I watched the 1957 movie and wanted to read the book.
The version I read was a condensed version. I don't know if anyone remembers the Reader's Digest books that had like 5 or 6 books smooshed into them, but that's what this was. It ended up being about 80 pages.
The story revolves around the battle of wits between the captains of a British destroyer and a German sub. Both men are clever and try to predict what the other will do. The German sub is on its way to a rendezvous, so the captain doesn't have a lot of time to engage with the destroyer. He'd rather shake him off.
The captain of the destroyer quickly catches on that the sub is headed toward a meeting, but he doesn't let up. When the sub runs out of options, the two leaders have to use what they have left.
Even though the book was condensed, I enjoyed the tension Rayner was able to weave into his writing. I loved the end. *Spoiler* A scrum in the water was just what this story needed at the end. Out of the two books written about the Hecate, this is obviously the second one, and I hope to someday track down the first one, The Crippled Tanker. Good Story!
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