Tute, Warren Leviathan

Tute’s “LEVIATHAN” seems a stand-in for the QUEEN MARY, but with one major twist (read on). The novel follows the fortunes of the fictitious British superliner LEVIATHAN from her entry into service in 1938 to the early days following America’s entry into the war. The twist? Tute has brutal Nazi submariners sink his fictitious ocean liner in mid-Atlantic while the ship is transporting 15,000 troops to England (and of course dastardly murdering survivors who have taken to the lifeboats). What should be an exciting read is, unfortunately merely an adequate one. Tute’s descriptions of pre-War shipboard life are passable; those aboard the LEVIATHAN as troop transport less so. It is interesting that Mr. Tute’s service in the Royal Navy from 1932 through 1946 did not inspire more passionate prose.