A gripping historical novel that follows the crew of the USS Salt Lake City during WWII, and opens a few days after the attack on Pearl Harbor..The story is rich in historical detail, with alternating perspectives of the various characters.. It is a powerful and moving story.
Many thanks to Shadow Mountain Publishing and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I absolutely love books about WWII and couldn’t wait to read this. This was a piece of history that I wasn’t familiar with so it was fun to learn something new in the form of a fictional story mixed with facts.
I thought it was well researched and fascinating to read. This is one I will be passing along to my dad as well since I know he loves a good WWII book.

Borrowman has done it again. This is another great historical book! Just the right amount of history, romance, and characters you fall in love with!

This book paints an in depth picture of the role of the USS Salt Lake City, a naval ship during WW2. While I found it to be meticulously researched, I do think it might have been better presented as nonfiction than as fiction. For me the story lacked a depth of human emotion and tended to gloss over important emotional scenes and details, meaning that the character with the most development in the plot was the ship itself and not the men and women connected with the ship. I’m glad I read it but I did feel let down. This book had so much potential and is based on a truly fascinating story, but the missing emotional connections bothered me.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

This is another incredibly moving story that recounts events from World War II during the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese. It follows the crew of one of the most decorated ships in the Pacific War, the USS Salt Lake City. Based on several true survivor accounts, the novel includes fictional characters like Justin Collier and his family stationed in Hawaii who are the heart of the story.

The novel gave me a fresh perspective on WWII that examined unexplored territory for me, specifically the war on the Pacific Front. Readers are immersed in the tension of Pearl Harbor being bombed, and experiencing the Pacific battles firsthand. The intense action and split-second decisions during the battles dictated life or death for the sailors.

Author Jerry Borrowman's storytelling has such rich detail and emotional depth. He does precise research which adds authenticity to the plot and overall story, which is evident in the accuracy of even the smallest details. There were notes at the end of the book which recount the historical events and honors the true heroes of that time. It was fascinating to read more of the real stories the book was based on. This enriched the overall reading experience for me.

This book is recommended for enthusiasts of WWII history, especially the Pacific Front, and of course, battleships. This book honors the real men and women who influenced the nation's future through their many sacrifices, which I'm so grateful for.

An Ocean of Courage and Fear is about the USS Salt Lake City during WWII. It follows the ships journey and some of the sailors as they move from peaceful journeys in the Pacific to fighting a war when Pearl Harbor is attacked. I found it really interesting to read about their reaction to the news that Hawaii had suffered an attack from the Japanese.

Overall, it is a well researched novel and tells a fascinating story from World War II. The book felt very factual and lacked some of the emotion I would have expected in a novel about war. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the complimentary copy of this book. A review was not required.

The author is a pro at documenting history in a way that brings it to life and makes you want to learn more .
I appreciated the extra historian chapters at the end .

This book follows the USS Salt Lake City, a heavy cruiser which was on station when World War II began. And continued throughout the war. It is a historical fiction which pulls in real life people who were on the ship during that time and others who could have been . I appreciated the character list at the beginning which told a bit more and reminded me who lived during that time and others who seemed to.

This was a beautifully written historical read . It hi-lighted the courage that was displayed throughout ww2 particularly those who were on this ship battling for freedom . Well done !

I was provided a copy in exchange for an unbiased review .

I really liked this book. It had different perspectives from experiences around the time of world war two. My dad was in the Navy and talked about different ships he served on. This book was fun as it talked about different ships and jobs during war time. It was good for young adult readers as well.

DNF.

The writing style was almost instantly off-putting, with the writer making little effort to explain jargon and procedure through dialogue or action - instead, everything came out the way it might from a technical manual, except it was intended to be read as prose. When the writing style is so noticeably difficult to get behind, the book is not likely to be completed, and this wasn't.

A great nautical novel and intriguing read. The author does an excellent job of weaving the characters into the actual historical events. You will find this book hard to put down. A must read for the history fan.

Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

“An Ocean of Courage and Fear” is a fiction retelling of actual people and the events of the Pacific theater of World War II. Jerry Borrowman did a fantastic job at gathering real accounts and putting them into a book full of heartache, hope and love during the aftermath of Pearl Harbor.

I loved that the characters in the book were actual people who lived through these events. There are fictional characters throughout the book as well, but the main characters are real people. I thought the author told their story in a respectful, yet entertaining way. While it covers a large time period, the story flowed and never seemed rushed.

Focusing on the USS Salt Lake City, “An Ocean of Courage and Fear” is perfect for readers who love World War II. It is told from the perspective of the men who served on the ship.These men and their families came to life, and I’ll forever be grateful for their sacrifice and loyalty to each other and our country.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley. These thoughts are my own.

I love history and historical fiction. I think, however, that author Jerry Borrowman is more a writer of history than a novelist. The research is meticulous and the notes after the book are fascinating. I found the chapter read more like snippets and the dialogue was pretty wooden and prone to info dumps. Moreover, the action scenes were never very exciting. Still, I was glad to read the story of one of the most active and bloodied ships in the US Navy. I would certainly read a history by this author.

I received an ARC in exchange for a fair review.

I found the historical information in the book--what battles the USS Salt Lake City was in, etc.--to be very interesting, but I didn't love the writing style. The short passages that jumped from character to character and that were told from an omniscient point of view made it hard for me to really connect with the characters; as a character-driven reader, that didn't work well for me. Plot-driven readers might embrace that style much more than I did. It was interesting to find out in the endnotes that Al Jowdy was a real person; he was probably the most fun character to read about, as he got himself in and out of some scrapes.

I read a DRC provided by the publisher via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

I read Jerry Borrowman's "An Ocean of Fear" in two sittings! This gripping novel based on true people and events of WWII is an intimate portrait of soldiers at war. This is an important book about the greatest generation.

Thank you to NetGalley for this e-copy of An Ocean of Courage and Fear by Jerry Borrowman in exchange for a honest review. This was an exciting, action packed historical book based on actual events that occurred on the US battleship Salt Lake City during WW2 . The main character is Justin Collier one of the commanders on board . There are many trials and tribulations that he faces including both in battle and in his personal life . The reader feels like they are in the heat of battle both in land and at sea. Very well written . Perfect for history buffs like me.

This is a historical fiction based on true events. I have read many books about World War II but none that have focused on the Navy, Pearl Harbor, and Japan. It mainly focuses on the experiences of the USS Salt Lake City. I was very impressed with the amount of research and information I gathered from this book. I was also drawn into the storyline of the characters, some fictional and some real life individuals. There were a few parts that I inadvertently skipped over, that didn’t quite hold my attention but I didn’t feel like I lost any thing from the story. I appreciate the notes at the end about all the events that took place during this timeline and the updates on the true heroes of the time. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This story follows the story of one family (fictional) and one young man (true story) during WWII. The men and young man all serve on the heavy cruiser USS Salt Lake City in the Pacific. The book has snap shots throughout the years of battles fought and what each character goes through serving in different areas of the ship. The author did a great job showing how the war affected people serving and their families. You’ll like this book if you want to learn a little more about the Pacific Theater during WWII, if you enjoy learning about how the different ships were used in the battles and if you like to read about overcoming hard things and serving your country. It was an engaging read!

This is a fictional book, based on true events. I typically enjoy stories like this, so I jumped at the chance to read this book. While I did enjoy the story, in several places, the author has whatever character is speaking give basically a textbook explanation for something instead of having a normal conversation. If I were reading a non-fiction book, that would fit in perfectly, but in this style of book, it would take me out of the story each time he did it. The information was interesting, but I think it could have been presented in more of a story-telling way to make it flow with the novel better.
Other than that, I enjoyed the story, and enjoyed learning about what the USS Salt Lake City took part in during the war.

Fast-paced novelization of the USS Salt Lake City’s World War II service from Pearl Harbor to Okinawa. The story follows several main characters, both real and fictional. The real characters gave extensive help to the author for a very realistic tale. Lots of amusing and heartbreaking details. I would have liked a happier ending, but many WWII events did not have a joyful end.

4.5/5 ⭐️

This book is a good blend of true history and historical fiction with some of the characters being real people and some being inspired by real people. Anyone familiar with the WW2 historical fiction scene knows that it tends to focus on Europe so the fact that this book is based in the Pacific theater is already different. Furthermore the decision to focus on one ship through the eyes of those on board adds to its uniqueness. The narrative begins with the attack on Pearl Harbor and continues through the rest of their time at war. There are parts that are surprisingly funny and some that are devastating giving what I would imagine is a realistic insight into life onboard a massive heavy cruiser. This book reads more like an accumulation of memoirs than a novel but I’m not mad about it.

It would have been nice to have a map of the Pacific with notable locations marked out. The USS Salt Lake City covered some incredible distances and would have been cool to see it on print.