Collisions of the Damned: The Defense of the Dutch East Indies (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781517135652)

March 1943. The Usurper's War has resumed, with disastrous results for the Allies. The U.S. Pacific Fleet lies shattered after the Battle of Hawaii, its battleships decimated and its carriers savaged. The Imperial Japanese Navy, flush with victory and with their flanks appearing secure, turns their gimlet gaze to the south and the ultimate prize for their Emperor: The Dutch East Indies.

For Commander Jacob Morton and the other members of the Asiatic Fleet, the oncoming Japanese storm is not unexpected. Despite this, the IJN's victory means U.S.S. Houston and her Allied companions will have to fight against overwhelming odds, at night, against an enemy who claims the darkness as their own. Above the Houston and the Allies' other old, tired companions, Flight Lieutenant Russell Wolford leads his men in their attempt to use new technology to negate the Japanese advantages in training. Beset on all sides, the American, Commonwealth, Dutch, and Australian (ACDA) forces resolve to hold out until the Allies' industrial might can be brought to bear.

On the Japanese side, the Dutch East Indies Campaign quickly becomes an attritional maelstrom that they did not expect. Vice Admiral Yamaguchi, commander of the Kido Butai and victor of Hawaii, finds himself fighting to preserve the First Air Fleet's carrier wings rather than fritter them away in a battle of attrition. For even as brave pilots such as Lieutenant Isoro Honda and his fellow Shiden pilots cut a bloody swathe through their Allied counterparts, Yamaguchi realizes each pilot that falls is an almost irreplaceable resource for Japan. Like any seasoned warrior, Yamaguchi knows a sword grows duller with even a victorious strike...and The Decisive Battle looms.

Collisions of the Damned is the continuation of the Usurper's War series. Picking up where Acts of War left off, this book contains even more relentless combat and breathless naval actions than its predecessor. As Japan confronts a divided United States and its desperate allies, ordinary men and women are forced to make decisions that will have far reaching consequences for both themselves and their nations.