TO RISKS UNKNOWN [Hardcover]

Douglas Reeman (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: Hutchinson; 4th Printing edition (January 1, 1979)
• ASIN: B001DKTWHS
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 5 Oerlikon bursts for early Reeman work, September 26, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: To Risks Unknown (Hardcover)

Before To Risks Unknown, I had read several of Reeman's World War II novels all of which had been written over the last 20 years. To Risks Unknown is an earlier work, dating to the late 60s, and is in many ways better than subsequent efforts. Reeman's novels are formulaic. If you have read one, then you have read them all in terms of the structure and the content of the characters. Using the formula, he has built a body of work that addresses many different aspects of service in the Royal Navy during WWII. To Risks Unknown was written before he had the formula and his writing skills polished but it has much greater passion. It reads as though the war was still fresh in his mind and that he was still coming to terms with it.

The novel focuses on clandestine operations in the Mediterranean and Baltic in 1943. Its hero, Captain John Crespin, was the commander of a motor torpedo boat that was sunk and its crew machine gunned in the water. He is given the command of a corvette transferred from escort duty in the North Atlantic. He must whip the crew into shape for the types of missions that they must perform under the watchful eye of a superior officer who he doesn't trust. The novel features missions behind enemy lines and the usual love interest for the captain. Unlike many of his later works where the cast are performing their duties against a nameless, faceless enemy; this one is intense and personal.

To Risks Unknown is to some extent a product of the times in which it was written. During the 60s many popular works had an anti-establishment slant and spy novels ala James Bond were popular. Reeman introduces some interesting elements. Crespin is often at loggerheads with his commanding officer. However, it is Crespin who is regular RN and his superior is RNR. I found this inversion of the anti-establishment sentiments of the time interesting. Also, Crespin's first trip to the Adriatic has Bondian elements to it. The tension between the Partisans and Chetniks is also more relevant today than when it was written.

The only criticism that I could lay on this novel is that it is predictable. After Crespin meets the girl, it takes them no time to get into bed: perhaps understandable given wartime tension and the attitudes of the 60s readers. Crespin's first trip to the Baltic reveals the presence of a German ship that is terrorizing the islands. We know that the climax of the novel will be a confrontation between Crespin's corvette and the more powerful German ship. We can also predict that the RN will prevail. As I said, Reeman's novels are formulaic and if one doesn't like the formula one should steer clear. However, if one understands the formula Reeman sets a clear and enjoyable course.