--- product_id: 11043160 title: "Semper Fi (Corps Book 1)" brand: "w.e.b. griffin" price: "£13.41" currency: GBP in_stock: true reviews_count: 11 url: https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/11043160-semper-fi-corps-book-1 store_origin: GB region: United Kingdom --- # Semper Fi (Corps Book 1) **Brand:** w.e.b. griffin **Price:** £13.41 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Semper Fi (Corps Book 1) by w.e.b. griffin - **How much does it cost?** £13.41 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.co.uk](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/11043160-semper-fi-corps-book-1) ## Best For - w.e.b. griffin enthusiasts ## Why This Product - Trusted w.e.b. griffin brand quality - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Semper Fi (Corps Book 1) ## Images ![Semper Fi (Corps Book 1) - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/61-isVppa9L.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book *by T***O on Reviewed in the United States on June 3, 2024* Love how well Marine Corps life is betrayed. Feels so authentic. Can't wait to see the next book. Must read ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5.0 out of 5 stars 3rd time reading this since first published. Great read *by I***C on Reviewed in the United States on April 29, 2024* Excellent series by Griffin. A great story weaved into real life events fraught with danger at every turn. Highly recommended ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.0 out of 5 stars THIS KILLER IS PROMOTABLE *by W***Z on Reviewed in the United States on June 26, 2016* This story begins in Shanghai, China, on 2 January, 1941, with 21 year old PFC Kenneth J. McCoy, USMC, standing with his hands on his hips, trying to make up his mind about whether or not to leave the compound armed, and if so, how.His problem was, on Christmas Eve at a dance hall, there had been a fight between United States Marines and Italian marines.McCoy had heard that as many as 18 Italians were dead, and there were eight U S Marines in very serious condition. Rumor had it that there were bands of Italian marines roaming town looking for U S Marines. Rumor had it that there were bands of Italian marines roaming town looking for U S Marines. McCoy had not been at the dance hall that night, because a Marine who wanted to be there had paid him $5.00 to take the duty.He had just re-enlisted for another four years, with the understanding that, once he had done so, he would be promoted to PFC. With the promotion, came the right to take the exam for Corporal. He had already taken the exam, done very well, and was sure his name would be on the promotion list.Unless he got into a brawl with a bunch of Italian marines.There were two things wrong with going out wearing a cartridge belt and bayonet. For one thing, he'd look pretty silly walking into the poker game at the Cathay Mansion House wearing that stuff. And if he did run into some Italian marines, they would take his possession of a bayonet as a sure sign he was looking for a fight.He decided to take his "Baby Fairbairn", which he'd won in a poker game.A police officer on the Shanghai Police Force had invented a really terrific knife, sort of a dagger.McCoy's was made exactly like the original, except that it wasn't quite as long, or quite as big. It was just long enough to be concealed in the sleeve, with the tip of the scabbard up against the joint of the elbow, and the handle just inside the cuff.McCoy installed the knife, got dressed, and left to play poker at the Cathay Mansion Hotel, on a rickshaw.U S Marines were not welcome in the fancy upstairs regions of the hotel. He walked down the sidewalk, and then into an alley, which led to the rear of the building. He went down a flight of stairs to a steel basement door, and knocked on it.A small window opened in the door, and Chinese eyes became visible. McCoy was examined, and the door opened. He walked down a corridor to a steel door identified as "Store Room B-6", knocked, and it opened for him.McCoy was welcome here, because he almost always brought fifty dollars with him sometimes a good deal more, which he was prepared to lose with a certain grace, and without whining.In the nearly four years that he had been in China, McCoy had evolved a gambling system that had resulted in a balance of nearly two thousand dollars at Barclays Bank. He thought of it as his retirement system.Over three hours later, only he and Detective Sergeant Chatworth had any money left. The other three players had gone bust. Chatworth and McCoy decided to quit. McCoy strapped on his knife and followed the other players out of the room and back out on the street. He had a little more than $250.00. That was too much money to be carrying around in his pocket. The smart thing to do was to return to the compound, so he flagged down a rickshaw and told the driver to take him down Ferry road (which was the way back to the compound).Three blocks from the compound, he saw Italian marines, hiding in an alley. There were four of them, in uniform, a mixture of army and navy. He thought, with a little bit of luck they will let me pass. They didn't say anything as the rickshaw pulled past the alley. For a moment, he thought they'd decided to wait for Marines who were looking for a fight.Then the rickshaw was turned over on its side. The rickshaw started to howl with fear and rage, even before McCoy hit the ground.McCoy sat up and looked around to see if there was someplace he could run to, but the Italians had picked their spot well. There was no place to run to.Then he saw the Italian marines advancing on him, one with a length of bicycle chain swing in his hand."I don't know who you're looking for," he said in Italian, "but it isn't me."The Italian marine told him he was going to mash him in the groin.The bicycle chain missed, but struck the pavement. It came close enough to catch his trouser leg and leave the imprint of the chain there. McCoy quickly slid sideward, taking the knife from his sleeve as he got to his feet.The Italian marine told him he was going to take the knife away and stick it up his ass.McCoy sensed, rather than saw, that the other marines were making their way behind him. Their idea was that two would grab him and hold him while the other one used the bicycle chain