Victory - Call to Arms [Mass Market Paperback]

David Hagberg (Author), Barrett Tillman (Author), Stephen Coonts (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 6, 2004

Stephen Coonts asks what happens when you load a Catalina flying boat with five tons of bombs, a half dozen machine guns, and a crew that walks a line between valor and suicide. In the Pacific Theater of war, the Japanese Navy is about to discover the answer to that very question.

David Hagberg sends the OSS and MI6 behind enemy lines in Germany to stop the one weapon that can win the war for Hitler and Nazi Germany: an electromechanical guidance system that can launch missiles not only across countries, but across the ocean . . . and hit the United States.

Barrett Tillman brings us into gruesome fight as a Marine Corps flamethrower unit fights Japanese defenders on Tarawa Atoll in November 1943.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Stephen Coonts is the author of seven New York Times bestselling novels, the first of which was the classic flying tale, Flight of the Intruder, which spent more than six months at the top of The New York Times bestseller list. His novels have been published around the world and translated into more than a dozen languages. He was honored by the U.S. Naval Institute with its Author of the Year Award in 1986. His latest novel is America. He is also the editor of two anthologies, War in the Air and The New York Times bestselling Combat. He resides with his wife, Deborah, in Nevada.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
• Publisher: Tor Books (April 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812561678
• ISBN-13: 978-0812561678
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,226,474 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Nice anthology of WWII novellas., May 15, 2008

By 

Grognard "Joe" (La Crescenta, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victory - Call to Arms (Mass Market Paperback)

I picked this title up as as a means to pass the time during a stint on jury duty last week. Thumbing through the book in the bookstore I was immediately attracted to the title (mainly because of the subject) but also because Stephen Coonts edited the book (and his Flight of the Intruder is one of my favorite titles).

This collection of 3 novellas read quickly and held my attention. This paperback edition contains 3 of the 10 novellas contained in the original hardback edition of Victory (which ran about 700 pages). These stories aren't history lessons and anyone expecting that will be disappointed, but these three character driven stories are good examples of the kind of 'war fiction" of days gone by.

The first story by Coonts, "The Sea Witch" is an interesting tale of a PBY Catalina crew that becomes stranded on a island in the Pacific as it searched for another lost Catalina crew. The story is a straightforward tale with an interesting twist at the end.

Next up is David Hagberg's "V5". This story is deals with the interaction of allied intelligence officers and military planners trying to prevent the Nazi's newest vengeance weapon (the title's V5) from being deployed. Although not strictly a war story this is a good thriller with a nice WWII background.

The final story "Flame at Tarawa" was a pleasant surprise. Penned by another favorite of mine Barrett Tillman. Although I know Tillman for his non-fiction WWII histories, I really enjoyed this story of a Marine flame thrower operator surviving the bloody, hellish, landing at Betio in 1943.

In the end, I feel that the reader is rewarded by characters that are interesting and hold your attention as well as stories that put a little more of a personal spin on the war, without glorifying combat to the same level as the typical war movie.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Very uneven stories, July 6, 2004

By 

B. E. Jones "Hoosier Packer Fan" (Indianapolis, IN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Victory - Call to Arms (Mass Market Paperback)

I only picked up this book because Stephen Coonts name was on it. "Eyes of the Cat" was the best story. "Hangar Rat" was a total waste of time - the hanger rat turns out to be an alien. How does that fit into a WWII book?

1.0 out of 5 stars Not worth the money--not even close, May 30, 2004

By 

Jess B. "Jess B." (New York, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Victory - Call to Arms (Mass Market Paperback)

This book was a great disappointment. I have a habit of passing along books to friends when I am done with them. I'd be embarrassed to recommend this one to anybody, even if I'm giving it to them for free. Reading it was a waste of time. David Hagberg's "V5", the second story of the three in this book, was okay. Not great, but okay.

The first story, by Stephen Coonts, "The Sea Witch", was on the level of a junior high school writing project. Poorly written, with a weak plot, I felt robbed of my time when I finished reading it. It's a short story, so I finished it, but I felt foolish for continuing my reading after I realized how poor it was.

Barrett Tillman's "Flame at Tarawa" was marginally better, but really not by much.

Don't waste your money on this book. If you feel the need to connect with WWII heroics, take your $7 and give it to a veterans' charity! You'll feel much better afterwards than you would if you spent the money on this dreck and wasted your time reading it.