guy, Admiral and now General. Far, far less interesting than Jack NMI Stecker. I thought this was a series about the Corps... If so, why are we following this guy around - he served in the Marines in WWI, and then gets activated 25 years later after being a high powered businessman - he was a minor character until Book 3, as I remember. Please, can he fall down a flight of stairs or something? I'd like to see Colonel Stecker standing on a reef someplace trying to figure out how to take out a concrete bunker without losing half his men, not hearing about Pickering's latest run-in with Donovan, his love of Famous Grouse, or talking - endlessly - about MAGIC.

Pick Pickering - His wit and lightness, once a welcome part of a well rounded character, to counterbalance McCoy, have come to define him. Who is this guy supposed to be, F. Scott Fitzgerald?

McCoy's girlfriend, Ernie - once an extremely likable and highly sympathetic character, now comes off as coarse and pushy - she goes into Brooks Brothers and pushes some poor sales guy around without a second thought. Nice, really nice.

Easterbrook - An interesting character, now drafted into the OSS. Sigh. I guess we won't see anything interesting out of him ever again.

UNDERSTAND THIS, fellow fans, I'll read this series to conclusion, but let's face it, it ain't about the Corps anymore, it's about the OSS, and these characters don't seem to be acting true to their original natures - and their evolution into who and what they are now is forced, to say the least. There are far too many characters, and far too little action for a series that is supposed to be about the Marine Corps in WW II. I respect the views of those who gave the book 5 stars, and can understand why they did, but I know that Books 1-3 held far more promise than has been delivered in the last few books.

Sorry, Mr. B, I hope you'll forgive me.