North Sar

Really, Tom? If so, you must have read some *bad* books.

Carroll's characters are two-dimensional, with no depth whatsoever. The fly-boys are perfect, the Admirals are mavericks who like to buck authority, the women are perfect (and extremely pliable to the fly-boys desires, it seems. If only life were that simple..) and the bad guys always get it in the neck. The only slight characterisation twist is the inclusion of Fisher, but even that manages to be just the wrong side of the cheesy/believable border. Carroll, throughout the book, refused many opportunities to develop his characters' darker sides or to explore the conflicts between them - all possible conflicts are dealt with in one or two lines: "And all of sudden, having been ripping each others heads off, they decided to be best mates and went to the wardroom for a pink gin". Don't know if you've been in the Real World recently, Gerry, but Life Ain't Like That (tm).

The 'action' parts are reasonably good, although the way the main characters always survive whilst everyone else buys the farm is a little too Hollywood. The relationship between Boyle, Santy and the wonderfully perfect Mehgan is just too sickly sweet for words - I literally had to skip over some of their encounters for fear of losing my breakfast over my fellow commuters.

All in all, this is not a terrible book, but it does feel incredibly stiff and the characters are laughably two-dimensional.


Superb first time effort - We have a new W.E.B. Griffin   July 27, 1999
 1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Gerry Carroll captures the imagination immediately and never lets go until the final page of this amazing story of search and rescue pilots during the Vietnam War. Carroll, himself a highly decorated naval veteran, puts his vast knowledge to good use and puts you right in there with the crew of North SAR. This story of bravery and comradeship is told with the detail, feeling, and at times, humour of one who has stood on the deck of a U.S flagship and flown low over the choppy waters of the South China sea. Once you put it down you will be reaching for the sequel.