DESCRIPTION

At sea, the four-hour watch at the end of the work day is cut in half to make two dog watches.

These stories are shortened from the lives of the men and women who stand the dog watches, the moments when their decisions define them and shape the lives of those in their care. A former commanding officer finds himself powerless when he confronts young woman about to leap from a bridge. A captain blames his second in command for the crazy decision he makes that ends his career. A heroic young woman discovers the deep tragedy of trafficking. An officer pursuing his duty makes a fatal error that defines his entire life. The inventory of dead sailor’s locker haunts a young officer’s first hours on board and the life of his ship. The illicit affection between beloved captain and a shipmate is discovered after a near tragedy.

The stories of Dog Watches come from seas where duty and service are lashed by desire, doubt and human frailty. From his thirty-five years in the Navy, Captain Rolf Yngve has created compelling reading for anyone struggling with the deep demands of civic duty and personal responsibility found in 21st Century America.

REVIEWS

"'A Prerogative' is an exquisite piece of writing and an utterly absorbing story."

— Tim O'Brien, author of The Things They Carried, Going After Cacciato and many others.

"Dog Watches is a tension-filled exploration of blame and responsibility, guilt and contrition, filled with the beautiful, simple, excruciating details which can only come from an authoritative knowledge of the sea and the inner workings of men. His abiding compassion for flawed humanity buoys each linked story up into a place of unexpected mystery and insight. Darkly strange, strangely moving."

—Goldie Goldbloom, author of Lose These and Other Storie

"Dog Watches is oceanic. Literally! In it are the lives of ships and the men and women bound and committed to them. The world of these stories surges up. It plummets down. It searches--horizon to horizon. The prose is sometimes becalmed. Sometimes raging. This is a collection to learn from."

—David Kranes, playwright and novelist