The Sergeant #05 - Doom River

For my money, the best WW2 men’s action-adventure series was The Sergeant by Len Levinson, writing as Gordon Davis. The series follows U.S. Army Sergeant C.J. Mahoney through Europe kicking Nazi ass along the way. Installment #5 from 1981 is called Doom River.

The novel begins following the liberation of Paris in 1944 and Mahoney is banging a French whore who charged him 10 cigarettes for the sex. After his tryst, he walks right into one of the finest, most brutally violent, action set pieces I’ve read in years with Mahoney confronting some kraut holdouts in the Paris Opera building.

Levinson uses fictionalized strategic meetings between George Patton, Dwight Eisenhower, and military brass to give the reader context about the strategic importance of the mission Mahoney and his fellow soldiers will be undertaking. In this paperback, the mission is for U.S. Army troops to fight their way across the Moselle River in France into solidly German turf.

For this assignment, the military brass agree to assign Mahoney’s long-time sidekick, Corporal Cranepool to work with our Sergeant. The pair only have eight hours to get their slacking new platoon of lazy, complacent soldiers outfitted and motivated to cross the river under heavy resistance from the Germans.

While there’s never any question about the battle’s outcome or Mahoney’s fate, Doom River remains a fantastic combat adventure by one of the greats of the genre. Levinson can always be counted on to mix violent, bloody adventure with sex and humor to deliver the goods. His paperbacks will always be a must-read. Get the book HERE.