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Red Sky in Morning
It's 1943, World War II is well under way, and Ensign Peter Maxwell is enjoying easy days in San Diego as base choir director and warm nights with his new bride, Kay. But there's a war out there waiting to be fought, and Pete wants to be part of it. When a request comes up for officers on an ammo ship (prophetically named after Pete's Iowa hometown, Liberty Hill), newly promoted Lieutenant Maxwell and the rest of his vocal quartet, the Fantail Four, volunteer. The duty they pull is dangerous even for the young officers find themselves in charge of a ship of largely untrained African American sailors who hail from big-city ghettoes, Dixie farms, and all ports in between. As the racially tense Liberty Hill Victory pulls into San Francisco's Port Chicago, the crew witnesses a horrific explosion that paints the sky red. In the wake of a mutiny by the port's surviving black sailors, protesting unsafe conditions, the Liberty Hill must step in to load ammo. This difficult task is made nearly impossible for the Fantail Four by a racist captain who would love to see the "colored" crew and his "college boy" officers fail. But when Lieutenant Maxwell finds an ally in seaman "Sarge" Washington, a former cop from the Black Belt of Chicago, the deadly job gets done, if not without incident. . . . They then sail into two violent storms—a literal typhoon that could put them on the ocean's floor if their cargo doesn't blow them to hell and gone first, and a figurative one when a white officer is found brutally murdered in Shaft Alley, the very bottom of the ship where the drive shaft turns the propeller. And in the midst of a vast ocean and a wider war, a farm boy from Iowa and a tough cop from the ghetto must combine forces to stop a vengeful murderer who threatens to ignite their floating powder keg.
338 pages, Hardcover
First published July 22, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 21, 2025
The name Patrick Culhane is a pseudonym for mystery writer Max Allan Collins. I like his writing style and that his stories are based on thorough research. This one uses the author's father's experiences in the Navy in World War II as the basis of the story. A murder is committed on board an ammunition ship in the Pacific and ensign Peter Maxwell has to solve the crime. Complicating matters is that the crew is African-American and the captain is a racist.
December 23, 2014
This book is really more historical fiction than a mystery. It's an excellent portrayal of a segregated ship during World War II with a mystery thrown in as the climax of the story (the murder happens in the last part of the book.) Although it wasn’t what I was expecting, I still enjoyed it tremendously. This is a book about men (there’s only one important female character), racial relations, sexual orientation and war. With that combination of themes, no wonder one of the characters called the ship the USS Powder Keg.
The author was really true to the times so there’s very foul epithets directed to both African American and gays. If you are very sensitive about those subjects, this book may not be for you. However, I think it’s impossible to accurately portray and make the reader feel the treatment that both these groups were subjected if the book was politically correct.
I really liked how the author showed a complete picture of some of the bigoted characters. I confess I liked some of those men despite their prejudice and narrow-mindedness because some of them could still be brave, witty and kind in other circumstances.
Music also was an important part of the plot and the way the author bridged the gap between the main character (a white man who had never met a black man before he had enlisted) and the black sailors. It also served to reflect the atmosphere of the time and the war.
The mystery unfurled slowly and it was handled very well. I thought I knew who was going to get whacked but when the murder happened, it really surprised me. The murderer wasn't as much of a surprise although he was just one of the suspects - it wasn't one of those where there are neon signs pointing at the murderer that everybody ignores.
Joe Barrett did an excellent job with the narration. He has a very masculine voice but he was able to manage all the different characters and and the emotions were pitch-perfect. There were even a few songs – he’s not a great singer but at least could carry a tune. :) I’ll definitely be listening more of his narrations in the future.
The author was really true to the times so there’s very foul epithets directed to both African American and gays. If you are very sensitive about those subjects, this book may not be for you. However, I think it’s impossible to accurately portray and make the reader feel the treatment that both these groups were subjected if the book was politically correct.
I really liked how the author showed a complete picture of some of the bigoted characters. I confess I liked some of those men despite their prejudice and narrow-mindedness because some of them could still be brave, witty and kind in other circumstances.
Music also was an important part of the plot and the way the author bridged the gap between the main character (a white man who had never met a black man before he had enlisted) and the black sailors. It also served to reflect the atmosphere of the time and the war.
