The World War II Novels: Voyage to Somewhere, Pacific Interlude, and Ice Brothers

Three novels depicting life at sea during World War II, drawn from Sloan Wilson's experiences as a US Coast Guard officer. Voyage to Somewhere follows Lieutenant Barton, who expects shore leave after two years at sea but is instead assigned to captain a supply ship sailing from California to New Guinea. The journey brings gale-force winds, seasick sailors, brewing rivalries, and the constant awareness of wartime danger. The New York Herald Tribune called it "one of the few honest and straightforward sea books that have come out of the war." Pacific Interlude centers on twenty-five-year-old Coast Guard lieutenant Sylvester Grant, newly commanding a small gas tanker carrying two hundred thousand gallons of high-octane aviation fuel across the Pacific as the Allies prepare to retake the Philippines. The crew faces personality conflicts, illness, boredom, and the constant threat of explosion or enemy attack. James Dickey described it as "Powerful, passionate and authentic . . . Unforgettable." Ice Brothers follows Paul Schuman, a college senior who enlists in the Coast Guard after Pearl Harbor and becomes executive officer aboard the Arluk, a converted fishing trawler patrolling Greenland's coast for German weather bases. Under the command of Lt. Cdr. "Mad" Mowry, Schuman and communications officer Nathan Greenberg confront icebergs, blizzards, and Nazi gunboats. The San Francisco Chronicle noted it as "The best since The Caine Mutiny."