The Neptune Strategy

by John J. Gobbell
Published by (date): St. Martin's Press (2004)
ISBN: 0-312-31170-2
Price: $7.99
Tags: Adventure Romance Thriller History WorldWar2

Synopsis:
 
Commander Todd Ingram stands on the bridge of his destroyer, U.S.S. Matthew (DD 525) when, suddenly, Japanese dive bombers plunge through the overcast. It’s a coordinated and devastating attack, the ship rocked by massive explosions. Concussions hurtle Ingram overboard, and helplessly, he watches his embattled ship stagger into the evening mist. He’s left behind as the Matthew’s crew desperately fights the fire and the Japanese.
 
Ingram barely lasts the night, and early the next morning he whoops for joy as a periscope cuts a wake toward him through a glass-smooth sea. But joy turns to horror as the submarine surfaces. The submarine is the I-57 of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Her skipper is Commander Hajime Shimada, recipient of Japan’s highest honor: Order of the Golden Kite. Also aboard the I-57 is orvettenkapitän Martin Taubman, of the Kreigsmarine. Until recently, Taubman was the naval attache’ in Tokyo. With Hajime and the I-57's crew of forty-nine officers and men, Taubman is enroute home via the U-Boat pens in Lorient, France. Ingram works hard for his keep and endures beatings from his captors. But he’s assured by Taubman, who becomes a chess-playing partner, to obey his captors, to keep his head down and work, that he’ll be safely interred in a POW camp in Germany after they arrive in Lorient.
 
It’s only until the I-57 makes a secret rendezvous with her sistership, the I-49, in Madagascar’s Antongila Bay, that Ingram learns this is not just a simple technical exchange mission between Germany and Japan. The I-57's mission has far more personal, and deadlier ramifications. Worst of all, Ingram discovers Hajime plans to get rid of him before they reach Lorient.
 
 
Reviews:
 
QUOTES
 
"Gobbell’s sea tales featuring Commander Todd Ingram will have you looking up your nearest Navy Recruiter."
 
W.E.B. Griffin
 
"The majesty and drama of America's struggle against Imperial Japan has seldom been as powerfully and authentically evoked as in John J. Gobbell's flank-speed story of a great submarine chase across the Pacific. I was hooked from the very beginning.
 
James D. Hornfischer
 
Author of The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
 
I love books like John Gobbell's. The Neptune Strategy, a fast-paced World War II story that is not only a page-turner but managed to teach me a few things, too. I don't know of any novels set aboard a Japanese submarine but this is one and it's an adventurous blend of fact and fiction that hooked me from the moment Commander Todd Ingram, Gobbell's realistic hero, is knocked overboard into the path of a marauding I-boat. Taken prisoner, Ingram must learn how to survive amongst men itching to gut him and throw him to the sharks. There's also a nice story that develops when Allied authorities figure out Ingram is aboard the Japanese sub and heading their way. Will they destroy the I-boat and Ingram with it? Or is there a reason to help it along on its journey? And what about that German U-boat skipper aboard the Japanese boat? What's his scheme? This is brilliant stuff and I just had to know how it was all going to turn out. After twists and turns within twists and turns, I wasn't disappointed. Why wait for the next Tom Clancy, Stephen Coonts, Homer Hickam, or W.E.B. Griffin when there's another great series in play? And make no mistake, this is a great series!
 
Homer Hickam
 
Author, Ambassador's Son and Rocket Boys (film version titled October Sky)
 
"The Neptune Strategy" was great read and held my attention throughout! I look forward to see what Todd Ingram does next!"
 
Vice Admiral Patrick Hannifin, U.S. Navy (ret.)
 
 
 
BOOK REVIEWS
 
Publisher’s Weekly
 
January 19, 2004
 
John J. Gobbell, St. Martin’s $24.95
 
(368p) ISBN 0-312-31170-2
 
Gobbell’s fourth naval adventure (after When Duty Whispers Low) brings series hero Todd Ingram up to the rank of commander and near the end of the war. Datelined chapters span the months from February to October 1944 and skip from California to Madagascar to France. As Ingram’s destroyer, the U.S.S. Maxwell, cuts through the North Pacific, it’s attacked by a Japanese dive bomber. Ingram is rescued from the waves, but since it’s by the Japanese submarine I-57, his troubles are by no means over. In one sense, Ingram’s war is at an end; in another, it’s just beginning. A test of wills as well as of physical strength and endurance unfolds for Ingram at the hands of his captors, who run the gamut from humane to sadistic. In nice counterpoint to this plot line is the experience of Capt. Jeremiah "Boom Boom" Landa, of the U.S.S. Morgan. Landa is assigned to a full-tilt espionage adventure (the mission of the title) involving Nazi U-boats, Swiss banks and even a cameo appearance by Arturo Toscanini. Gobbell’s robust, colorful prose bears more of a resemblance to that of Patrick O’Brian or C.S. Forster than to the language of the gritty, laconic men-at-war tales the novel otherwise models itself after. The story covers and impressive territory, supplemented by multiple maps and a comprehensive list of characters, identified by ship, location, vocation and nationality. This is a solid addition to Gobbell’s developing war chronicle, as much historical fiction as military adventure. (Apr.)
 
