The Eagle's Claw

May 15, 2021
Deadly enemies clash in the Pacific in this dramatic novel about the Battle of Midway Island. Japan has conquered much of Asia, and after striking Pearl Harbor, Adm. Yamamoto worries that the emperor's forces suffer from Victory Disease, the idea that they will win every battle. He'd never thought attacking American soil was such a good idea in the first place--as shown in Shaara's last book, To Wake the Giant (2020)--and now he must capture Midway Island and the airstrips that American pilots would use to attack Japan. And he must destroy the aircraft carriers that bring the fighters and bombers from the U.S. mainland. Yamamoto is an insightful man who knows "the airplane will rule this war" and "aircraft carriers are the future." If he can lure the enemy ships into a trap, his superior forces can sink them all. Meanwhile, the U.S. Navy has men like Cmdr. Rochefort, a codebreaker whose team in the top-secret Dungeon deciphers enemy intentions. The story shows both sides' viewpoints as men sail to their destinies--there are no spoilers to be had, as it's slightly fictionalized history made highly readable. The narration carries a heavier load than the dialogue, yet Shaara deftly digs into the minds of the major players. Yamamoto, who has never failed at anything, "violates one of the tenets of warfare--he divides his forces." Adm. Nagumo takes too long preparing an attack and so loses three carriers. With no ships to land on, the Zeroes have "nothing left but to fly into the sea." Adm. Yamaguchi commands his crew to abandon the burning Hiryu while he declares, "I shall remain with my ship." Shaara writes a well-researched and evenhanded portrayal of the event that changed the direction of the Pacific War. Compelling wartime excitement that's much more history than fiction.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 15, 2021
In To Wake the Giant (2020), Shaara used his familiar technique of following a handful of real-life characters to tell story of Pearl Harbor. Now, in this next installment of his Pacific War series, he moves to Midway Island, site of the naval battle that changed the tide of the war. Like Pearl Harbor, the Midway story has been told many times, but Shaara's zoom-lens approach, using first-person narration from the points of view of soldiers and sailors on both sides of the conflict, generals to noncoms, makes possible an exciting blend of big-picture strategy and intense human perspective. This time we revisit some of the characters from To Wake the Giant, including Japanese Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, architect of both Pearl Harbor and Midway battles, and U.S. Navy Commander and ace code-breaker Joe Rochefort, who failed to connect the dots before December 7 and is now determined to pinpoint where Yamamoto's next campaign will take place. Jumping between those far from the action (Rochefort and his team, ensconced in a basement in Hawaii, working feverishly to understand the enemy's chatter) and those in the middle of it (on aircraft carriers and in fighter planes, searching the Pacific for the Japanese fleet and then attacking it), Shaara shows how battles are won by strategy, firepower, and courage, but also by paying attention to minutiae and, of course, by luck. Riveting historical fiction.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Shaara's wildly popular novels about the Civil War and WWII extend the audience for military fiction far beyond its normal range.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.