CONVOY NORTH/CONVOY HOMEWARD (2in1) Philip McCutchan, UK pb 2005

This paperback is two of Philip McCutchan's novels in one volume 'CONVOY NORTH/CONVOY HOMEWARD' published by Pan Books in the UK in 2005.   Book is in reasonable condition, (see picture).  358 pages. Picture is of actual book.

SYNOPSIS:  CONVOY NORTH: The Battle of the Atlantic is in its early stages as a vital convoy steams away from war-torn Britian, bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia, to bring back urgently needed supplies: armour, ammunition, foodstuffs and above all, the troops of a Canadian division to reinforce the embattled British army.  This is the story of the convoy and its commodore John Mason Kemp, and of an unlikely assortment of people brought together aboard the liner Ardara by war.  CONVOY HOMEWARD: Once the skipper of a passenger liner, Kemp is now in charge of a convoy heading home from the Indian Ocean in WW II. Along with vital supplies, the convoy picks up colonial troops, civilians and German POWs in East Africa, encounters U-boat danger all along the way, and is unsettled by tensions among the crew, passengers and POWs. The ''Upstairs, Downstairs''-like shipboard mix (including a mostly bonkers Brigadier, a girl no better than she should be and a sad old colonial military couple facing a penurious future) is handled smoothly, as is news from the home front (the chief steward hears that his young wife has been unfaithful to him and Kemp learns that one of his sons is missing in action). The climactic battle with a Nazi surface raider in the South Atlantic is terrific, and ends the novel with a satisfying, surprising bang.