Cameron's Crossing

McCutchan's 10 years at sea have resulted in nearly 90 naval adventure tales, including the Commander Shaw, Lieutenant Halfhyde and Commodore Kemp series, as well as the Donald Cameron books, of which this is the 14th. In February 1942, Cameron, Lieutenant-Commander in the Royal Naval Reserve, faces a treacherous North Atlantic crossing, Hitler's Luftwaffe and a Royal Navy captain who may be losing his marbles. When the cranky old skipper heeds a hunch to change course for the dangerous Denmark Strait, truly ferocious weather causes structural damage to his aircraft carrier. With the broached ship foundering and unable to navigate, the Captain unconscious and the senior officers lost, Cameron takes control--just in time to face the Luftwaffe. With Charon's boat pulling alongside, officers and enlisted men alike confront their private fears: one worries about who'll support his old sick parents if he dies, another wonders if his wife will forgive his hanky-panky with her sister. As usual, the stolid, intrepid Cameron soldiers along very ably, while McCutchan's spare prose smartly re-creates the lore and real lives of the British navy. (Oct.)