Review: Promising storyline that falls flat
Rating: 2 out of 5
Date: 06 14, 2014
Complimentary copy provided by the author in exchange for an honest review.I hate writing less than stellar reviews, I really do. I understand the blood, sweat, and tears that go into writing a book and I respect that. Even when I have to leave a review that isn’t “good”, I try to be as constructive as possible so that the author can hopefully understand why certain aspects of their work didn’t work for me. It’s never personal, not in the least. As a reviewer, authors ask us for honest reviews, and that is exactly what I intend to provide.I have to begin by saying that the number of times cheating is mentioned, not only by the sailors but their spouses as well, is offensive. “He harbored some f'd up fantasy that he’d find a girl to be faithful to him when he was away.” Unfortunately, Ms. Albertson’s generalization only serves to propagate the stereotype of the Navy family and a penchant for infidelity. Do sailors and their spouses cheat? Of course, but so does the civilian population. Cheaters are the exception, not the rule. Given the fact that the hero, Patrick, quotes the SEAL code over and over, he seems to play fast and loose with his personal morals. Unfortunately it is just the kind of relationship that Ms. Albertson has established between Patrick and Annie that falls victim to the divorce rate of Navy families; couples that rush into marriage, knowing very little about each other.I usually make it a policy to avoid books with military storylines, especially Navy. It’s like my husband watching Crimson Tide or JAG, it’s hard not to point out every technical inaccuracy. What prompted me to pick up Invincible I’m not sure, however it only further proves I need to stay away from books such as this. Sailors wear uniforms, not outfits. There is a clear lack of understanding of how advancement works such as Annie’s father…he retired as a lieutenant, yet he went to the US Naval Academy. In order to have retired, having put in at least 20 years, he had to have been the world’s worst sailor. Ships tie up to piers, not docks. My eyes nearly rolled out of my head at the speed in which Patrick was able to secure family housing. Getting base housing that quickly is tantamount to the Immaculate Conception. It is possible to go an entire tour of 2-3 years and still be on the waiting list. Sailors walk down gangplanks, not planks. And non-deployable for three years? There is rarely such thing as “non-deployable”, unless the member is NPQ (not physically qualified). The “needs of the Navy” are met, regardless of your status of sea or shore billet. You go where they tell you to go (trust me on this one, our first shore tour was interrupted by an all expenses paid vacation for my husband to Iraq.)My biggest issue with the book is the lack of research that went into it to make it genuine and believable. The book is relatively short. It seems that plot-wise, Ms. Albertson took several shortcuts in order to make the story neat and tidy, rather than doing the research to make it believable. This isn’t Finnegan’s Wake or War and Peace. It isn’t a 600+ page epic length novel that needed to be pared down in order to make it readable. “We’d docked at the SEAL base in Coronado so we wouldn’t be hassled by customs and immigration”, guess what? NOT. GOING. TO. HAPPEN. As the holder of a DOD ID card, two passports and state issued ID, I could not get to that pier, much less an unauthorized boat carrying undocumented individuals. Yes, it’s quick and easy, however it’s not believable in the least. Had Ms. Albertson explored other avenues in which Patrick had to smuggle Annie and her son back into the country, it not only would have made it more believable, but would have made for a more compelling story as well. “And we sure as hell didn’t leave our careers to chase women across the world. Most of the authors who wrote that crap had never even met a SEAL, let alone been f'd by one.” Unfortunately, that statement right there sums up the majority of the problems with the book; however substitute “f'd by one” with “even spoke with one.”Once Patrick and his crew decide to rescue Annie, he sets in motion a plan to return to Aruba after the ship docks back in San Diego. In the real world, when arriving back in port they cannot turn around and take a flight back into Aruba. There is something called “country clearance” which must be provided by the command. This is done to assure the safety of the sailor based on any threats that might be present in a given location. This takes at minimum 30 days to secure. In the book, it’s about two weeks and this isn’t even mentioned. This policy could have actually worked to Ms. Albertson’s advantage in crafting Patrick’s plan to rescue Annie.There are entirely too many conflicting thoughts on both Annie and Patrick’s part. Annie says, “Despite the fact you’d just paid a h---er to give you a b---job, I could tell you were a good man.” Yet just a little while later “Why did I believe him? This was a man who paid for sex in a w---house.” Patrick meanwhile is quoting the SEAL code left and right, talking about how his mother raised him to respect women yet he says things like, “What the f? What kind of con was this heroin-addicted w---e trying to pull on me? This b---h wanted me to believe she was a sex-trafficked American?”The depiction of Kyle, Patrick’s DIVO, or division officer is a caricature of a Naval officer. Let’s not even get into the matter of fraternization, but there are several instances where Kyle is pushing the boundaries of conduct unbecoming. Patrick also continues to insist that going to Captain’s Mast could possibly be the end of his career, however facing NJP (non-judicial punishment) at mast would be child’s play compared to being charged under the UCMJ (uniform code of military justice) for going rogue where he might find himself with an all expenses paid trip to Leavenworth. If Patrick were to go to mast, it’s his DIVO Kyle that would likely take a bulk of the heat.I had trouble connecting with any of the characters. Both Annie and Patrick seemed superficial. There was too much back and forth angst ‘loves me, loves me not’ going on to make their connection believable. It felt forced.Again, I hate having to write reviews such as this, but I think it would be a disservice to the author, much less the reader to mislead them with this book. The story itself was an interesting idea, however the lack of basic research that went into workings of the Navy is troubling. The technical inaccuracies were distracting. Perhaps for the lay reader they may not be, but I could not get past them in order to get any enjoyment out of the book. For me, Invincible is a 2-2  star read. I believe it has the ability to be a much better story if Ms. Albertson were to again revamp it with more technical accuracy to make it believable. I can suspend belief with the best of them, but this crosses the realm into fantasy, which is obviously not the intention. Unfortunately I don’t think this is a series I can continue with.