In Danger's Path: The Corps, Book 8

Starts fast and does not disappoint. I now have a complete set of The Corps series. makes me feel as though I was there. All of the characters come to life, and you are introduced to most of them in book #1. Yes I absolutely recommend this entire series.

Being a Marine vet, and OIF/OEF vet, I can't get enough of this series. I find myself looking forward to what comes next. One of the best authors I've read.

Mr. Griffin uses far too many military and government acronyms that hinder the continuity of the story's action. The plot is interesting and probably accurately depicts reality. All in all, there was a great deal of preparation for very little action.

Continues the pitfalls and detours involved in changing agencies, readjusting to new personnel and the territorial vs new kid on the block bureaucratic mentality as Gen Pickering attempts to establish himself as the new Deputy Director [Pacific} within the OSS and begin the nuts and bolts decision-making elements of getting a weather station operational in the Gobi Desert. Into the mix is Donovan's less than enthusiastic support for Pickering which is manifested itself through the actions of his Deputy Director of Administration and the Secretary of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As once again proven, Pickerings "blunt" language and his lack of political correctness is appreciated by some and distained by others but the human quality of honestly acknowledgment that he doesn't know everything and is willing to listen to all input UNTIL he makes a decision is once again the thermostat for workability. There are several stories going on at one time, typical of Mr. Griffin. This is long of the longer books and although the various stories are necessary and in some cases fun, for me-especially the background on the "gypsy" American former military and those Marines who chose to "live to fight another day" and formed a caravan into the gobi that becomes the focus point of the location for the weather station, became a bit tedious and didn't really add as much to the story as it detracted by providing too much information. The various story lines include Weston's continued Greenbrier convalescence, Major Jake Dillon as acting OSS station Hawaii and Pick at Memphis as an IP. Add to this that Ernie finally gets McCoy to propose and commit to a wedding "if" he returns from his undisclosed assignment and Banning, enroute to China acknowledges that he has to end his relationship with Carolyn because it isn't fair to her- a decision & Ernie is not happy about.All the characters come together in the last 50 pages or so of the book, somewhere out in the Gobi Desert. Its a good read, and ends with little or no clue regarding the last two books in this series- in other words, except for continuing the drama in the Gobi the next assignment is an unknown.

This one turns our attention away from the South Pacific and towards the land war in Asia between Japan and China. The possibility of the OSS establishing a secret weather station in Mongolia to predict weather for the future bombing of Japan was bruited about in previous stories; now it becomes our characters’ focus.To end his friction with OSS chief Bill Donovan, Fleming Pickering is made his deputy over Pacific operations, in charge of the Mongolian project. Obstacles are formidable. They hope to hook up with a detachment of U.S. active or retired soldiers who retreated inland en route to India or Russia, when the Japanese invaded. But no one knows where they are. If they can be located, a weather station and meteorologists must be flown in, but the air route is perilous. They must develop their own technique for refueling seaplanes via submarine off the China coast; they worry about leaks to the Japanese if they fly in more conventionally through unoccupied western China. And there’s not enough fuel to come back. It’s a dangerous mission and when they ask for qualified pilots to volunteer, they initially don’t get any.In the rear-echelon desk wars, Pickering must plug a leak about the top-secret MAGIC program involving broken Japanese codes. If the Japanese learn their codes have been broken, they’ll change them.On the characters’ personal side, Jim Weston, a pilot who survived a year behind Japanese lines in the Philippines as an American guerrilla, is now stateside. He begins a romance with a Washington nurse, but his love life gets complicated when, in Pensacola, he meets up with beautiful war widow Martha Sayre. She’s spurned other suitors including Pickering’s son Pick, also a pilot, but it turns out Weston was the ill-fated couple’s best man, and she wants Weston now. He can’t resist and finds himself caught in a love triangle, loathing himself for his duplicity.Pick Pickering’s wild ways and devil-may-care attitude finally catch up with him. He beds a married socialite in Memphis, stirring up a wasp’s nest of problems. His endless speeding, drinking and uniform violations have worn his superiors’ patience with him, and he now must face the music.And we finally meet up with Ed Banning’s wife Ludmilla, a stateless White Russian left in Shanghai when Banning is pulled out in 1941. Her fate has been unknown since the first book in the series. Before leaving, Ken McCoy introduces her to Ernie Zimmerman’s Chinese wife and children; the loutish but effective Zimmerman has married a shrewd peasant woman with an escape plan, and she becomes Ludmilla’s best chance. Banning, fearing Ludmilla dead, has gotten involved with a wealthy divorcee Stateside, but once the China operation is begun he must go back and learn Ludmilla’s fate.There are good Chinese scenes here focusing on Ludmilla’s background and precarious position as a stateless White Russian woman in China on a worthless Nansen passport. She has few options other than becoming a Japanese officer’s mistress or sex slave as China falls to Japan. We get a glimpse into Mae Su Zimmerman’s life as a villager, and how much the couple has previously accomplished for themselves – including by smuggling.And we also see Chungking, the remote inland city where Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-Shek’s government is based after its retreat, supplied by precarious air links “over the hump” of the Himalayas to India. McCoy and Zimmerman, inserted there, start plotting how to link up with smuggler caravans going into the Gobi Desert. Both speak fluent Chinese and draw on their deep experience as prewar China Marines to get what they need and get where they’re going without attracting attention – including from the Chinese, some of whom may be tempted to sell them out to the Japanese. Pickering, meanwhile, must buck interference in the plan by OSS’s local office and its allies back in Washington, plus a chilly welcome from General Joseph Stilwell, Chiang’s deputy and the top American soldier in China.This longish story moves slowly at times but still a worthwhile entry in the saga. China of this era is fascinating and some of Griffin's best stuff in this series involves his use of his China Marines characters and their experiences here.

The kind that only WEB Griffin can write. Just as good…if not better….than the first time I read it. 5 stars!!

Excellent reading for any civilian or veteran with much attention to detail.Makes one feel compelled to reenlist or watch more WWII movies!

This eighth installment in the superb "The Corps" series, while good, is not the best of the series. It gets pretty draggy when the refugees and the weather detachment respectively, are slogging through the desert. I also didn't find it credible that the President would have time to be interested in the operation establishing an obscure weather station in Mongolia, however important to future strategic bombing missions. There are some good moments in this novel, but it is only a "like" not a "loved it" at least according to me.Unfortunately, this is Griffin's last installment in the series dealing with the Pacific War, which is unfortunate because there was plenty of room for more. The series picks up in 1950 with Book 9. Oh well ... RJB.

This is the last volume concerning World War 2. I found it a fascinating read,on a par with all the other books in this series.

Book arrived on time and looking forward to reading it!!

Easy to read and informative. Keeps the reader's attention, hard to put down.

All his books an excellent listen well thought out very interesting leaves you wanting more

Another excellent book from Griffin and he knows his subject matter very well.