Bloody Shores is the fourth volume of Jon Michelet’s phenomenally successful Hero of the Sea series. The story picks up where Golden Boy left off, in April 1942. 20-year-old Halvor Skramstad is in New York after his ship, M/T Vivian, was torpedoed off Palm Beach in Florida. In New York Nortraship’s archives are found, containing the so-called Bad Elements Lists, in other words, lists of the names of seafarers who have committed misdemeanours or in some way are considered dangerous elements. Somewhere in this archive Halvor’s name is found.
With a job on Kronprins Olav and in hopes of getting to England, Halvor sets out at sea again. He later carries out maritime service on board the steamship Miragem, which is sailing on a secret mission on the coast of North Africa. War at sea constitutes an increasingly dramatic and grisly backdrop for the descriptions of Halvor’s service as a sailor and unpleasant meetings with black lists, courts of law and miserable prison conditions. Bloody Shores follows Halvor up to D-day in June 1944, in his fight for the allied forces, for his dignity and to win back the love of his beloved Muriel.