The mystery unfurled slowly and it was handled very well. I thought I knew who was going to get whacked but when the murder happened, it really surprised me. The murderer wasn't as much of a surprise although he was just one of the suspects - it wasn't one of those where there are neon signs pointing at the murderer that everybody ignores.
Joe Barrett did an excellent job with the narration. He has a very masculine voice but he was able to manage all the different characters and and the emotions were pitch-perfect. There were even a few songs – he’s not a great singer but at least could carry a tune. :) I’ll definitely be listening more of his narrations in the future.
June 18, 2017
Red Sky in Morning is one of the best World War 11 novels I have read. The novel opens in San Diego where Ensign Peter Maxwell and his new bride are starting married life with him directing the choir and feeling guilty for not being more active in the war. When he sees a posting for four officers to serve on an ammo ship, he talks his three friends, the Fantail Four quartet, into applying. They discover the duty involves being in charge of a ship of largely untrained African American sailors who come from big-city ghettoes. As the ship pulls into San Francisco's Port Chicago, the crew witnesses a horrific explosion that paints the sky red. After a mutiny by the remaining black sailors, the Liberty Hill must step in to load ammo. This difficult task is made worse by the racist captain who would love to see the Fantail Four and the black sailors fail. He takes four of his white friends and goes on shore leave. Ater loading the ship without incident, they sail into a typhoon and lose sight of the ships that are guarding them. After a white officer is found murdered, it is up to Peter to find the murderer. After a second crew member is killed, Peter realizes he is fighting against the captain. Great read!
December 8, 2020
My copy is labeled as a 'not for sale uncorrected proof' so I can not be sure how the authorship is handled in the main printing. This book of mine is signed by the author---both as 'Patrick Culhane" and as Max Allan Collins. Why one uses a pseudonym and then admits to it is beyond me, but there it is.
Since I have read a few Max Allan Collins books, including some co-authored numbers, I was surprised at the simplistic, country boy style at the start of the book. I expected something more along the line of what I've found in Collin's noir offerings. But this was supposed to be a fictionalized memoir about his grandfather's time in World War II. I was half through it before the murder took place and I realized I was in the midst of a mystery. And a mystery piled on top of a musical plotline, a racial one and a romantic one. Lots of balls to juggle. But Mr. Culhane pulled things together and while there was really no question about whodunit there were many touching moments, not the schmaltz one expects from Collins, nor what one might be seeking in a mystery, but well done and well-intentioned. And when read in 2020, well received by any raving commie lunatic who believes in racial equality.
Recommended.
Since I have read a few Max Allan Collins books, including some co-authored numbers, I was surprised at the simplistic, country boy style at the start of the book. I expected something more along the line of what I've found in Collin's noir offerings. But this was supposed to be a fictionalized memoir about his grandfather's time in World War II. I was half through it before the murder took place and I realized I was in the midst of a mystery. And a mystery piled on top of a musical plotline, a racial one and a romantic one. Lots of balls to juggle. But Mr. Culhane pulled things together and while there was really no question about whodunit there were many touching moments, not the schmaltz one expects from Collins, nor what one might be seeking in a mystery, but well done and well-intentioned. And when read in 2020, well received by any raving commie lunatic who believes in racial equality.
Recommended.
June 15, 2017
It's 1943, World War II is well under way, and Ensign Peter Maxwell is enjoying easy days in San Diego as base choir director and warm nights with his new bride, Kay. But there's a war out there waiting to be fought, and Pete wants to be part of it.
When a request comes up for officers on an ammo ship (prophetically named after Pete's Iowa hometown, Liberty Hill), newly promoted Lieutenant Maxwell and the rest of his vocal quartet, the Fantail Four, volunteer. The duty they pull is dangerous even for wartime: the young officers find themselves in charge of a ship of largely untrained African American sailors who hail from big-city ghettoes, Dixie farms, and all ports in between.
Very good story, very foul language.
When a request comes up for officers on an ammo ship (prophetically named after Pete's Iowa hometown, Liberty Hill), newly promoted Lieutenant Maxwell and the rest of his vocal quartet, the Fantail Four, volunteer. The duty they pull is dangerous even for wartime: the young officers find themselves in charge of a ship of largely untrained African American sailors who hail from big-city ghettoes, Dixie farms, and all ports in between.
