CAMERON'S CHASE

by Philip McCutchan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 29, 1986

McCutchan's 63rd novel and tenth featuring Lieutenant-Commander Donald Cameron's WW II adventures in the Royal Navy; as gritty and authentic as ever. This time out Cameron is commanding HMS Glenshiel and his assignment is to find and sink the newest German battleship Attila, whose guns and armor far outclass any British ship. The Attila--which has yet to see action--can wreak havoc with Britain's battle fleet and cause wholesale destruction amid any convoy it meets. When Norwegian Resistance fighters alert the Admiralty that the unsinkable Attila and her cruisers have set sail, the Glenshiel and two sister destroyers set out from Scotland's Scape Flow in heavy fog. Cameron's worry is that the Attila knows about a convoy of two Yank divisions from Halifax, which includes two Cunarders, the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth, revamped as troop ships. Playing cat and mouse in the enormous fog-bank, the Glenshiel has her radio and radar gear blown away by the Attila before hiding again. What's more, the weather turns filthy, with the Glenshiel wallowing horribly. As the convoy and trooping liners close toward England, as well as toward the Attila's guns, Cameron and his men fill with despair. Though ordered only to shadow the Attila, Cameron decides to attempt torpedoing it, which means sneaking in under the enemy's guns to get within torpedo range. ""Engaging, by God!,"" cries Chief of Naval Staff back at the Admiralty, ""Cameron must have taken leave of his senses!"" And as the Attila's guns find the Glenshiel and the Glenshiel's tin fish aim straight toward the Attila, all turns to blood and guts and ash and cinders. Cameron's tightest, most inviting plot, with some sense of tragic inevitability.

Pub Date: Aug. 29, 1986

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1986

Categories: FICTION