Douglas Reeman is one of the finest writers of British World War II naval action. And yet, it took me longer than usual to get absorbed into For Valour, which is set on the Tribal class destroyer Hakka. The ship serves as a shepherd for Atlantic and Arctic sea convoys, mostly taking much-needed supplies to fuel the Russian war effort.

Unlike most of Reeman's books, I found this one a bit disjointed, especially in the first half when the action didn't flow from scene to scene as neatly as in other books.

Also, his characters here were all a bit too maudlin -- sure, they have reasons for their depression, be it a lost ship, a lost commander, a betrayal by a close friend, an impending divorce, a civil police investigation or an embarrassing STD -- but the unrelenting sadness is a bit much at times. Even an officer who has recently found love ashore is unusually melancholy, simply because he now has something to lose and suffers from more fear than usual when going into action.

Another slight criticism is Reeman's use of acronyms, abbreviations and slang that, at times, I simply did not comprehend. I've read enough nautical fiction and nonfiction that I usually know what's going on, or at least can figure it out from the context, but here I was sometimes completely "at sea," if you'll forgive the pun. It was distracting.

And yet, when it comes to World War II-era naval action, there's none finer than Douglas Reeman. His descriptions of life aboard ship put readers right there, with the officers and crew, seeing what they see and feeling what they feel -- whether that be hunger, cold, anger or fear. The tension on missions, when everyone is on high alert for a glimpse of a German plane in the sky or a blip on the radar that signals the presence of a German U-boat, is palpable.

And, by the final mission of the book, I found it hard to put it down -- so intense was his writing that I sometimes found myself unable to stop turning pages.

At the end of the day, I will happily read anything by Douglas Reeman (or his Age of Sail pseudonym, Alexander Kent), and For Valour is, despite its problems, an amazing novel, full of thrills and danger, death and glory. Reeman writes compelling, interesting characters, and his stories are rich, exciting and expertly written by a man who knows his subject matter. For Valour isn't my favorite of his books, but it's still better than most books in the field.