I was hoping for a fast paced, smartly done modern techno-thriller in the vain of Mark Greaney, but this is like the worst of James Michener in its plodding glacial pace. The author’s style is very dated with overwrought flowery vocabulary that obscures the plot. I guess Poyer is attempting to make the banality of life aboard ship poetic in his word craft, but it falls miserable short of the mark. Most of the first 10 hours of the book is dedicated to describing in repetitive and painful detail just how boring life aboard a Navel vessel can be. In this the author has succeeded masterfully as I am thoroughly bored.
I can give Poyer some praise in attempting to address the racism and classism that was the dark underbelly of Navy tradition. However the authors portrayal of black characters in the book is so stereotypical of what white people thought what black people are like it is the literary equivalent of blackface minstrel show 70″s style. Black characters are portrayed as seething with racial resentment that bubbles up in passive aggressive indolence, salted with malcontent behavior such as petty theft and drug use. If you have seen the films Boys of Company C or Hamburger Hill you’ll know what I’m speaking of. I hope at least in this case Poyer also portrays the heroism to rise up through a racist system and triumph. The narrators attempt to do black voices is painful to hear and comes off as mocking…but I honestly believe it is just incompetence and poor decision making in directing the voice talent. If black characters have a significant level of dialogue in the story, hiring a black narrator is a better choice than trying to imitate (poorly) black voices.