Oceans and the Stars, The: A Sea Story, A War Story, A Love Story by Mark Helprin; 2024. Softcover.

Stephen Rensselaer, a Navy captain near the end of his career, is a man who speaks truth to power despite the consequences. So when he's called upon to defend a politically doomed program involving the development of a new class of ship, he does not hesitate. The program will almost certainly be canceled after its first prototype, the Athena, patrol coastal ship 15, is finished, and he will then be assigned to command it, his place on the promotion list for admiral all but forgotten. Rensselaer has the courage of conviction to carry on with a sense of purpose, though.

While supervising the outfitting of the Athena in New Orleans, he meets a brilliant lawyer named Katy Desper, with whom he falls in love. Soon thereafter, he's deployed to the Persian Gulf. However, while refueling and taking on provisions in Israel, he's assigned a very different--and top secret--mission that will put his morality to the ultimate test. As Rensselaer perseveres over the course of seven battles, a mutiny, and a court martial, Katy is the beacon that lights his way home.

Romance