The Final Storm

A Novel of the War in the Pacific

By: Jeff Shaara

Narrated by: Paul Michael

Length: 20 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

The Final Storm opens a new front in Jeff Shaara’s gripping chronicle of World War II as soldiers, sailors, and marines sacrifice all for one final push toward decisive victory in the fierce maelstrom of the Pacific theater.

As the war in Europe winds down in the wake of the Normandy invasion, the United States has turned its vast military resources toward an all-out effort against the Japanese. In the spring of 1945, Japan’s empire has been pressed slowly back toward its home islands, and the Americans mount a furious assault on the last great stepping-stone to Japan itself—the heavily fortified island of Okinawa. The three-month battle will feature some of the most vicious combat of the entire war, as American troops confront an enemy that would rather be slaughtered than experience the shame of surrender. With a narrative dexterity befitting his status as a master storyteller, Shaara relates the story of the struggle for Okinawa through the eyes of combatants on both sides: Private Clay Adams, a young marine whose brother Jesse has already earned his share of glory as a paratrooper with the 82nd Airborne in Europe; Admiral Chester Nimitz, who must unite rival army and marine commanders into a cooperative effort; General Simon Bolivar Buckner, Jr., the American ground commander trying to live up to the legacy of his father, who led Confederate troops during the Civil War; and General Mitsura Ushijima, the Japanese general in charge of defending the island, who understands what Tokyo will not believe: that his own fight to the death will only delay the inevitable—as the Americans continue their advance toward the home islands and ultimate victory.

With the fights raging across the Pacific, a different kind of campaign is being waged in extraordinary secrecy: the development of a weapon so powerful, not even the scientists who build it know just what they are about to unleash. Colonel Paul Tibbets, one of the finest bomber pilots in the U.S. Army Air Corps, is selected to lead the mission to drop the horrific new weapon on a Japanese city. As the new president, Harry S Truman, mulls his options, and a Japanese physician named Okiro Hamishita cares for patients at a clinic near the city of Hiroshima, citizens on the home front await the day of reckoning that everyone knows is coming.

A fitting conclusion to one of the most riveting sagas in military fiction, The Final Storm illuminates the heroism and sacrifice that defined the war in the Pacific, bringing the conflict to life as only Jeff Shaara can.

©2011 Jeff Shaara (P)2011 Random House Audio

Driflyjack

One of the best of Jeff Shores novels about World War II. I felt as if I were there in the South Pacific trenches with the characters of the novel itself. A real good read for any World War II buff.

One of his best

All of Jeff Shaara’s novels make excellent audiobooks — all of the unabridged the ones, in any case. Still, some are better than others. Each of his books relies heavily on the perspectives of the Generals involved. This provides an account of the battle’s strategy and tactics from human point of view. The real drama comes from the account of the man in the trenches though — the privates, sergeants and lieutenants who had to try to make the plans real — or had to suffer their miscalculation. In some of Shaara’s books, especially the early ones, these accounts of the common soldier are either sparse or not existent. These are not his best works. Those can determined by calculating how much time is dedicated to the stories of the men on the ground. This is one of his very best.

Know the ending, but learn something along the way

Sad to have concluded the trilogy. Another great story and reminder about the horror's of war and why we must always be prepared to wage it, in order to avoid it.

the best!

mr shaara's written another excellent book...I'm gathering them all. a SAC brat who got to meet some of the people in the book, to my intense honor. my sister was born in Kyoto, September 1948...

Evan Review

This book is like all the other books that Jeff as written with putting the characters telling their story into the historical facts. The characters share what it was like being in the front line of battle.

Interesting, but not the scope I'd expect or wish

The book was interesting and enlightening on certain aspects of the (very) late War in the Pacific. However, I wish the scope had been somewhat different.

He makes it clear in the forward that it's starting after Iwo Jima, so it should perhaps be subtitled "A Novel of the End of the War in the Pacific" since it really only covers a few months.

That aside, I would have like him to focus somewhat differently. I would have liked to have heard slightly less about the Battle of Okinawa and more about some areas that are less frequently discussed:
- The plans/build-up for the Invasion of Japan (Downfall/Olympic)
- The occupation/repatriation of Japanese held areas
- Even a bit about the Russian war on Japan and how it affects Japan's decision to surrender

The discussion of the atomic bomb was good, but I'd like to have heard a bit more about the after affects/recovery.

Finally, as in many of his other books, he seems to have a standard set of somewhat cliche characters that appear in his books under different names. You could draw a parallel between almost every character here and a character in one of his civil war books.

Shaara gives you the opportunity to understand.

We may know the facts but the author supplies the experience. I now know why the veterans kept much to themselves.

Another great book by Jeff Shaara

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Yes, because they like military history

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Final Storm?

The Japanese General conversation with himself

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I went through the book in less than a week

Loved it!

I’m a big war buff and my dad served in Okinawa and was injured there so this had particular relevance to me. Love that there was no woke bullshit in this one.

World war ll

Jeff Shaara writes stories about the war that brings out very interesting facts. I really enjoy listening to his stories