Lane writes about the really tough choices a JAG Navy officer is forced to make, and does it straight. DUTY is a serious novel, superbly written.

Jim Lane has done an excellent job of capturing the daily struggles and nuances of shipboard life, and the pressures on junior officers, and portraying them in a way that will capture the attention of an audience that knows nothing of the Navy. A very worthwhile read.

Navy Commander Neal Olen, now retired, has a great wife and an important civilian job, but he made one slip four years ago, a one night stand with a seductive novelist, Angela Vance. Now Angela has cast him as a character in her tell-all novel, Navy Wench, and it's all there -- including that night. Neal is called back on active duty to face charges of adultery and "conduct unbecoming a gentleman" -- leaking military secrets. Neal doesn't remember the secrets, but he certainly remembers that night, and he knows all about prison -- where he's headed if he doesn't get help. And help is? Lethajoy Beltower, lesbian and lawyer.

Though only 204 pages long, BLINDSIDE didn't grab me until page 73 -- a long wait. And while Jim Lane has crafted a couple of great characters, especially Lethajoy, his writing lacks poetry. Only one line sang to me in the whole book. The plot is rushed, barebones and shallow, and other than a couple of perfunctory paragraphs about Neal's childhood and father, we learn little about him. However, Lane obviously knows the Navy and its laws, and the middle chapters contain a handful of courtroom scenes smashing enough to draw the reader in completely, if only for a moment.

Other than a couple of close calls with death, BLINDSIDE offers few surprises and no suspense. However, if you're stuck in a waiting room or on an airplane and need something light to read for a couple of hours, this tiny navy novel might do the trick.

Blindside by Jim R. Lane is the story of Neal Olen, a Navy commander who is summoned to military court on charges of adultery, "conduct unbecoming an officer", and of possible national security violations, when a woman he once had an affair with writes a scalding tell-all book. Caught between a ruthless military legal system, mounting attorney's fees, and with his own marriage on the line, Olen must decide whether honesty is truly a virtue when the court-martial has little mercy. Blindside is a powerfully written and compelling tale. ...