I am beginning to think that Dan Lenson is stuck. That he is never going to get promoted and that this lack of upper advancement really means that we are going to struggle to see any mission worthy of our hero over the next several books.

Poyer has given us a hero who is one of the few that showcases what an officer who wears black shoes should be doing in the modern world. With so few competitors, we then should see a great deal of Lenson. But we don't see as much as we see some of those who have similar duties in navies that were extant 200 years ago.

And with the world the volatile place it is, we should see more of Lenson for that reason as well. Though our most recent engagements are of a land nature, the invention of missions and enemies that perhaps parallel reality but are not totally existent on this earth might give us more Lenson.

In any event we want believable Lenson. Whether in this book, can we believe in a torpedo that can go 200 knots an hour and thus be more deadly than anything our current Carrier defenses can handle, is something that perhaps we can believe. Harder to believe that the CNO and those on an equal footing can't figure out amongst themselves how best to acquire such an item and all stupidity breaks lose repeatedly leaving our hero to figure things out and save the day.

And with a short staffed crew, extricate themselves from the Gulf in a manner that the ship they have to do it in fully crewed, and without the problems that beset it might be difficult. I like these books, but I think Lenson can be faced with enough challenges already difficult then to add just one more thing, on top of a couple your not going to believe this'.

I am hoping that Lenson will find his way to higher command, and challenges that make sense soon. It is a shame to have boxed in a good hero in such a way that he begins to border on a comic superhero. ( )