Douglas Reeman

Many years ago, when I was eleven or twelve, I had to go in the hospital to have a broken eardrum repaired. To pass the time while I was there, my parents brought me a stack of books, including a WWII sea tale called Rendevous - South Atlantic, by a writer named Douglas Reeman.

It was the story of an old merchant ship, converted to a warship and pressed into duty as a convoy escort. Since this was about the lowest rung in the British Navy, most of the officers had blemishes on their records. As I recall it was a pretty good story, with an especially gripping ending - their convoy is attacked by a German cruiser, and the crew has to buy time for the rest of the ships to escape, even as they themselves are getting chopped to bits.

Yesterday I was at the used book store (where it seems most of my happier moments occur these days) and I found this book and two others by Reeman. I didn’t pick them up, and now I’m kicking myself, but it’s not too late - they’re probably still there.

I also found that Reeman is a WWII Navy veteran himself, and has written about a bazillion naval adventures, set both in the twentieth century and the Napoleanic era. He’s in his eighties now, still writing, and has an extensive website covering his work.

I’m going back to the store today and buy up what they’ve got. Anyone else out there read Reeman? What’s the verdict?