To Sail a Darkling Sea by John Ringo

BOOK II IN THE BLACK TIDE RISING SERIES FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. Sequel to Under a Graveyard Sky. A family of survivors fights back against a zombie plague that has brought down civilization.

A World Cloaked in Darkness

With human civilization annihilated by a biological zombie plague, a rag-tag fleet of yachts and freighters known as Wolf Squadron scours the Atlantic, searching for survivors. Within every abandoned liner and carrier lurks a potential horde, safety can never be taken for granted, and death and turning into one of the enemy is only a moment away.

The Candle Flickers

Yet every ship and town holds the flickering hope of survivors. One and two from lifeboats, a dozen from a fishing village, a few hundred wrenched by fury and fire from a ship that once housed thousands...

Light a Flame

Now Wolf Squadron must take on another massive challenge: clear the assault carrier USS Iwo Jima of infected before the trapped Marines and sailors succumb to starvation. If Wolf Squadron can accomplish that task, an even tougher trial waits: an apocalyptic battle to win a new dawn for humanity. The war for civilization begins as the boats of the Wolf Squadron become a beacon of hope on a Darkling Sea.


Review:

XO, back again.  For those of you that read my brain-chompingly excited review of John Ringo’s Under the Graveyard Sky, I’m pleased as a Zombie with a water bottle to bring you the second in the series, To Sail a Darkling Sea (Read the first one, you’ll get that joke.  Doesn’t make it funny, though…).  Ringo continues to explore the world and its changes after a virus turns most of the planet into Zombies.  The Smith family is back, this time backed by the last remaining threads of the United States Government and Military, as Wolf Squadron.  A few survivors from this boat,  a few dozen from that ship, some very unhappy Marines from the USS Iwo Jima, and pretty soon we’ve for a floating zombie attack crew. 

With the legitimacy of being named a squadron of the US Navy (Reserve), and the rank to back it up, Commander Smith must lead his rag tag group of men and women, young and old, as they continue to sweep the waters for survivors.  With now Lt. Faith Smith, USMC (Still only 13 years old) leading the ‘clearance teams’ cleaning off infected in every ship they find, and her group of seasoned, hardened, professional Marines following her around with a serious case of idol worship, things are starting to look almost routine, maybe even easy.  Then dad gets around to telling everyone his plan.  It’s time to take back some real estate.  Not just any real estate, Steve wants to visit Cuba, and Guantanamo Bay.  There, he hopes to find more USN and USMC still alive and kicking, as well as ammo, guns, and the medical supplies they need to make a vaccine for the survivors, including those shadowing and supporting from the Silent Service of the US Navy fast attack submarine fleet, who are helping, but trapped in their subs from the fear of infection, since they were never exposed to the original virus. 

Now, for anyone else, any other group, taking a handful of mismatched ships, hundreds of random people with lots of seagoing experience, to people who could only find the top side of the cruise ship by following the arrows, getting from the Canary islands to GitMo would be impossible.  For Wolf Squadron, it’s just another walk in the park. 

XO out...