No Tombstones in the Sea By  Daniel Keough (541 pages) Reviewer:  James Kealy Overall Rating: Three stars--Recommended. A solid effort. A historical novel they say is a wonderful way to learn history. This story is fiction, but the historical setting is Korea 1952-1953; an unmodified Fletcher class destroyer just out of mothballs; and plenty of action and romance.  The author Dan Keough knows his 1950s facts; knows his destroyers, and certainly operations inside a destroyer's CIC. A mustang, he served in Korea and earned the Navy-Marine Corps Combat Action Ribbon. The book's hero, Commander Owen Royal USN takes command of the fictitious USS Charles P. Field, DD-505 (a proposed DD-505 was cancelled in February 1941). Ship's company is essentially reservists, many recalled with World War II experience. Given the antiquated condition of the ship, no one thought the ship would be sent to Korea and Task Force 77 let alone TF 95 – but go they did.  A now college educated second class radarman Kevin Logan, USNR, and in peacetime a successful ad agency executive, has an eye for the ladies including (unknowingly) the Captain's wife. So it's all here – war along the East Coast of Korea and the on-the-beach adventures of radarman Logan. The book is long – perhaps twice as long as a typical novel. There are numerous persons introduced, but not developed enough for this reader, with the exception of the main characters. A map of Wonsan harbor would have helped the serious reader follow the description on the various harbor islands and patrol areas.  There were times when one might wish the writer would move on more quickly with the military story and get past a preoccupation with women and opportunity. Yet, I guess that's the way we were a half-century ago.   Availability:   Paperback ISBN # 0-8059-9827-6 RoseDog Books (800) 834-1803