Caribbean Counterstrike is the second novel in the Cutter Kauai series and my second novel. It benefits from the experience I acquired in its predecessor and the fact that the crew and their life aboard have been established, allowing more focus on the plot. It has the same feeling of team and family among Kauai’s crew—this is one persistent element throughout the series. The most significant change from the earlier novel is the “special mission†status the boat and crew have obtained.
During Dagger Quest, the shadowy “JUBILEE Committee†of senior U.S. government intelligence community officials has discovered the handiness of having a seaborne platform that can respond almost immediately to a crisis, more or less stay in the background while doing so, and perform well independently. It is also instrumental in having a crew that is free to act across the lines between law enforcement and combat operations (the Department of Defense is expressly prohibited from conducting law enforcement by the Posse Comitatus Act). The downside, of course, is that an aging Coast Guard patrol boat brings far less combat capability than a Navy vessel. The storyline includes the fact that the Director of National Intelligence has invested heavily to modernize and harden her. The crew knows the investment implies a special status and steps up to the increased demands with pride.
If Kauai existed in the real world, she would be worked just as hard in her “day job†as other Coast Guard cutters, and the first two vignettes in the novel reflect this. The smuggler intervention in the first to stop and arrest a dangerous criminal trying to enter the U.S. secretly reflects a very unusual level of “intel†involvement and coordination relative to the real-world context. However, having an asset with Kauai’s capability opens the door to many things not done today. The second involving the airliner’s forced landing at sea is a more conventional mission, but still quite outside the norm regarding the number of survivors the boat must deal with and the need to move them inside (due to the storm).
For those inclined to say “Oh, come on!†to a modern airliner brought down by hail and rain ingestion, I invite you to read about the USAIR Flight 1549 Hudson River ditching in 2009 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549) and the Garuda Indonesia Flight 421 mishap in 2002 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garuda_Indonesia_Flight_421). If anything represents a leap of faith for this vignette, it is a successful ditching of a large aircraft in the open ocean. This is an immensely difficult task that must work on the first try—there are no do-overs for a “dead stick†landing. Believe it or not, the pervasive calm amongst the survivors is not uncommon. Large groups can get out of hand if panic takes hold (as almost happens with the lightning strike during the rescue), but people tend to rise to the occasion if they have confidence in folks trying to help them. Both the flight crew and the coastguardsmen know this and maintain a calm demeanor, despite their natural anxiety over the situation.
This story explores personal and emotional command challenges at the senior and junior levels. Admiral Pennington has to send this elite crew in on a mission that is not only difficult to pull off, but if it goes wrong, they will likely be wiped out in a horrifying manner. In the story, he was Kauai’s first commanding officer, and so he understands at a deeply personal level what he is asking of Sam on this mission. It is even more personal and stressful for Sam, as every decision he makes could result in the deaths of some or all of the people he has come to love over the past year. Sam does not have the luxury of standing down when his best friend and second in command, Ben, is gravely injured, and he must carry on with the command burden alone while awaiting news of his fate.
The relationship between Victoria and Ben took careful effort because of the need to wrap in so many extraordinary elements. Their ability to build a strong relationship, despite the physical distance between them is another leap of faith. But, when you consider each was bowled over by the other in their first meeting, and they were able to talk openly and frequently from the outset, the quick transition to a loving physical relationship makes sense. The fact neither could admit their love, given their openness about everything else, might seem odd until you consider both had been burned badly by such a revelation in previous relationships. Each thinks, “this is too good to be true,†until events finally force their hands.
This book continues the genre of blending humor and friendship against the backdrop of great adventure, with a sweet little romance rolled in. Come along and enjoy the ride!
