MWSA Review
G. William Weatherly brings his troubled hero Sheppard McCloud and the crew of the Argonne back for another thrilling alternative history tale.
World War II (Weatherly's alternative version) isn't going so well for the Allied powers. France's navy, while out of the war right now, is trapped, and will turn the tide of whichever side for which it fights. The British and Americans launch a desperate scheme to rescue the free French fleet, but the German navy will stop at nothing to force the French to their side. Germany's allies, the Italian navy, have decided independently that if the French won't join the fight, they need to be put on the bottom to keep them out of the war. Can the Argonne beat massive odds and rescue the free French fleet?
Weatherly's understanding of WWII naval combat is exceptional, and for the purists he does an excellent job in the prologue explaining what circumstances are different in his alternative version of history. He changes what he wants to change, but doesn’t lose the feel of historical naval combat as relayed by history books and memoirs of the time. The result is an interesting, intriguing, exciting story that history and alternative history fans alike will enjoy.
Reviewed by Rob Ballister, MWSA Awards Director
Author's Synopsis:
Captain Sheppard McCloud is unexpectedly called to Washington in May of 1942 while his ship, the battle cruiser Argonne is in dry dock undergoing repairs from the Battle of Cape Vilan. At a luncheon with President Roosevelt and the new head of the OSS, he is informed of his next mission—this time unsupported, in a race against General Rommel’s panzers to save the French Fleet at Mers-el-Kébir. Intrigue, spies, the ‘Maquis’, plots by both the Italians and his nemesis from Sheppard of the Argonne German Admiral Schröder, make a thrilling page turner that readers will find hard to put down.
This is the second book in the continuing saga of Captain Sheppard McCloud and his crew on the battle cruiser Argonne. The first book, "Sheppard of the Argonne", won a 2016 Gold Medal from MWSA in the category of Literary Fiction. See advance reviews of the new book, "Sheppard and the French Rescue" , on Amazon.com.
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-63393--362-0
Book Format(s): Hard cover
Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller, Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 371