The Far Reaches

by Homer Hickam

Book Overview

The year is 1943 and World War II in the Pacific rages on, with Americans engaged in desperate battles against a cunning enemy. Coast Guard Captain Josh Thurlow is on hand at the invasion of Tarawa,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312334753
• ISBN13: 9780312334758
• Release Date: June 2007
• Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
• Length: 314 Pages
• Weight: 1.32 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.7" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

Hickam's Best Novel to Date

If you've read any of Hickam's other books you will love this one. If you haven't read any of his books yet, what are you waiting for? As a Vietnam combat veteran you can tell that Homer uses a lot of his own experiences in this novel. A must read.

His tough crust still surrounds a tender core for the men and women who are loyal and true.

Captain Josh Thurlow is back in a new World War II adventure, packed with action and pathos. Fans will remember the feisty U.S. Coast Guard Captain from two previous books. We first met Josh in THE KEEPER'S SON as he hunted a wolfpack of German U-boats off the Outer Banks of the Carolinas before the U.S. entered the war. In THE AMBASSADOR'S SON, Josh and his crew were sent to the Solomon Islands on a secret mission to search for President Roosevelt's missing cousin early in the war. Captain Thurlow's sea-savvy has been duly noted by Washington after his action in the Solomons, and he is dispatched to the Mariana Islands as an observer for Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox. The Americans had met blistering resistance from the Japanese in the bloody battle of Guadalcanal, and now the U.S. seeks to secure the island chain to the east as a strategic stopping point in the supply lines as they gear up for invasion of Japan. Late in 1943 the Marines are launching an assault of Tarawa. Hickam's earlier war stories have leaned toward storytelling and character development in the early pages. Not so in THE FAR REACHES. The opening chapters are filled with graphic, action-filled battle scenes, as his impressive writing skills chronicle a near-catastrophic battle early in World War II. Based on recorded history of that battle, THE FAR REACHES aims a zoom lens on the fighting men from both sides in what began as a fiasco as the Marines tried to land under poor sea conditions. It is here that Hickam injects his rich and colorful characters into the story. Captain Thurlow, horrified at the carnage taking place during the misguided landing, discards his observer role to jump ship and join the battle. Meanwhile, Sister Mary Kathleen, a pretty, young Irish nun and her retinue of "fella boys," a group of South Sea Islanders fleeing a prisoner-of-war camp on a Japanese occupied island, have had the misfortune of being recaptured by the Japanese holding Tarawa. They are sequestered in a bunker under guard beneath the dunes of the small atoll and due to be executed. When the pounding begins from the American warships offshore, their future is even less certain as shells fall on the bunker. During a lull in the bombardment, the nun and her fella boys crawl out of the smoldering ruins to give aid to the few wounded Marines still alive after the first unsuccessful beach assault. Among them are Josh and his bosun, Ready. Josh, gravely wounded during the landing, succumbs to a recurrence of malaria and is shanghaied by Sister Mary Kathleen, who has a war of her own to win back on the island she fled. As the second wave of the 2nd Marines is gathering for what will be a successful battle for the island chain, the unconscious Josh, his bosun Ready, the determined young nun and three surviving Marines are being rowed in three reed outrigger canoes by the nun's faithful fella boys back to the island group known as the Forriges, or the Far Reaches, to help Sister Mar

Wow!

If you thought Rocket Boys was good, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Hickam displays his versatility in his most intense work to date. In the vein of both Saving Private Ryan and The Killer Angels, Hickam's The Far Reaches is guaranteed to thrill, shock, and thoroughly move even the most stoic of readers.

Great Summertime Read

The Far Reaches by Homer Hickam The Far Reachesis a fantastic summer page turner. I love the way this book combines the courage and guts of the U.S. fighting man with the adventure of an Indiana Jones-type story all into one action-packed book. With July 4th coming up, this is a great read that makes you proud again to be an American, and especially proud of our fighting men during WWII. If you liked "The Greatest Generation" or "Flags Of Our Fathers", you'll LOVE "The Far Reaches" The Far Reaches!

A fascinating novel

The Far Reaches is a great page-turning read. I liked all the characters, especially Sister Mary Kathleen. Josh Thurlow is a character who has grown on me. In this novel, he is so real I think Hickam is either channeling him or he's based on a real person. As in all the Thurlow books, Hickam not only writes a page-turner but also teaches a little history. The opening chapters of the battle of Tarawa are absolutely spell-binding and gut-wrenching, too. I think I learned what it was really like in that battle and I'm a huge WWII buff and have read nearly everything written about Tarawa. Hickam captures the sand, grit, sweat, and stink of battle like few authors. W.E.B. Griffin seems always a little above the fray. Hickam has Thurlow right in the middle of it. After Tarawa comes the islands of the Far Reaches. I will never forget when I read of Sister's greatest sin. I thought I had it all figured out but Hickam surprised me at the end. This novel is historical fiction at its best. Just good writing and a reading pleasure.