Total Page : 304
Publisher : Hyperion
Publication Date : 2010 04 06
>> Brisk fun somehow noble
I remember reading the news of this incidient with fascination The story had an addicting power to it because of what was unknown How would it turn out The US wouldn t let pirates get away with this but how could they stop them And then when the drama was over I still felt like I wanted more information How did the Navy pull this out
A Captain s Duty did not disappoint It answered most of my questions in a way that kept the story moving Details that emerge how the Alabama got away from other pirates how the initial fight on the ship resulted in a stand off and finally how Richard ended up on his own life boat while a pirate ended up with the Navy
There were new revelations as well so that the story goes beyond the news headlines In fact because I began the book already knowing how the whole situation played out I actually enjoyed it more
The obvious risk with a book like this is that a current event can thrust one man into the spot light and the obligatory book that follows fails to reproduce the excitement of the initial story This is not true here And the reason that Phillips succeeds is that the story moves quickly with appropriate detail and yet makes a deeper point In a non soap box way Phillips brings out his gratitude to the navy seals
The reality is that A Captain s Duty is not merely about a hostage situation and it is not merely about heroic and unbelievably skilled Navy Sailors or unbelievably poor pirates Phillips takes the reader deeper and lets this be a story about ordinary people who can do extraordinary things when duty calls By the end of the book I was encouraged about what people can do when they are faithful to do their duty The transcendent theme of this ordeal is that when a person is faithful to duty they can do so much more than they might have imagined
Most of my reviews are for Christian audiences so I want to add this Phillip s religion if he professes one is not in the story apart from some thoughts of his about death and the afterlife But what makes this story redeeming in the Christian sense is that at it s core it really is a tale of righteousness vs evil and the righteous in this story do their duty and are vindicated Even if Phillips would have died the point is clearly conveyed that it is better to be righteous and faithful to duty than evil and rich There is no moral ambiguity or Stockholm Syndrome here
>> Good read very accurate
There are very few books that I ve had to have the first day out this was one and it didn t disappoint This book is a good window into the life of a merchant seaman in general and specifically into life on a ship running along the East coast of Africa It was very interesting to understand the thought process of Capt Phillips while under attack and during his time as a hostage Best wishes to Captain Phillips and his family
Rich Madden
Chief Mate Maersk Alabama
Anchored off Djibouti
07 April 2010
