Customer Reviews

Thunder in the Morning Calm (Pacific Rim Series)

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Gunner will get answers. Or he will die trying.

Lieutenant Commander "Gunner" McCormick is assigned as an intelligence officer to Carrier Strike Force 10 - deployed to the Yellow Sea at the invitation of South Korea for joint exercises with the US Navy. During his pre-deployment briefing, he discovers a TOP-SECRET MEMO revealing rumors that the North Koreans may still be holding a handful of elderly Americans from the Korean War in secret prison camps.

As it happens, Gunner's grandfather, who was a young Marine officer in the Korean War, disappeared at Chosin Reservoir over sixty years ago and is still listed as MIA in North Korea. Sworn to silence about what he has read, the top-secret memo eats at him. Gunner decides to spend all his inheritance and break every military regulation in the book to finance his own three-man commando squad on a suicide mission north of the DMZ to search for clues about the fate of his grandfather. Risking his career, his fortune, and his life, Gunner will get his answers, or he will die trying.

My Review:

I received Thunder In the Morning Calm by Don Brown compliments of Christian Fiction Blog Alliance for my honest review and I was not disappointed. After reading The Malacca Conspiracy, I knew I had to read this one as well. Don Brown's writing style is designed to capture you within the first chapter and from then on, he guarantees to keep you glued to the book until you finish the final page. Believing that there are still missing MIA's that are unaccounted for, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this book and see how it turns out.

From the time, Gunner reads a small blurb outlined in a top-secret memo that it may or may not be true about MIA's still being held in North Korea in prison camps and that one of them may just be his missing grandfather, he takes a chance to fund a risky search and rescue mission. Relying on retired US Army Lt Colonel Jack Davenport "Jackrabbit" and retired Colonel Jung-Hoon Sohn of the Army of the Republic of Korea to help him locate the prison camps, Gunner is prepared to save any American being held there even if it turns out its not his grandfather.

Where this journey will lead them will completely alter the lives of everyone involved and bring about an unexpected ending. I award this novel a perfect 5 out of 5 stars and can't wait to keep adding more novels by Don Brown to my library. If you love military, black ops, rescue stories, then this one will not disappoint but make you a fan for life!

I'm a hard nosed sun-of-a-gun of 67 yrs, but I gotta tell ya, the ending of this book had me in tears. This is a must read. Will be reading more of Don Brown.

What would you say if someone were to tell you that the American soldiers were behind after the Korean War? How would that make you feel?
Novelist Don Brown does just that in his latest geopolitical thriller, THUNDER IN THE MORNING CALM, and this reviewer's reaction is one of "Shock and Awe". Shock for the fact that this could be true--that men actually were left behind--and in awe of the fact that once again, "prognosticator of prognosticators" Don Brown, has tackled the difficult and this time, more sensitive subject matter with his usual page turning style and innate ability to turn a phrase.
You must read this book. It practically dances off the page. I found myself racing through the pages to see if Keith and Frank, the two surviving POWs, were going to make it home alive or suffer similar fates as their likely real life counterparts.
I was also moved by the threads of love of family and of Country that are masterfully interwoven throughout the book. The main character, Gunner McCormick, risks everything he has to bring someone--any forgotten Americans--back from North Korea, and ends up putting his family back together in the process. I couldn't keep myself from skipping ahead to see what was going to happen next--Bravo, Mr. Brown.
In all likelihood, none of us will ever know for sure what happened to any flesh and blood Americans who were left behind after the Korean War, but good writing is about asking the difficult questions and exposing the sensitive underbelly, for which Don Brown with his plain, military speak and no nonsense forthrightness is the master. With his pencil as his sword, he slices through political correctness like a knife through butter.
America needs more authors like Don Brown to tell it like it is. I applaud him for this thrilling and suspenseful read and can't wait to see what he has in store for us next, in the second novel of his Pacific Rim series.

Thunder in the Morning Calm is the second action packed fast-paced exciting action suspense thriller that I have read by Don Brown. Like the Malacca Conspiracy, this 330-page book develops interesting characters, grabs the reader from the onset and has you rapidly flipping pages lost in time through the very end and then leaves you wondering if there could be some truth behind the mesmerizing story.

Is it 100 percent believable? No. Is it entertaining? Yes. Will it affect you emotionally? Yep. Do I recommend it? Wholeheartedly!

A former Navy Officer, with inside knowledge of the Navy and political operations, Brown brings this story to life by weaving some little know facts and plenty of excitement into the fabric of the novel.

Lieutenant Commander Gunner McCormick's mother raised him to respect and honor his grandfather, as her mother taught her. A plate was always set for him at Thanksgiving dinner. Not just any plate, but one with a Marine Corps emblem. His grandfather is missing in action at the Chosen Reservoir since the Korean War.