Very good story, very foul language.
September 18, 2017
A pretty good story -- an action thriller set in WWII on an ammo ship with a black crew and white officers. This is a galley copy so I'll excuse the editing errors, but the whole thing was a little amateurish. I was surprised to see Culhane is really Max Allan Collins who has some legit credits. I thought it was a good debut novel by an inexperienced writer. Hmmm.
November 27, 2011
Patrick Culhane is, of course, Max Allan Collins. In the afterword, he notes that it's based partially on conversations with his father, who was a white officer on a ship crewed by African-Americans during WW II.
Of course he wasn't involved in a murder investigation.
Ensign Peter Maxwell had an easy life in the early years of the war. His talents as a musician and singer kept him stateside and involved with a Navy choir and a singing group with three friends called the Fantail Four.
The novel incorporates a real incident, an accident at Port Chicago that blew up six tons of explosives, completely destroying the ship, and a number of rail cars waiting to be unlloaded.
But the men weren't satisfied. Like most American men, they wanted in on the action. Get the Germans, get the Japanese. And they wanted to remain together. So they volunteered for a new ship when they saw the listing. It was an ammo ship named after Maxwell's own hometown, which had suffered catastrophic losses of men in one incident.
They were surprised to learn that the ship was crewed by sixty black men, four white noncoms, and a racist captain. The captain said he had three Cs he hated: coloreds, commies, and college boys. Two of the three were on board. And possibly the third, the captain warned.
Maxwell and his friends knew where they stood.
Pete knew a few of the blacks, musicians like himself he'd played with in a few clubs. One was Ulysses Grant Washington, Sarge to his friends, as he'd been a police detective in Chicago for ten years before the war.
In the midst of a typhoon in the South Pacific, one of Pete's fantail buddies, the XO of the ship(Pete was third officer) is found murdered, his throat cut and Pete is charged by the captain with finding the "n****r who did it!" He recruits Sarge to help and the pair go through their investigations amid the storm and later a Zero attack.
Collins' easy style is here as always. He makes it a breeze to get through.
Of course he wasn't involved in a murder investigation.
Ensign Peter Maxwell had an easy life in the early years of the war. His talents as a musician and singer kept him stateside and involved with a Navy choir and a singing group with three friends called the Fantail Four.
The novel incorporates a real incident, an accident at Port Chicago that blew up six tons of explosives, completely destroying the ship, and a number of rail cars waiting to be unlloaded.
But the men weren't satisfied. Like most American men, they wanted in on the action. Get the Germans, get the Japanese. And they wanted to remain together. So they volunteered for a new ship when they saw the listing. It was an ammo ship named after Maxwell's own hometown, which had suffered catastrophic losses of men in one incident.
They were surprised to learn that the ship was crewed by sixty black men, four white noncoms, and a racist captain. The captain said he had three Cs he hated: coloreds, commies, and college boys. Two of the three were on board. And possibly the third, the captain warned.
Maxwell and his friends knew where they stood.
Pete knew a few of the blacks, musicians like himself he'd played with in a few clubs. One was Ulysses Grant Washington, Sarge to his friends, as he'd been a police detective in Chicago for ten years before the war.
In the midst of a typhoon in the South Pacific, one of Pete's fantail buddies, the XO of the ship(Pete was third officer) is found murdered, his throat cut and Pete is charged by the captain with finding the "n****r who did it!" He recruits Sarge to help and the pair go through their investigations amid the storm and later a Zero attack.
Collins' easy style is here as always. He makes it a breeze to get through.
October 19, 2009
First Sentence: Ensign Peter Maxwell came slowly awake, teased by the expanse of ocean Shimmering with morning sun out the bay window of the studio apartment.
Peter Maxwell is tired of desk assignments and, along with three of his friends, wants to be part of the war, so they put in for sea duty on the first ship they can. They didn’t expect to be assigned to a munitions ship with a primarily black crew and bigoted captain and officers. When one of Maxwell’s friends is murdered, it’s up to him to find the killer while keeping the peace among the officers and crew.
