Iwo, 26 Charlie

In this work of historical fiction set in 1945 during the Battle of Iwo Jima, narrator Lt. Lee Bishop is serving aboard the USS Nevada when he volunteers to transfer to shore duty as a "spotter." His new job is to transmit to the naval fleet the positions of the Japanese on the island. (The book's title comes from the radio call sign he assigns himself). Deutermann (The Last Paladin, 2022), who served in the U.S. Navy for more than a quarter century and has carved out a successful career as a writer of crime and military fiction, brings the infamous Iwo Jima conflict and its participants vividly to life in a terrific war story that is dramatic and tragic, but also exhilarating and triumphant. Readers who like their military fiction peppered with terminology will be satisfied; without slowing down the story or sounding clunky, the dialogue and narration are laced with acronyms and technical terms. Splendid.

The gripping latest WWII saga from Deutermann (after Paladdin) centers on a U.S. Navy officer's experiences during the 1945 Battle of Iwo Jima. In a framing device, Deutermann introduces Lt. Lee Bishop as he sits on his front porch several decades after the war and shares his recollections with his wife, Libby. In late 1944, Bishop was serving on the battleship USS Nevada as a "talker," or liaison who helped coordinate targets between the ship's crew and an aerial spotter. Bored by his role, Bishop yearned for real combat. After designing a new method for identifying distant targets, he volunteered to join the Marines in the "mud and blood" on Iwo Jima to test out his innovation. Ashore, Bishop was taken in by the Goon's Squad, a group of three rowdy marines who taught him how to fight and helped keep him alive until the battle ended. As usual, Deutermann provides readers with fly-on-the-wall access to scenes of pulse-pounding combat, and he wrings poignancy from the relationships between his central characters. Fans will walk away satisfied. Agent: Dan Mandel, Sanford J. Greenburger Assoc. (Nov.)