Semper Fi

The Corps, Book 1

By: W. E. B. Griffin

Narrated by: Dick Hill

Length: 13 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

From Shanghai to Wake Island, the Corps was America’s first line of defense as the winds of war exploded into the devastating surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. This is the story of the men of the Marine Corps, their loves and loyalties, an elite fraternity united by courage and honor, as they steel themselves for battle, prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice....

©1986 W.E.B. Griffin (P)2012 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Action-packed...Difficult to put down.” ( The Marine Gazette)

Worth the read.

What did you love best about Semper Fi?

Surprised. It's interesting, funny, serious with great characters. I highly recommend it.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Semper Fi?

The end. It leaves you wanting more and there is.

What does Dick Hill bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good narrator.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The whole thing is moving and very understandable for people my age, man or woman.

Great Series

Would you listen to Semper Fi again? Why?

I have read the book and really enjoyed the series and it was nice to get to listen to it this time. It is a really captivating book and a great series. I am sure that I will return to this book again in the future. It was easy to listen to and was well done.

What did you like best about this story?

That is a series and this sets the stage for a lot of what will follow.

What about Dick Hill’s performance did you like?

He does a good job bringing the characters to life.

Any additional comments?

I wish the whole series was available. I love listening to the stories when I go on a walk. Makes the time go fast and make me want to walk more so I can continue to listen to the story.

...in the highest traditions of the Marine Corps

I have read the entire series multiple times. I love the story and characters. IMO a great tribute to the Marines of the greatest generation, to whom we owe so much.

Worth a second listen.

I listened to the whole series several years ago. The characters become so real that I've never completely forgotten them. An excellent series.

Must read (listen)!!

Best Marine Corps’ historical fiction book written. Complex storylines keeps you hooked through the entire series! Enjoy with a Old Grouse.

Outstanding

The best of all the books by WEB Griffin and I have every single one by this author!

great performance and book

I truly enjoy historical fictions this book does not disappoint character development and voice performances are excellent

Simply Fantastic!

I read several W.E.B. Griffin series back near the start of the millennia and loved them. Then I read a couple of isolated books of his fifteen or so years later and wasn’t so thrilled. So it was with mixed feelings that I returned to my favorite Griffin series to see if it still lived up to my memories. Thankfully, it is every bit as good as I remember.

Griffin writes a very strange kind of military fiction. For most authors, this genre is all about the battles, but for Griffin it is all about the behind the scenes work that leads to those battles. In Semper Fi we primarily follow Kenneth McCoy, an enlisted Marine stationed in China before the start of World War II. McCoy has the misfortune of being chosen by four Italian soldiers as their target for payback after several Italians got injured in a brawl with U.S. marines. In the purest form of self-defense, McCoy kills two of the Italians with a knife and the marine corps, wanting to appease the angry Italian authorities, plans to court martial him for surviving. It’s obviously not a good look for the marine corps but feels very plausible as events unfold.

After getting extricated from his court martial, McCoy falls into intelligence work, and Griffin does a fabulous job of taking this sort of activity out of James-Bond-land and making it highly plausible. At the same time, the reader’s respect for McCoy continues to grow in part because Griffin counterposes him with two inexperienced officers who have neither his brains nor his commonsense.

After “Killer McCoy” is forced to shoot a significant number of Chinese bandits to save two of his fellow marines, he gets recalled to the U.S. and put into an officer training program. World War II has begun in Europe but the U.S. is not yet involved. Again, we get to see how the Marine Corps functions as the cast of characters grows and young men try and figure out what it means to be an officer and a gentlemen as the country inches towards war.

The first novel ends with Pearl Harbor and the initiation of hostilities against the U.S. It’s an exciting page turner even though very little of the book actually depicts scenes of combat. For anyone who would like a behind the scenes look at how the military functioned in World War II, this is a great series.

Awesome story

Must ready for any devil Dog, even us devil docs. Lead up to World War 2

Former Marine approved!!

I might be biased, because I served in the Marine Corps. But I really thought Griffin develpoed some really special characters. And advanced their stories throughout the series of books. I read the first 6 books when I was in the service. Many years later I rediscovered them on Audible, and enjoyed them again. I was then thrilled that Griffin had actually extended the series with 3 more books.
I highly recommend these books. There is some historical fiction of course, and then some liberties later with McArthur story line, but still very enjoyable!