Choosers of the Slain - James Cobb

With its sleek outline hiding its awesome capabilities, the USS Cunningham is no ordinary warship. The world's first stealth missile destroyer, her offensive power is matched only by her baffling ability to evade her enemies. And she has no ordinary captain: behind Commander Amanda Lee Garrett's elegant exterior lies a lightning sharp intelligence and a will of steel.

But now both ship and commander are about to be tested in the heat of battle for the first time, as the Argentines launch a military takeover of the Antarctic peninsula, with only the Cunningham standing between them and their mineral-rich prize.

Faced with the full might of the Argentine navy and airforce in the freezing, fog-shrouded waters off the Antarctic Circle, the Cunningham and her crew are about to find out just how good they really are.

I opted to go for something completely different with this read. LOL

I'm not usually a fan of war themed books, as I usually find them too full of gung-ho macho stuff for my liking....... plus I'm generally a pacifist at heart. This was, on the whole, a nice exception to the rule. There's still enough gung-ho and technical stuff in there to keep any male readers happy but there's also a really good female main character that makes it an interesting read for women: enough of a role model to satisfy even the strongest women's libber. LOL

The battle scenes are well described and keep the tension going through the book - certainly exciting enough, if you forget about the mounting fatalities....... it certainly brings home just how devastating war (especially high-tech war) can be.

On the lighter side: there are some nice twists of humour and there's also a potential love interest in there which slowly develops through the book. That is left open ended but there are further books based on the same characters, so presumably the interest will continue to develop through those and I'm now curious enough about how that develops to want to read them.

All in all, so long as the thoughts of fatalities etc were put to one side, I found this an absorbing book..... a really good read. :0)

Registered this with Book Crossing and it's now available for anyone who wants to read it - or wants it for their OH to read. :0)