Honor Boundby W.E.B. Griffin

Release date: 1993 / 550 pages

First line: “Three Grumman F4F Wildcats approached Henderson Field from the west in a shallow descent from 15,000 feet.”

Synopsis (from back cover): October 1942.  At a secret rendezvous point off the coast of neutral Argentina, a small merchant ship delivers supplies to Nazi submarines and raiders.  The OSS is determined to sabotage the operation by any means necessary.  But one of the key saboteurs they’ve enlisted — a young U.S. Marine — must fight his own private battle between duty and honor.  Because he was chosen for a reason — to gain the trust and support of his own flesh and blood.  A powerful Argentinian called “el Coronel.”  The father he never knew…

Review:  A few weeks ago I decided to read “outside the box” and tackle a couple of genres I rarely — if ever — experience.  The first was The Secret History, which was actually pretty much what I usually read.  The second selection was Twilight, which was a stretch in that I never read horror, fantasy, or anything with vampires.  My third experiment is Honor Bound, recommended to me by my husband. 

Now, when I read the first line and synopsis (which I included above), I was seriously nervous.  I know very little about the military, and not much more about WWII.  I’m embarassed by this second fact and desperately wish I had retained more of my past history classes, but this reality certainly wasn’t going to help me understand what the heck a Grumman is, let alone a Wildcat. 

My second reason for being nervous was that my husband recommended it, and I really wanted to like something that he enjoys.  He is a great reader, too, but we rarely read the same genres.  He tends to enjoy historical fiction and biographies, military thrillers, and stuff about space.  We are extremely compatible in many, many ways, but I do not share his interest in WWII or space, and his analytical mind retains facts and dates amazingly well (my abstract, English teacher mind, not so much). 

The third reason I was nervous…  550 pages!!  About Grumman Wildcats?!?  I tend to read about a page a minute (assuming I understand the words), so the minimum amount of time I would be spending in WWII Argentina would be NINE HOURS…  Oh boy…

Well, I am happy to report that on page 2 my nerves began to dissipate when I met First Lieutenant Cletus Howell Frade, USMCR.  I quickly realized that all that WWII / Grumman / VMF-221 Wildcat jibber jabber was nothing more than a vehicle for terrific character development (whew…  safe ground again…).

I devoured Honor Bound last weekend (appropriately Memorial Day weekend, now that I think about it) and strongly, enthusiastically recommend it.  In fact, I’m already planning to read the next in the Honor series sometime this summer.  

Griffin’s writing is engaging, compelling, suspenseful, and thoughtful.  Although male characters seriously out-number the female characters, the males are not 2-D, testosterone poisoned military wanks.  Not at all.  There is definitely a “code of honor” the good guys subscribe to that anyone — male or female — would endorse.  In other words, the characters are not stereotypical. 

Which doesn’t mean there isn’t a formula of sorts in play — Griffin likes strong (yet enlightened and intelligent) men who were orphaned young from wealthy, multi-cultural families and chose to enter the military (possibly as a surrogate family?).  I think this formula appeals to many (American) men due to the implied self-made aspect: men wealthy enough not to work, yet choosing to serve their country and prove their courage and honor. 

However, beyond Cletus were many other complex interesting characters — including a German “good guy,” a couple of clueless American policy wonks, and his very compelling Argentinian father.  In other words, this is not a jingoistic paragon to the American military.  The good guys think for themselves and disagree with their superiors when appropriate. 

Regarding the women — there weren’t many, and the guys occasionally think about “getting laid.”  But they also believe in love, do NOT believe in paying for sex (which came through loud and clear).  Interestingly, the men who did pay for sex were judged much harsher than the actual “mistresses.”  (This is a very minor element, by the way).

So, I heartily endorse Honor Bound and look forward to losing myself in Blood and Honor soon!  (Try not to judge the books by their titles, by the way )  Now I’m off to read Jennifer Weiner’s Certain Girls  

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