Code of Silence

A world war II novel

By: Larry LaVoie

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

Two days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese submarines are already sinking merchant ships off the Pacific Northwest coastline. The citizens of San Francisco, Seattle and Portland, Oregon are in near panic, afraid an attack will happen any minute. To be certain he is getting accurate intelligence, President Roosevelt needs a man he can trust. He chooses an unlikely candidate, Gaston Carson, a fourth year midshipman at the naval academy in Annapolis. His mission is to give Roosevelt firsthand accounts of any enemy activity in the Pacific Northwest. Gaston soon finds himself in the middle of a war unlike any he had trained for at the academy. Enemy submarines are operating off the coast of Oregon with impunity. We have no defense against them and no way of bringing the fight to them. Reluctant to move troops to protect the coastline, the Navy adopts a plan based on denial and deflection. News accounts of enemy activity are censored, and murders are covered up. As a civilian, Gaston must find a way to fight the enemy in his backyard, while the government denies they are there. He is in the middle of a war of deceit and deception, and the enemy is both on dry land and at sea. Against all his instincts, he comes to realize this is a war that cannot be won without a Code of Silence.