CORREGIDOR, 19 APRIL, 1942, EMPEROR HIROHITO’S BIRTHDAYOUTNUMBEREDBataan has fallen and Japanese forces loose a hideous round-the-clock artillery barrage on this tiny island at the mouth of Manila Bay. Life is miserable for 11,000 brave holdouts in Corregidor’s tunnels. Undeterred, a U.S. Navy cryptography team in Monkey Point, connected to Hawaii by phone line, cracks the Japanese top-secret code, revealing their chilling plans for a doomsday attack on Midway Island planned by the architect of the Pearl Harbor disaster, CinC Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto..OUTGUNNEDCorregidor’s “tunnel rats,” commanded by General Jonathan Wainwright realize there is no help, no hope; that the FDR-Winston Churchill “Europe First” policy leaves them with no reinforcements and no relief whatsoever. Bitterly, they await their fate – their time in hell. Worse, the Navy doesn’t know there is a mole among the Monkey Point code-cracking team – a ruthless, cold-blooded Nazi spy on orders to stop at nothing in aiding the Japanese.BUT NOT OUTSMARTEDEnter Navy Lieutenant Todd Ingram – a man the mole didn’t count on. As the Japanese ravage the Philippines and the rest of Southeast Asia, Ingram figures a way to get out. But before he escapes and rescues the girl he loves – Ingram must first stop a traitor who has the power to turn the tide of war toward the land of the rising sun.In the heart-pounding tradition of Eye of the Needle comes a thriller brimming with raw courage, non-stop action, and an unforgettable villain. “Powerful and engaging. Truly an inspiring and emotional story of bravery and sacrifice … a must read.”Nelson DeMille “There are no greater tales of epic combat than the fight for Corregidor and the Battle of Midway. John J. Gobbell masterfully combines them into a gripping war story that will be considered a classic in the decades to come.”Clive Cussler.“Epic adventure in the grand tradition -- a rip-snorting barnburner by a frit-rate storyteller.”Stephen CoontzGobbell has, for me, personally resurrected the novel of World War II in the Pacific, combining thriller with war novel. [The Last Lieutenant] calls up memories of The Naked and the Dead and James Jones. A first-rate accomplishment.Thomas Gifford
advertisement