War is a Serious Business ... But ...

I can't help but like Scott Cook, the author. He's aware of his own shortcomings and tells us so in his introduction. His stock rose a lot when, in the second book in this series, he addressed the accuracy concerns of those like me who levelled fair criticism at his first Bull Shark story. I don't recall an author doing this before, and by doing so, I could cut him quite a bit of slack. However, I had hoped that being so open to his errors, he'd have attempted to mitigate them.

As with the first story in this series, I found myself ambivalent about opting to get this one. However, as there is a general dearth of such fiction on this form of warfare during World War II, I gave in and purchased The Cactus Navy.

Hmmm ...

One ongoing gripe I have that cannot really be fixed without either a major change of style from the current narrator without replacing him, is the overly exuberant narration style. Dave Alexander has one of those open and friendly voices that you just want to like, a chap you could quite happily have a beer with. However, his loud, somewhat over the top exuberance, robs much of the story of its sense of fear, dread and visceral danger. What makes this aspect worse, is the author's tendency to make most interactions between officers in the boat light hearted, jovial and gung ho. This also makes it difficult for the listener to feel any real sense of peril. Some quiet, sombre conversation, shaky voice, anxious exchanges. All these elements are either not present, or if they are, they're blasted away by Alexander's chirpy narration style. I think Scott Cook needs to give his characters a much deeper sense of seriousness to make his stories more credible. Every time I listened to a passage when heavy combat was in effect, I couldn't help but imagine it being depicted as a cartoon much of the time.

The essence of the plot is fine and it's evident that Scott Cook did quite a bit of research about Guadal Canal and its flora and fauna, as well as its inhabitants and geography. What lets this plot down is an antagonist that is too over the top. Sato is voiced like Darth Vader, an evil one dimensional enemy that insists on taunting his adversary. I'd like Cook's antagonists to be somewhat more subtle and sophisticated, but we have once more gotten a moustache twirling villain.

I still like Scott Cook and can see that he puts real effort, enthusiasm and belief into his writing. It's just that it lacks the grittiness I'm looking for. I can only think that he is aiming his stories at a younger demographic perhaps, I don't know.

Finally, and here's where my bug bears really come out. This story is riddled with inaccuracies and contradictions from an operational and technical perspective. Cook has explained that some licence is used to make things more exciting. However, I find that most of his changes to achieve this, actually make for an easier scenario for his fictional submarine crew. Surely you want all those restrictions and limitations that make for more difficult set pieces?

Here's my notes on the issues I had.

During the first attack, how did they know the suspected cruiser was a light cruiser without any periscope observations?
Also, cruisers tended not to carry depth charges or sonar, so the depth charge attack was unlikely. It's usually the job of much faster and more manoeuvrable destroyers to hunt and kill submarines.

During setup and prosecution of the attack on the cruiser, the boat's speed was rung up as two thirds, then this speed was commanded again and then "reduced" to two thirds without ever going faster or slower.

As featured in prior stories, the submarine manages to remain motionless for an hour or more without losing trim. This simply wouldn't happen. The boat would either rise or sink slowly after loss of forward motion. This is an egregious error that has now featured more than once in this series.

While waiting out a Japanese destroyer, a crew member was smoking. Surely this wouldn't be [permitted in a situation where you had no idea how long you may be forced to stay under.

During a land based fire fight in the pitch black jungle, our heroes seemed not to consider that the enemy will home in on their incessant and loud constant talking. What happened to quiet whispering?

While Bull Shark was trapped on the bottom in the mud for over 30 hours and oxygen was dangerously low, smoking was still allowed!!! Even worse, the insane logic displayed had interior lighting cut down and candles lit in its place. Surely the author knew that smoking and burning candles uses crucial oxygen?

While preparing for the final battle with the strike carrier, the boat was called to general quarters and the smoking lamp was put out. In the torpedo room, fish were being loaded and one man was puffing on a cigarette!

It seems very unlikely that a carrier and its escorts would be sat, motionless for any length of time, making themselves an easy target.

The author has endeavoured to read his history, even including Robert Lecky, a U.S marine who has written his biography, into the story. Just a shame, as with the overall flavour of the narration and story, that he was far too jovial and care free.

Conclusion: If you're like me, a submarine enthusiast and care about even a modicum of accuracy, then you'll have a hard time getting past the plethora of such errors. If you can overlook such things or don't care, then this is an entertaining enough listen.

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