Final Harbor

Silent War Series, Book 1

By: Harry Homewood

Narrated by: Corey M. Snow

She was a monster, sleek and gleaming, designed to strike without warning like the dreaded shark. She was the USS Mako, as fearless and bold as any submarine that ever prowled the blue Pacific. Her mission: seek out and destroy the hitherto invincible ships of the Japanese Imperial Navy - and revenge the earlier defeats of a long and dirty war. Here is the story of the men who pitted their lives against impossible odds in the most dangerous branch of the American armed services. It is a story of men pushed to the breaking point and beyond in the most nerve-wracking, heart-stirring warfare of all, a story of glory, grit, and guts, and of the astonishing resources that human beings call forth when put to the ultimate test.

©1980 Harry Homewood (P)2017 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A well-paced and strongly felt mix of action and heroic individualism." ( Kirkus)

Excellent Listen For History Buffs

Well researched well written with both the meteoric highs and unfathomable depths of emotion for the believable characters and their "Boats".

Narration is a bit weak but acceptable. The story and the action carried the audio book.

Overall okay, but there are better WWII Sub books

Where does Final Harbor rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

About mid-scale. Not fantastic, but not below average either.

Would you recommend Final Harbor to your friends? Why or why not?

I'd recommend for someone who is not already very familiar with WWII naval history, especially, especially about the boats, torpedoes, the "gun club" etc.

Have you listened to any of Corey M. Snow’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First one I think. He did fine. Some of his pronunciations are much different than what I have heard from a wide range of others, particularly place names.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Not particularly. It's a lot like an extended movie script from the 40s-50s in many ways. Somewhat predictable, but not completely so. Definitely better than the Jack Tremain thriller sub books. They were like long comic books.

Any additional comments?

Having already read a lot of nonfiction about USN subs in WWII, nothing much was new. Clearly the author pulled bits and pieces from many actual patrol encounters. May or may not read the others in this series.

The end is straight bonkers awesome.

What a fun, educational, gripping story. Gearheads will love it for the detail porn. There were times I thought the author was going overboard (pun intended) on refs and detail, but in the end, everything lays off. The writing itself at times seemed a bit stilted (with a bit of cringe), but as a book published in 1980, it’s indicative of that’s era of popular literature.

All my reservations about this book, however, we’re blown away by the end. This beast iPad action-packed and a ton of fun.

Great Story, Although Fiction, it is so close good

I really liked this book.. Although fiction, many stories relate to the truth of and submarine service..One Fact is the terrible torpedo's made on goat island, RI . The failure rate was off the charts. One skipper has had enough, and goes against the book on how to make a sub attack.. He has his crew change the detinators, attacked on the surface at night, etc. After great success, he broadcast to other sub's how they corrected the problem...Back at Pearl, the man who wrote the book on how subs should attack ,wants to court-martial this hero. His whole life is not victories but he wants every man to follow orders, anyway, if you try this book, I believed you will find it both interesting and thought provoking.

Great Submarine Story

If you’re a fan of WW2, particularly submarines, this one is great. The story, writing, and performance are all top notch. The sequel, Silent Harbor, is just as amazing.

Good listen

The combat sequences and the technical running of a sub in WW2 is excellent and the narration is very good. The not combat story is a lot of Hollywood.

Bravo Zulu

Best submarine writer ever! He really knows his stuff.
Life is simple. You're either qualified or you're not.
EMCM(SS) USN (ret)

Great job. Great Narration

Very well done. I Read this book as a Teenager. Narrator did a wonderful job

Very good.

good submarine story. I liked Run silent run deep by Edward l Beach better . Very good narrator also

Outstanding

Liked it all, even the parts that were background. The author and voice are both to be commended for their excellent writing and performance. I cannot remember a WWII sea novel that I have read that exceeds this one for sheer enjoyment.