The Far Reaches
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The Far Reaches Audible Audiobook – Unabridged

Homer Hickam (Author), Mark Deakins (Narrator), Random House Audio (Publisher)
4.2 4.2 out of 5 stars 79 ratings
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The year is 1943 and World War II in the Pacific rages on, with Americans engaged in desperate battles against a cunning enemy. Coast Guard Captain Josh Thurlow is on hand at the invasion of Tarawa, as the U.S. Navy begins the grand strategy of throwing her marines at island after bloody island across the Pacific.

As blood colors the waters around Tarawa, Josh flounders ashore through a floating graveyard of dead men and joins the survivors, determined to somehow wrest victory from disaster. Critically wounded, Josh expects to die. Instead, Sister Mary Kathleen, a young Irish nun, nurses him back to health, and then shanghais Josh, sidekick Bosun Ready O'Neal, and three American marines to a group of beautiful tropical islands invaded by a brutal Japanese warlord. Josh and his little band must decide whether to help the Sister fight the battle she demands, return to Tarawa and the "real" war, or settle down in the romantic splendor of the South Seas.

Hickam expertly weaves the adventures of these hot-blooded characters tighter and tighter until the Sister's secrets and sins are finally revealed during a horrific battle in the lair of the warlord. With an incredible eye for historical detail and the talent of a master storyteller, Homer Hickam delivers another tour de force.

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  1. Listening Length
    11 hours and 31 minutes
  2. Author
    Homer Hickam
  3. Narrator
    Mark Deakins
  4. Audible release date
    May 25, 2007
  5. Language
    English
  6. Publisher
    Random House Audio
  7. ASIN
    B000SAGXWG
  8. Version
    Unabridged
  9. Program Type
    Audiobook
  10. See all details
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Product details

Listening Length 11 hours and 31 minutes
Author Homer Hickam
Narrator Mark Deakins
Whispersync for Voice Ready
Audible.com Release Date May 25, 2007
Publisher Random House Audio
Program Type Audiobook
Version Unabridged
Language English
ASIN B000SAGXWG
Best Sellers Rank #319,279 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals)
#470 in War & Military Action Fiction (Audible Books & Originals)
#3,465 in War & Military Fiction
#5,783 in Military Historical Fiction

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5
79 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Thomas Erickson
5.0 out of 5 stars 3rd in Josh Thurlow series. WW2 island battle Japanese, Marines, nun
Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2011
Verified Purchase
Another great novel by Homer Hickam Jr. This is the 8th book of his I've read. All 5 stars...read my reviews. The Far Reaches is the 3rd of 3 in the Josh Thurlow series. His other two The Keeper's Son and The Ambassador's Son were great too...5 stars.

In the Far Reaches Homer Hickam Jr. is great with character development and a great plot. The book, 313 pages is a page burner. I read it in 3 days. There are no boring parts and the reader wants to read on.

This fictional tale takes place in WW2 on some small Islands in the Pacific. Our hero and main character, now USGC Captain Josh Thurlow and his crew, with US Marines and native people fight the Japanese. Josh gets married twice to a black" Marie" and later to a widowed Islander woman with two kids. We see the hardships of war and the loses in Josh Thurlow's life and USGC Boson Ready's life. Plus there is nun Katherine who is raped repeatedly by a Japanese Colonel and has his baby. Much, much more in this exciting novel.

The reader develops deep empathy with the many characters in the book. Even though this is a fictional novel, Homer Hickam did a lot of reading and research to get his characters, places and battle situations believable from the actual truth. In the back of the book he lists the various books he read to get an understanding of the WW2 islands in the Pacific and the battles with the Japanese on them. Homer lists good books for the reader to find information on this period in WW2.

I wont ruin the novel for you by saying too much. The beginning of the book is a little slow as Homer builds up his characters. That OK. As the book progresses we get more and more non stop action. It keeps getting better and better.

If the reader likes to read WW2 battle action with great characters and superb plots, all three of the Josh Thurlow books are recommended. All 5 stars
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Polk
4.0 out of 5 stars War to Paradise?
Reviewed in the United States on June 8, 2013
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The forward observer goes ashore on a war torn island, is wounded and in a coma. He's whisked away to a tropical paradise only to learn the Japanese are nearby and plan on taking that island. What is the deep secreat the Catholic Sister will not tell? Hickman does it again.
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Thomas F. Fucigna Jr.
5.0 out of 5 stars Informative, engaging and thought-provoking
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2010
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I didn't want this book to end and perhaps, if I'm lucky, it won't, as it is the third in a series after The Keeper's Son and The Ambassadors Son. I'm glad I had already read the first two books, but the author weaves enough background into each story that doing so is not a necessity. The book traces the adventures, insights and unanswered questions of a cast of fictional but historically accurate characters during WWII in the islands of the South Pacific, as they deal with their personal struggles in the midst of the strange realities of war. I highly recommend each of these books, and look forward to reading more from Homer Hickam,
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DirtyRatDog
3.0 out of 5 stars left me wanting more
Reviewed in the United States on March 28, 2011
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I really enjoyed the third in this series, but the ending fell flat for me. It's obvious the author intends to write a fourth to continue the story, but after four years I can only wonder where it is.
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Barbara M Russel
5.0 out of 5 stars I absolutely love the hero of this series so anything would make ...
Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2016
Verified Purchase
I absolutely love the hero of this series so anything would make me happy. This is the last, so far, book in the series. The author likes to blend in fact with his fiction but this time I didn't know any of the historical characters (unlike in the last book which featured JFK). I did learn something about WWII in the Pacific. The book did leave me with some unanswered questions about Josh's future.
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Natalie Malison
4.0 out of 5 stars Recipient enjoyed it.
Reviewed in the United States on May 2, 2018
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This was a gift. Recipient enjoyed it.
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Candi D.
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on March 7, 2013
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I originally read these books because Homer's from my home town. I don't actually know him, but I like to call him Homer as if we've met. I did see him once at a concert - he has great hair! But that's totally unrelated the book. This series is a great read with well-developed characters. If my history teachers had let us read books like these, I would have paid much more attention in school.
4 people found this helpful
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Neal Conner
2.0 out of 5 stars Far Reaches May Have Reached To Far
Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2011
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I loved the first two book in the Josh Thurlow series. Far Reaches had the makings of another good Josh Thurlow Adventure. That however seemed to change once they got on Tahila. The author began to reach a little to Far for even my imagination. None of the characters seemed to endear you in this one like the first two books in this series. As a matter of fact, I started to disliked Josh more as a person in this story. I thought Ready's character became a little to crazy. The Sister's Story was a little to much to believe. It just seemed like the author tried to do a little to much, with his rampant idea of free love on the island. Far Reaches started out very promising, however for me it turned into a reach to far and huge disappointment at the end. The Josh character I loved in the Keeper's Son, seems to have become more of a drunkard with no loyalties to past relationships. I'm wondering if the Author might have had the "Fever" when he wrote this one. It is definitely not up to par with the first two books of this series.
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