Hope in Hungnam — David Watts

Hope in Hungnam takes place during the darkest days of the Korean War in 1950: from the brutal Battle of Chosin Reservoir to the stunning Christmas Eve evacuation of 100,000 civilians from Hungnam, North Korea. As the flames of war engulf the Korean Peninsula, US Marine Jack Stiles desperately searches for meaning in the frozen killing fields of North Korea. Bloodied by war and bigotry, Stiles' world is changed forever when he is critically wounded at Chosin Reservoir and left for dead. Nursed back to health by a mortal foe, he soon faces the realities of war, life, and love with new clarity. Hope in Hungnam tells the story of the woman who saved him, the Captain who saved them all, and the ship that did the impossible. In his riveting debut novel, David Watts weaves an epic tale of the men who fought, the men who died, and those who risked all in the most remarkable, yet almost unknown naval evacuation in all of human history. It is a story of war and hate, of love and forgiveness, but most importantly it is a gripping story of the enduring power of hope.