A Call to Colors By John J. Gobbell (487 pages) Reviewer:  Owen F. Hayes Overall Rating: Four Stars: Highly recommended. An excellent book. John J. Gobbell has a way of writing fiction mixed with history that makes you think he was a participant. He served in the U.S. Navy as a weapons officer lieutenant aboard a Fletcher class destroyer in the '60s and uses his shipboard experience to describe the most realistic combat scenes that are based upon real incidents from World War II. His latest book follows in the pattern of his previous Todd Ingram series with combat against insurmountable odds with the largest battleship of the Imperial Japanese Navy taking place in Leyte Gulf. The scenes written representing being aboard the Japanese ships are extraordinary as he  has done his research about the actual battle and writes it as if it is happening while you are reading. The characters, both fictional and real, are given words that could have been actually spoken by them. The central character of this novel is Commander Michael "Mike" Donovan, captain of the USS Matthew (DD-548). A combat veteran of a previous ship before his assuming command of this ship, he had experience to fall back on with the decisions he had to make while engaging in the battle of which this book is written. Having read and enjoyed the last four of his five books, I found that once I started one I couldn't put it down until finished. The book is well written and is a must-read for any World War II history buff or just someone who has an interest in reading what life aboard a ship is like. Available in paperback through Tin Can Sailors Ship's Store $6.99 (price includes postage).