The Circle - Softcover

David Poyer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1857979893 ISBN 13: 9781857979893

Publisher: Orion mass market paperback, 1993

Synopsis

For four years at Annapolis he prepared for this, pledging his youth, his ambition, and even his life. But when junior officer Dan Lenson finally gets his commission, it's an aging World War II destroyer. Now, with a mix of pride and fear, he heads into the world's most dangerous seas.
As the "Ryan "plunges into the dark waters of the Arctic Circle at the height of storm season, Lenson and the crew pursue a mysterious and menacing enemy. But he soon discovers a foe even more dangerous within the "Ryan, "advancing a shocking agenda that drives the ship closer and closer to disaster-testing Lenson's life and loyalty to their very limit.

About this title

About the Author

David Poyer graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, and served on destroyers and amphibious ships. He transferred to reserve commission in 1977 and began writing. His other novels of the U.S. Navy, The Med, The Gulf, and The Passage, also feature Dan Lenson. He was honored as a Distinguished Visiting Author at the U.S. Naval Academy. Poyer lives with his wife and daughter on Virginia's Eastern Shore.

From Kirkus Reviews

The first cruise of a newly commissioned Annapolis graduate takes him to the brink of war in the Arctic--in another realistic naval adventure by the author of The Med (1988) and The Gulf (1990). Reporting for the first assignment of his career, Ensign Dan Lenson steps onto the unmanned quarterdeck of USS Ryan and learns within seconds that he's on a troubled command. Built to last the duration of WW II, the destroyer has instead sailed into the mid- 1970's, and it's worn out. Assigned by the Ryan's corrupt executive officer to serve as first lieutenant, Lenson is responsible for the seaworthiness of all topside spaces. His crew of boatswain mates ranges from the criminal to the subnormally intelligent. But even if they were thoroughly competent, there aren't enough of them to effect the repairs left undone when the ship was yanked early from dry-dock overhaul. It's in this state that USS Ryan sets out for duty above the Arctic Circle, where the ship is to test experimental sonar gear. The duty is very nearly the death of the craft. Storms, ice, and a renegade Soviet nuclear submarine combine to test the limits of the ship and crew. The executive officer, drug-dealing sailors, and the relentless grind of duty also test the limits of Dan Lenson. When at last the Ryan is freed from Arctic duty, the exhausted crew is sent to operate with a fast carrier attack force west of Ireland, and there Ryan's luck runs out. The upshot of a horrifying tragedy at sea is a cold examination of the essence of naval command. A first-rate naval adventure. Poyer's depictions of the contemporary American Navy continue to be unequalled for authenticity. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Orion mass market paperback
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 1857979893
• ISBN 13: 9781857979893
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 324