Thunder in the Morning Calm

Title: THUNDER IN THE MORNING CALM
Author: Don Brown
Publisher: Zondervan
August 2011
ISBN: 978-0-310-33014-1
Genre: military/fiction/inspirational
Reviewed by Steve Hilton

Lieutenant Commander Christianson Pendleton “Gunner” McCormick is a Naval Intelligence Officer tasked with briefing the current naval carrier strike force in the Yellow Sea with a new mission. This mission is intended to initiate a show of presence in the Yellow Sea in an effort to calm mounting tensions in the area between The Republic of Korea and Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (read, “North Korea.”)

While in the area, Gunner uncovers information pointing to the possibility that American POW’s are still being held in the North Korean controlled areas north of the 38th parallel. Gunner’s own grandfather may be one of the captives. Raised with a sense of responsibility and duty by (and for) his forefathers, Gunner desperately throws together his own “mission,” knowing full well that failure could cost him more than his own life. It could cost the lives of those around him, and potentially thousands of others, should hostilities be renewed between North and South Korea.

Nevertheless, honor and courage combine in a novel that will stir your spirit and warm your heart as you follow Gunner and his new-found compatriots on a rescue mission that trumpets the sentiments of every red-blooded American: POW – MIA You Are Not Forgotten! I'd give this one 4 stars. Don Brown kind of dragged it out, and got overly technical at times in a very inconvenient way. He likes to use Navy documents as a means to introduce background material, but he's kind of clumsy at it. It ended very emotionally. In a good way. 336 pages. $14.99.