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At the height of the Vietnam War, Lt. Brian Holcomb begins a seven-month assignment on the USS John Bell Hood, an 8,000-ton guided-missile ship off the coast of Vietnam. Brian is the weapons department head, in charge of the Hood's array of computer-controlled attack and defense systems. His wife, Maddy, waits nervously back in San Diego, a career woman uneasy about being a "Navy wife," frustrated by Brian's absence and worried about his safety in an active war zone.
An ambitious young officer, Brian is up for promotion, his next step toward his goal of commanding his own ship. But he soon discovers that the Hood is riddled with problems that make it vulnerable to a potentially deadly air assault by the North Vietnamese - problems that the ship's enigmatic captain seems unable or unwilling to address. Brian must make a decision: Should he ignore the problems and endanger the ship, or do something about them and put his career in jeopardy?
Meanwhile, Maddy Holcomb faces her own dilemma, for another man - an interesting, seductive, dangerous man - has complicated her life. Lonely, confused, doubtful about the war and about her future with Brian, Maddy feels herself sliding toward a moment that could change her life, and her marriage, forever.
The Edge of Honor is filled with characters, men and women, who interpret honor in different ways, with lasting consequences. Readers of fiction will discover a splendid new storyteller in P.T. Deutermann.
