Semper Fi: The Corps Series Book 1

Semper Fi: The Corps Series Book 1 by W.E.B. Griffin

I recently finished this author’s 9 book series “The Brotherhood Of War”.  Although I enjoyed that series overall, I thought the latter books in that collection left a bit to be desired and that Griffin should have probably quit after six or seven instead of stretching the narrative to nine. Not only did the later works seem forced, but I simply became too tired of the same characters, the repetitive scenarios, and the overwhelming military jargon.  Having said that, I wasn’t too sure I wanted to even tackle this “The Corps” series.  I figured that it would probably be more of the same.  After reading the first book, I can honestly say that I’m glad I made the decision to start this one, yet it wouldn’t surprise me if I have the same feelings and reservations once I make it to the last few books of THIS series (there are ten total).

I liked this book because, unlike most of The Brotherhood of War books, it felt like the author is letting his story breathe a bit more.  There isn’t quite so much military terminology, jargon, nor acronyms. I felt like I was reading a good old fashion story by a good old fashion author.  This is by no means a “brilliant” book; W.E.B. Griffin should never be confused with a Pulitzer Prize winner nor with an author that would make any type of New York Times Best Seller list.  It’s a fairly simple story and the short length allows things to move at a fairly steady pace.  It’s very obvious at the conclusion of this book that there’s much more story to tell, but fans of this author have come to expect a “series of books” as opposed to a stand-alone story.

What also made this book a bit different compared to The Brotherhood of War series is that Griffin focuses the majority of this book on only one character.  Yes, there are a few more scattered throughout the pages, yet only Corporal Kenneth “Killer” McCoy seems to be the focus for at least the first 2/3 of the novel. The story begins in early 1941 where McCoy is stationed in China.  China was already fighting the Japanese in World War II, yet the U.S. wouldn’t enter until December of that year when Pearl Harbor was attacked.  Still, most in the military inner circle knew that it was a only a matter of when, not if, the U.S. would get involved in the global conflict.

Corporal McCoy is one of those characters that we read about in many war novels, as well as see in many war movies.  He’s young, arrogant, cocky, and downright insubordinate.  Such a rogue would probably find himself court martialed in the military, but McCoy is damn good at what he does, so after several close calls with the top military brass, he’s eventually given a free pass at all of his misdeeds and belligerent antics. He seems to be the only one capable of the difficult, delicate work that he’s asked to do.  This kid might even have what it takes to be an officer in the United States Marine Corps.

This is definitively an R-rated book.  There’s plenty of cursing, drunkenness, debauchery, and loose women around.  I actually learned what it means when a solider states that he needs to go out on the town and get his “ashes hauled”.  If you don’t know what that means, I’ll just say that it means exactly what you’re probably thinking it means.  We also see McCoy get involved seriously with a woman or two throughout the story, and things never seem to go as they should in a W.E.B. Griffin novel where serious romance is concerned.  At least they don’t in the first book; I’m sure things will settle down after another book or two.

In many ways, though, the similarities between this book and the whole Brotherhood of War series of books do become somewhat apparent.  Fortunately, though, there was enough freshness here for me not to feel like I was reading the exact same story all over again with slightly different characters.  Hopefully I’ll have the same reaction after completing most, if not all, of the other books in The Corps series as well.