Engage at Dawn: First Contact by Edward M. Hochsmann

Engage at Dawn: First Contact by Edward Hochsmann
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

When the Coast Guard cutter, Kauai, is dispatched to investigate a disabled sailing vessel off the Florida Keys, they find an abandoned, derelict cabin sloop, the High Dawn, deck awash, and kept afloat by the masses of water-tight packages of illegal drugs in the hold. There is no evidence of a collision or an explosion but the ship has been wrecked, the mast broken completely away and gone, and there is a days-old corpse floating in the flooded cabin. However, the starboard side is crushed in like it had slammed against a flat, brick wall, and with the massive amount of damage the High Dawn cannot be towed to shore without breaking apart. The Kauai is ordered to stand by and guard the wreck until the arrival of the buoy tender Poplar that is equipped to remove the wreck properly. In addition, a chopper has been sent to retrieve the deceased and deliver a top-secret VIP passenger.

Dr. Peter Simmons with the Defense Intelligence Agency, is an astrophysicist. Over the past three days, he and his team have been searching for the cause of a gravitational wave which they believe may be the arrival of an extraterrestrial spaceship. He inspects the condition of the High Dawn to determine if its wrecking may be related to this same event. The Kauai and her crew are to support Dr. Simmons in his investigation as soon as they are relieved from oversight of the High Dawn.

With dangerous drug smugglers hunting for them and their missing product and Dr. Simmons’ top-secret search for the location of a possible alien spacecraft, the cutter’s captain, Lieutenant Samuel Powell and his XO, Lieutenant Junior Grade Benjamin Wyporek valiantly strive to fulfill their varied missions while keeping the Kauai and her crew safe and sound. This exciting story unfolds in these two exciting, interwoven strands: the search for a possible extraterrestrial vehicle and drug smugglers trying to recover their ship full of product that was accidentally destroyed when the alien ship materialized near it in waters off Key West. As I had previously read the prequel to this book, Vis Major, I knew some of what to expect in the extraterrestrial plotline, and I almost squealed with delight when the "old beachcomber" and shack finally appeared. The drug smugglers' plot is also exciting and very intense. I realized I was holding my breath at several points along the way, such as when the crew was working with a bomb and while Frankle and Bell were watching the path to the escape boat at the terrorists' hideout awaiting the "GO" signal.

I loved the peek inside the Coast Guard's operations and appreciate the "civilianization" of some of the dialogue to make it easier to understand what was going on. There were so many new and interesting things mentioned along this line that I googled quite a few phrases or object names for more information. For example, the mention of the 'fouled anchor' incorporated in the Kauai's crest is a very familiar image, yet one that has its own story and tradition I'd never known. The author writes excellent banter and includes some fun yet cynical and slightly irreverent jesting regarding military nomenclature.

I also appreciated the depiction of the Kauai's crew as multidimensional individuals with lives and concerns outside their duty stations. The crew is comprised of both male and female members, and I thought the various working relationships were natural and true-to-life. I quickly connected with the characters and empathized with how they worried about balancing home life with their careers.

ENGAGE AT DAWN: FIRST CONTACT is very well written, which made this exciting and action-packed story easy-to-read and hard to put down. It can be read solo, but I highly recommend starting with the prequel, Vis Major, which is the flipside story (the aliens' point-of-view); it is excellent. I was delighted to see that there is a sneak preview of the next book in the series, Engage at Dawn: Seize and Destroy, included at the end of this volume. So, YAY! More to come! I recommend this book and series to readers that enjoy military adventure stories, Coast Guard-themed fiction, and first contact tales.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.

See my original review on Reedsy Discovery!