Book Log 2008 #6: Team Yankee by Harold Coyle

Coyle's first novel, inspired by General Sir John Hackett's The Third World War, focuses on a small part of that book's war by showing the namesake team, an armored unit, fighting in various parts of Germany.

The book actually starts before the war, showing how the team trains and prepares. We also meet the main character's family, which has a subplot for a while but is forgotten as soon as the family is out of harm's way (which is too bad, as it's the sort of story line that's generally ignored in books like this).

Once the fighting starts, the story shows some of the usual themes of how the team is able to use its training to succeed where, on paper, they'd seem unlilkely to do so. We also get to see how some of the individuals develop and change, both in their military role and personally, though I don't think enough is done here to give real insight.

The book has the usual eye for detail, not surprising given that Coyle was an Army officer at the time he wrote the book. It was also turned into a graphic novel scripted by David Drake, who, as a combat vet himself, apparently noted areas in the story where Coyle, who had not seen combat, didn't quite get the detail right. I'll have to take his word for it, not being a combat vet myself.

There's also a Team Yankee game (board and computer), so clearly this book made a mark back in 1987. Not sure how I didn't pick it up then. In any case, it's a strong but typical example of military fiction, weaker when dealing with people and better when in the fight.