CARRIER BY KEITH DOUGLASS

Copyright 1991.

The North Koreans attack and capture the U.S. spy ship U.S.S. Chimera and hold the crew captive. They threaten to execute them. Fortunately, CVB-14 U.S.S. Thomas Jefferson is in the area. A plan is implemented that includes Navy SEALS and a Marine landing to rescue the hostages. Lt. Commander “Tombstone” Magruder leads the Tomcats in the fight to attack the North Koreans. He has his hands full bombing the SAM sites and protecting the fleet from attacks by bombers and fighters.

This is the first of a series in the nineties about a carrier battle group and their various battles. It was created by William H. Keith Jr. who wrote the first six books in the series. Keith wrote many other most notably under the pen name Ian Douglas for a series of futuristic marine and navy novels. He also did the excellent time travel series Freedom’s Rangers.

Keith is a former Navy veteran and is very knowledgeable about the service. His story paints a very realistic portrayal of the combat. The dogfights as well as ground combat feels very realistic. You do get a feeling of being on a carrier. He also puts in realistic accidents such as a guy carelessly not paying attention and getting sucked into a jet engine and causing an explosion. The result closes down the deck for a crucial hour. The scenario at the time was also realistic. The Soviet Union was in decline and aid was getting cut to the hardline regime. You could see them doing this to get attention and need aid. This was a very solid first book for the new series.