The Academy: A Dan Lenson Novel

The sturdy 22nd installment in Poyer’s series featuring Navy admiral Dan Lenson (after 2021’s Arctic Sea) sees Lenson taking his post as the new superintendent of the U.S. Naval Academy. At first, Dan’s up for the challenge of rehabilitating the academy, which has been battered by falling applications, sky-high expenditures, and reports of sexual assault. Toss in the suspicious death of a senior midshipman and an impending hurricane, and his problems begin to seem insurmountable. Flashbacks to 40 years earlier recount Dan’s senior year at the academy, during which he was drawn into the investigation of a classmate’s apparent suicide, and provide context for his present-day strategies as a military leader and his approach to the midshipman investigation. Poyer’s irrepressible nostalgia for his own plebe days in Annapolis are a feature, not a bug: the flashback sections feel lived-in and immediate. Elsewhere, Poyer makes up for a lack of missiles, torpedoes, and enemy ships by generating top-notch suspense from the murder case and impending storm. This long-running naval series continues full-steam ahead. (Dec.)