Customer Reviews

Gunfish: A Fleet Submarine Goes to War

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Claude Pearson's vivid portrayal of Charley Jason's experiences aboard Gunfish in 1944 and 1945 brings submarine warfare to life. The experience of being on a submarine in the Pacific, hunting Japanese shipping, battling Kamikaze pilots, rescuing downed American flyers in the water, and missing friends and lovers back home remains remarkably palpable throughout the book. After getting my copy of the novel, I read it straight through on transcontinental flight... often finding myself turning the pages as fast I could to find out what would happen next to Jason, Flowers, Carruther, Janet Blair, and the rest of the characters. The funniest moments arise more often than not in the pages of an illegal diary kept on board the Gunfish and in the Gunfish Gargoyle. It has been a while since I found myself so genuinely attached to a cast of characters and I was happy to see Pearson remain true to his characters by resisting the temptation to bring everything to a tidy conclusion.

It wasn't my cup of tea, however, it was still well written. If you are a fan of a more historical book on sub action during WW2 you will probably think it is "just ok" also. I started this book immediately after finishing Maru Killer, so my expectations were skewed after reading that one.

I'm excited! Thanks to the glowing review by Brodie Remington, I got a copy of GUNFISH by Claude M. Pearson. I learned more about life on a W.W.II submarine in the Pacific in just a the first few chapters than I could ever have imagined. The author, Claude M. Pearson, is a W.W.II sub vet and an expert at bringing submarine warfare to life. My favorite part was the daring rescue of downed fliers in the Pacific Ocean south of Kyushu, Japan. This rescue operation took place in the heat of battle and was based on the real-life experiences of the author! I also liked the way the plot bounces between the adventures of the Gunfish crew and the ladies they left back home in San Francisco. I highly recommend GUNFISH to anyone who enjoys a gripping true-to-life adventure. I hope this author has more books in the works!

The narrative didn't flow--much of the action and dialogue wasn't relevant to the plot. [Spoiler warning]Main character has strong interest in female character, boinks her, she marries someone else, his reaction is "Oh, well, I'll just transfer from the reserves to the regular Navy."

Huh?

Some interesting descriptions of the workings of a WWII submarine. The title was a bit misleading--the narrative begins with the sub already in the war zone.

If the author publishes another work like this one, I'll check it out, but I am not putting him on any "must buy" list--a good editor would have been helpful.

Mark Twain once said that good fiction must be believeable. This book is not. It is terribly written and not very believeable. The Captain in this sub actually preferred to attack destroyers with his gun mounts. That's insane. You only do that as a last resort. And you figure you'll lose anyway. Add to that, he made it a love story, with all sorts of female characters that had nothing to do with anything. The whole book was just stupid. Don't waste your money.