The Nugget
A Novel
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4.0 • 1 Rating
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
A novice naval aviator grows into a hero in this gripping and authentic World War II adventure by master storyteller P. T. Deutermann
Lieutenant Bobby Steele, USN, is a fresh-faced and eager naval aviator: a "Nugget," who needs to learn the ropes and complex procedures of taking off and returning safely to his aircraft carrier. A blurry night of drinking lands him in an unfamiliar bed aboard the USS Oklahoma; later that day, the Japanese destroy Pearl Harbor. After cheating death and losing his friend in this act of war, the formerly naive Steele vows to avenge the attack.
Flying sea battle after battle, Steele survives the most dangerous air combat in World War II, including Midway, is shot down twice, rescued twice, and eventually leads a daring mission to free prisoners from a secluded Japanese POW camp. Packed with authentic military action on land and at sea in the Pacific Theatre of WWII and featuring a memorable protagonist based on a true-life hero, The Nugget is a first-class adventure by a former commander whose family served in the Pacific.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In the prologue to this rousing WWII naval action thriller from Deutermann (The Ice Man), Navy Lt. Robert T. Steele faces a court of inquiry in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, that wants to know where he has been in the almost two years since he went missing from the USS Hornet in 1942. The court members aren't even sure Steele, with his full beard, long hair, and skin dyed nut brown, is who he says he is, but he has one hell of a story to tell. Flashback to the December 7, 1941, Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, where Steele is aboard the battleship Oklahoma, seriously hung over. After surviving the Oklahoma's sinking, he's assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise as the pilot of a Dauntless dive bomber. "She was a powerful bird and each launch felt like she wanted to go out there and kill something." Steele participates in some of the Pacific war's most important battles, including Midway and Guadalcanal, but it's only after he's marooned on the Philippine island of Talawan that his greatest adventure begins. The book's prose is as straightforward as its stalwart hero. Deutermann keeps the reader spellbound throughout.
