Ship of Tears

Someone is murdering Marines on their way to Guadalcanal It's 1942, and America's fastest, finest troopship U.S.S. James F. Bridger is five days out of Pearl and headed for the Solomon Islands to take part in the war for the Pacific. The ship is hosting The First Marine Division, and Bridger's executive officer, Commander Jonas Pratt, USNR, is tasked with maintaining order from her boiler rooms to her masthead. But Bridger's safe, steady passage is disrupted by a man overboard alarm. A pool of blood on B Deck near a boarding gate suggests something more sinister than mere accident. A small-town lawyer in civilian life, Pratt senses criminality. When another murdered Marine's body turns up in a forward hold, Pratt and his team must find a serial killer with access to every part of a huge ship carrying thousands of men, all of them trained to fight - and kill. Pratt's manhunt takes him all the way to the Battle of Henderson Field and a confrontation with Japan's vaunted Sendai Division. Only when he's shoulder to shoulder with a devoted band of tough, young Marines will Pratt discover the true price of duty. But will he find justice for Bridger's murdered souls? -"A gripping, fast-paced introduction to a hero-and the mighty Bridger-you'll be reading more about." Lt. Charles Horn, USN (Ret.)