Send a Gunboat

HMS Wagtail is a river gunboat, a ship seemingly at the end of her unusual life, lying in a Hong Kong dockyard awaiting her last summons to the breakers' yard. Commander Justin Rolfe is also seemingly at the end of his useful naval life, an embittered man, brooding and angry from a court-martial verdict. Then the offshore island of Santu is threatened with invasion from the Chinese mainland.

The small British community must be brought out, and Commander Rolfe and the Wagtail are ordered to the island...

©1960 Douglas Reeman (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Dateline 1958 The Cold War

There were 3 mentions of time. Two in chapter 3 at min 11 "We arrived here just after the war." and 21 " 14 years of hard work..." Then Rolf in chapter 5 reminiscing about his time (past tense) in Korea. It could be as late as 1959. The Devil is in the details. Hopefully, Chow gets what he desires and deserves for his loyalty to Rolf.

Exciting adventure, implausible romance

This is only my second novel by Douglas Reeman, and although it was good, I was a little disappointed. The narrator was inclined to over-dramatize, and much of the story was driven by a romance that simply seemed unrealistic and at times laughable. Yet it was all exciting enough to keep me going to the end, and I think fans of Reeman will be satisfied. I do suggest doing a search for pictures of river gunboats of the ‘30s and’40s. It helped me have a much better appreciation of the old Wagtail.