I found the historical information in this book to be fascinating. Living in the San Francisco/Bay Area, I know of Port Chicago, but did not know any of the details of the WWII ship explosion which occurred there.
The characters are well-drawn, particularly Maxwell and “Sarge” Washington, a black Chicago ex-cop. I hadn’t thought about the expression “yo mama” in years.
The plot was a bit too pat with too many coincidences helping it along its way. I did identify the killer way too early, which knocked down my rating. Still, it was a very good homage to the black sailors and the few whites who saw past color during WWII.
RED SKY IN MORNING (Suspense-Lt. Peter Maxwell-San Francisco/Bay Area-1943) – G+
Culhane, Patrick (aka Max Allan Collins) - Standalone
Harper Fiction, 2009, US Paperback – ISBN: 9780060892562
Peter Maxwell is tired of desk assignments and, along with three of his friends, wants to be part of the war, so they put in for sea duty on the first ship they can. They didn’t expect to be assigned to a munitions ship with a primarily black crew and bigoted captain and officers. When one of Maxwell’s friends is murdered, it’s up to him to find the killer while keeping the peace among the officers and crew.
I found the historical information in this book to be fascinating. Living in the San Francisco/Bay Area, I know of Port Chicago, but did not know any of the details of the WWII ship explosion which occurred there.
The characters are well-drawn, particularly Maxwell and “Sarge” Washington, a black Chicago ex-cop. I hadn’t thought about the expression “yo mama” in years.
The plot was a bit too pat with too many coincidences helping it along its way. I did identify the killer way too early, which knocked down my rating. Still, it was a very good homage to the black sailors and the few whites who saw past color during WWII.
RED SKY IN MORNING (Suspense-Lt. Peter Maxwell-San Francisco/Bay Area-1943) – G+
Culhane, Patrick (aka Max Allan Collins) - Standalone
Harper Fiction, 2009, US Paperback – ISBN: 9780060892562
July 23, 2012
This is a good story, a bit predictable, but quite suspenseful, nevertheless. The story centers on race relations on board an ammunition ship during World War II. An all-black crew is led by a very bigoted white captain, and four white commissioned officers. A few bigoted white non-commissioned officers also help to make the ship a virtual "powder keg". A murder is committed on board the ship, and a white officer and a black seaman--a police detective in civilian life--team up to solve the mystery.
I didn't read this book--I listened to the audiobook. The reading, by Joe Barrett, is fantastic. The four white officers on board are musicians and the narrator sings one of the songs. Quite extraordinary on an audiobook. And the many accents that Barrett reads into the sailors voices, from all parts of the country, seem realistic to my ears. Don't read this book--listen to it!
I didn't read this book--I listened to the audiobook. The reading, by Joe Barrett, is fantastic. The four white officers on board are musicians and the narrator sings one of the songs. Quite extraordinary on an audiobook. And the many accents that Barrett reads into the sailors voices, from all parts of the country, seem realistic to my ears. Don't read this book--listen to it!
October 23, 2011
I don't know what made me pick up this book, perhaps in error? It's a WW II Navy story about a newly married young man with musical talents. He and his Navy quartet decide to join the war efforts just after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. But they make a pact to stay together so sign up for a ship that will haul ammo. As it turns out all officers are white, but the crew is African-Americans. They must learn to trust one another in order to work safely together. The story was interesting but the language went beyond the "sailor's mouth" and I felt it ruined the story. That being said it was interesting and the murder mystery evolved. Not one I'd read again, but it was OK.
June 16, 2013
Always a fan of Max Collins, especially his Nate Heller series...at the author's suggestion, I've started his books under the pseudonym Patrick Culhane and enjoyed them both...The story is loosely based on Collins' dad's experiences in command of a Liberty Ship manned by an all-negro staff with a little murder mystery thrown in...FUN SUMMER READ!!!
December 7, 2008
Takes a while to get moving, but plenty of solid history about the profound color barriers in the armed services during WWII.
February 25, 2019
Great war story
May 14, 2013
I liked this book a lot. A pithy story of war, friendship and racial bigotry in the 40's, with a nice little mystery towards the end
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February 23, 20092008-Summer,historical fiction,HNS,World War II,Port Chicago,African American Sailors,Military
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews