The Restless Wave: A Novel of the United States Navy
The Restless Wave is the first novel by nonfiction writer and former U.S. Navy admiral James Stavridis, that follows a young ensign from the U.S. Naval Academy as he begins his career in the South Pacific during World War II.
Scott Bradley James grows up in the Florida Keys, fishing with his father and learning the ways of the ocean before he receives an appointment as a midshipman fourth class to the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, in early 1941. Making friends with brash Irishman Sean Kelley, as well as the son of a Navy rear admiral, Joe Taussig, Jr. (a real historical figure), Scott takes to the Navy like the proverbial fish to water and sees his destiny wrapped up in the Navy’s surface line of ships—battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. After graduation, he is assigned to Pearl Harbor, where the infamous attack occurs halfway through the story and the real action begins. Along the way, Scott experiences love, loss, and the guilt of bad decisions. Indeed, at times Stavridis’s protagonist is unsympathetic as he nurses “that old demon, ambition,” which provides the catalyst for ensuing conflicts with his friends and his new love, Kai Wallace.
Throughout, Stavridis reveals the dynamic lexicon and traditions of the Navy (as expected from a retired admiral) that lends authenticity to the story, particularly to the intricate details in battle sequences. The story ends in 1944 on a poignant cliffhanger that points to future installments (which the author makes clear in an afterword). Fans of Stavridis’s history and nonfiction works on leadership principles will find his first foray into fiction an entertaining and educational one.
