Lt-Cmdr Dan Lenson finds himself in charge of the refitting of a frigate which is being sold to the Pakistanis as Operation Desert Storm gears up. In Pakistan, he finds the Pakistani sale frozen so he is captaining the frigate as it heads out to hunt pirates in the South China Sea. Increasingly, he finds himself threatened by a mutinous executive officer, a crew of naval dregs, a lack of instructions from command, no supplies, ammunition, or even oil, and only his own dedication to mission to keep things going. In the meantime, the pirates are approaching and they look in better condition than him. David Poyer brings out a wealth of lore about Navy operations as he loads the problems on his lead character until the final exciting battle. Very interesting story, part of a series I was not familiar with. ( )