As an Intelligence officer aboard the USS Harry S. Truman on a joint exercise with South Korean Forces in the Yellow Sea, McCormick reads a top secret report that leads him to believe that there may still be POW's in North Korea after six decades. He takes this personally, wondering if his grandfather might still be alive and determined to find out.

Getting permission from his commanding officer to take personal leave in Korea, Gunner uses his personal wealth to plan and implement his own secret rescue mission that could cause an international incident, cost him his career and life.

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, on airplanes and at airports in route to and from my destination, I poured through this story and thoroughly enjoyed it. A proud retired Marine Corps war veteran, I have to admit that this book definitely touched my heartstrings and the gamut of my emotions.

I was captivated by this the story and the characters. Don Brown is obviously a Christian, a Republican and a patriot. Some of his characters' comments might be problem for those who cannot identify with those elements of the author's background. It did not bother me, but then again, I share those set of beliefs.

Enjoy!

Fantastic book. I could not put it down. I am looking forward to reading more by Don Brown. He makes it exciting.

This was my first Don Brown book, It will not be my last !
I would love to see this as a movie, as long as they didn't cut anything out !!
The action is great and the book ending brought a tear to my eye !
If you are trying to decide to get this book or not, GET IT you won't be sorry !!!

Thunder in the Morning Calm weaves an inspirational and patriotic story taking place in a dangerous area of the world that has been in the news a lot in recent years, but yet, remains a dark mystery to most Americans and to most of the world. I am referring to the evil and mysterious nation of North Korea.

The book's main protagonist is a naval intelligence officer, Lieutenant Commander Gunner McCormick, a Virginian, who is stationed aboard the aircraft carrier USS Harry S. Truman. When the Harry S. Truman is invited to the Yellow Sea to for joint naval exercises with the South Korean Navy, Gunner is called in for a top-secret briefing by naval intelligence commanders so that he can in turn brief the commanders of the US Navy task force in the Yellow Sea.

But during the course of the briefing, Gunner finds a TOP SECRET memo that bothers him to the core. The memo reveals that a few American servicemen may still be left alive in captivity from the Korean War from nearly sixty years ago! The memo stops Gunner in his tracks. His maternal grandfather, who he never knew, was a US Marine who disappeared at the battle of Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, and who was listed as MIA, and never heard from again.

The real storyline begins here.

This revelation begins to haunt Gunner, and over the next few days, he finds himself struggling internally. Torn between his duty to country and his loyalty to family, Gunner has to find some answers-- for his sake and for his mother's sake. He makes a hard and dangerous decision. Cashing in all his family inheritance, he decides to take thirty days leave from the Navy and finance a highly-dangerous, secret commando mission into North Korea to search for clues as to the disappearance of his grandfather.

Joining him are two retired army special forces officers, one who is an American living in South Korea, Colonel "Jackrabbit" Davenport, and the other who is South Korean, Colonel Jung-Hoon Sohn. All three men have their own deep and personal vendetta against the North Koreans. The three men form a fascinating combination of personalities, and are an explosive trio that will keep the reader on the edge of his or her seat from the beginning.

Like Don Brown's other novels, THUNDER IN THE MORNING CALM is action-packed, and full of motion and scene changes. There is nothing dull about this nail-biter, and every page is filled with tension. I won't spoil the details, but there is an emotional twist at the end that left me in tears.

Highly recommended.

I purchased this book during one of Amazon's free offerings, thinking that I would get it for my husband. I started reading it this weekend and could not put it down. It was gripping from the beginning, all the way to the last page. It has some very thought provoking statements - especially about how complacent we have become in the United States - as long as our needs are met - we are not willing to sacrifice for another. The concept of leaving no one behind in our "me" fat baby generation is a foreign concept. I highly recommend this to everyone. It will fire up your patriotism!

"Thunder in the Morning Calm" is an excellent, fast paced book which captures and holds your attention throughout. The premise (wealthy Navy Lieutenant Commander enters North Korea in search of MIA's which might include his missing Grandfather) is not at all far fetched. The writing is very well done with a minimum of typo's and other errors which keeps the reading enjoyable. I got this book in the top 100 free category but I would gladly have paid for it. I don't normally read war books yet my only two book reviews to date are related to books about war. All I can say is this book kept me feeling proud of our armed services and proud to be an American. I wholeheartedly recommend "Thunder in the Morning Calm" to anyone who enjoys a well written read.

I think Don Brown has done the country a service in penning this novel. Korea is called "the Forgotten War," and THUNDER IN THE MORNING CALM is novel that provides an exciting, educational, yet emotional link between today's American military and the soldiers and marines who served in Korea, and have long since been forgotten by this country. This is another fast-moving Don Brown novel, but the emotional link caught me off guard. It's about a grandson, a modern naval officer, who goes looking for clues about what happened to his grandfather,a US marine who went missing in action in North Korea nearly sixty years ago. Apparently, this country left a lot of guys behind the lines over there when the war ended, and this novel draws attention to that fact, after all these years, in a powerful way.