KIRKUS
 
January 15, 2004
 
"Gobbell is, as always, at home at sea (When Duty Whispers Low, 2002, etc.)..."
 
BOOKLIST
 
April 2004
 
Gobbell, John J. THE NEPTUNE STRATEGY
 
Apr 2004. 368 p. St. Martin’s, $24.95 (0-312-31170-2)
 
Gobbell’s protagonist, World War II destroyer officer Todd Ingram, begins this adventu rebeingblownoverboardfromhisshipbyaJapanesebomb.His rescuer next morning is a Japanese submarine, which begins an odyssey across the Pacific and into the Indian Ocean. On the way, Ingram endures the frequently brutal treatment the Japanese meted out to POWs, and readers get an uncommonly vivid portrait of the Imperial Japanese navy’s little-recorded submarine service in action. Even after he escapes, Ingram’s travels aren’t over, and code-breaking, historical characters such as Arleigh Burke, Yakuza gold, and a thuggish Nazi out to feather his own nest, each play parts in resolving this conflict and preparing Ingram for his next adventure. Gobbell has been reasonably justly compared to W.E.B. Griffin, although he is considerably more concise, perhaps at the price of some desirable background information and fuller characterization. Still, he offers an undeniably seaworthy tale for military-action buffs, and fortunately, Ingram has much of WWII yet to serve.
 
– Roland Green
 
 
TIN CAN SAILORS
 
(Association of USN destroyer sailors)
 
April 2004
 
Title: The Neptune Strategy
 
Author: John J. Gobbell
 
Length: 344 pages
 
Maps: Yes
 
Reviewer: James Healy
 
Rating: Three Stars—Recommended. A solid effort.
 
THE NEPTUNE STRATEGY by John J. Gobbell. This is Gobbell’s fourth book in the series. Commander Todd Ingram finds himself in many dangerous situations and is successful in "getting out" of his dilemmas. As in the previous stories, actual military events, real persons and warship details are carefully woven into the telling of the story.
 
Destroyer captain, Commander Todd Ingram is blown overboard during a Japanese air attack. Much later he is picked up by an enemy sub. Author John J. Gobbell – himself a former weapon’s officer on a Tin Can – has created a successful action/adventure series built around his character, Todd Ingram. This is Gobbell’s fourth book in the series.
 
Somewhat like the character Harmon Rabb in the TV series JAG, hero Ingram finds himself in many dangerous situations and is successful in "getting out" of his dilemmas. As in the previous stories, actual military events, real persons and warship details are carefully woven into the telling of the story. In this book, the Mark 24 passive acoustic homing torpedo plays an important role. A German, Martin Taubman is aboard the Japanese sub and slowly develops into the leading adversary of the book. Not to give away too much of the "plot," but Taubman’s half-brother is the manager of a Swiss bank. Ingram’s continuous beating at the hands of the Japanese seems overdone. His eventual escape from the sub (and a beheading) is also the least plausible event in an otherwise clever and intriguing adventure.
 
Each book stands alone, and the previous stories are not required reading to appreciate this book. For those who have read the other titles in the series, several of Ingram’s friends reappear – including Captain Landa and Laura West, Lt. Oliver Toliver III, and Helen Ingram, Todd’s wife. TCS has previously posted on its website a review of an earlier Ingram adventure "When Duty Whispers Low."
 
ORANGE COAST
 
The Magazine Of Orange County
 
June, 2004
 
Gobbell, who lives and works in Orange County, continues his World War II best-selling adventure series with this forth installment. His experience as an officer on a destroyer in the South China Sea brings authenticity to his plots that include the siege of Corregidor, battles in the Solomons, and the ambush of Japanese Admiral Yamamoto. In this novel, Commander Todd Ingram is on the bridge of his destroyer when it is jumped by Japanese dive-bombers. Rocked by massive explosions, the ship barely escapes, but Ingram is blown overboard. Picked up by a Japanese submarine, he is brutalized while the vessel heads to Lorient, France, to drop off a German attaché who is on board. Gobbell tells a fine tale of war that takes you from the Pacific to France and back to the Coral Sea for a final showdown between Ingram, the German, and the Japanese sub commander. Rousing.

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