The Restless Wave

Retired Navy admiral Stravridis (co-author of 2034 and 2054 with Elliot Ackerman) delivers a satisfying novel about a Naval officer during WWII. Raised in the Florida Keys, Scott Bradley James is taught sailing lore by his fisherman father, whose boat, Bella, is docked right alongside Ernest Hemingway’s Pilar. Scott goes on to attend the Naval Academy, where he makes his mark as a boxer. After graduating from the academy in 1941, Ensign Bradley is assigned to the battleship USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor. There, he begins a relationship with a beautiful half-Hawaiian college student, Kai Wallace. With his ship incapacitated during the Japanese attack on December 7th, Scott is next assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise and the destroyer USS Fletcher, playing a vital role in the Doolittle Raid on Tokyo, the Battle of Midway, and the disaster at Tassafaronga. He gains experience as a surface warfare officer, even as his obsession with promotion and medals might cost him Kai’s love. The author immerses the reader in the world of the Navy and cannily mixes fictional characters with real ones such as Admiral “Bull” Halsey and Commander Wade McClusky. This well-told tale is worthy of The Caine Mutiny and In Harm’s Way. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Oct.)