on him.He made a feinting motion with the knife, and the marines backed up.It looked like it might work, and also, there was nothing else to do.H made another feinting move; a savage leap accompanied by a ferocious roar, at the exact moment the marine lunged at where McCoy's knife had been. The tip of the knife punctured the marine's chest at the lower extremity of his ribs, and then immediately sank to the hand guard. The knife was snatched from his hand as the marine continued his plunge.The man grunted, fell, dropped the bicycle chain, rolled over, sat up, and started to pull the knife from his abdomen. He gave it a hearty tug, and it came out. A moment later, a stream of bright red blood erupted from his mouth. He looked puzzled for a moment, and then fell to one side, dead.One of the three remaining marines crossed himself and ran away. The other two advanced on McCoy, one of them trying to work the action of a tiny automatic pistol.McCoy picked up his knife and advanced on the two marines. He made it to the one with the pistol, and started to try to take it away. The other one tried to help his friend. McCoy lashed out with his knife again. The blade slashed the Italian's face, but that didn't discourage him. He got his around McCoy's arms and held him in a bear hug. The other one managed to work the action of his pistol.With a strength that surprised him, he got his right arm free and swung it backward at the man who had been holding him. He felt it cut and strike something, something not anywhere like a ribcage, but something, and it went in far enough so that he couldn't hang on to it when the man fell down.Then, free, he jumped at the man with the pistol. The pistol went off, and he felt something hit his leg hard. And then he knocked the piston from the Italian's hand and dove after it.He picked it up and aimed at the Italian. Then he followed his eyes, and saw that what he had done when he swung his knife hand backward, was stick it in the man's groin. The man was now holding his groin with both hands. The handle of his knife was sticking out between his fingers. The man was whimpering, and tears were on his face.Down the street, McCoy could hear the growl of the hand cranked siren at the compound. This is going to screw up my promotion, he thought. Damn these Italians.The U S Government decided to prosecute McCoy. The charges were named "United States of America versus PFC Kenneth J. McCoy, USMC.Captain Edward J. Banning, USMC, was appointed his Defense Counsel.Major Delaney was named as Prosecutor.A Colonel advised Captain Banning that the Italian Consul General and Colonel Maggiani of the Italian marines would attend the trial. Banning realized that his meant he was going to spend many hours in preparation for the court martial, and who knew how many more hours going through the appeal process.Banning was a Marine officer. Even worse, he was a Marine Intelligence officer.Banning went by the Orderly Room of Company D, First Battalion and read through McCoy's records. He also talked to his company commander, his platoon leader, his platoon sergeant, and his bunk mate.The picture they painted of McCoy was the one reflected by his records.But, there were several things out of the ordinary; he didn't have a Chinese girl friend, but he had a Chinese girl, so he wasn't queer. He didn't have a buddy, either.What was most unusual, were his as a typist, and his language ability. Dog Company had a natural linguist who could type 75 w.p.m. assigned as a machine gunner.When he was convinced that he had learned all he could about McCoy, he went to the infirmary, to see the accused for the first time.McCoy's medical records showed that he had been admitted suffering cuts and abrasions, and a penetrating would in his upper right thigh, probably caused by a small caliber bullet. A surgical procedure had removed a .25 caliber from the thigh. The prognosis was a complete recovery.Banning found McCoy in the infirmary. He introduced himself, and told McCoy he had been appointed his defense counsel. Then he made sure that McCoy understood his predicament, and told him he didn't think there was any chance he would be found guilty of 1st degree murder, but that he would, very likely, be found guilty of "a lesser included offense." There was no question that there 2 dead Italian marines, or that McCoy had killed them. Neither was there any question that they had been killed with his, and that this offense would not be ignored.The two lesser offenses, Banning had said, were Manslaughter, and negligent homicide.Then Banning had said that he hadn't discussed this with Major Delaney, because he had wanted to talk to him first, but the possibility exists that when you come to trial, you will have the option of pleading guilty to one of the lesser offenses, and Delaney would have no objection if you pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and I would pressure him to accept a plea of guilty to involuntarily manslaughter. And if you did plead guilty to either of the lesser offenses, the sentence would be reviewed by the Colonel, and by General Butler, both of whom have the authority to reduce sentences.McCoy had replied, "Sir, it was self defense."Banning replied that he didn't have any witnesses.McCoy then told him that there was the rickshaw boy, and 20 to 30 Chinese who saw what happened.Banning then asked McCoy how he planned to find them, and McCoy had shrugged and said "Ask around, I suppose."Then Banning, presumably thinking that the witnesses couldn't be found, said that he thought he could get the prosecutor to accept a charge of manslaughter, and he would probably get a sentence of 20 years to life. The sentence would then be reviewed by the Colonel, who will decide that you're not guilty of manslaughter, but of involuntary manslaughter, and reduce the punishment accordingly.McCoy had asked what the punishment would be reduced to, and Banning had replied that the maximum penalty for involuntary manslaughter is five years.Then, McCoy had replied "Sir, the court martial manual says that I can have the defense counsel of my choice."Banning replied "Who do you want to defend you," and McCoy had replied that he wanted Lieutenant Kaye to defend him.After thinking things over, Banning believed that McCoy actually believed, since it was the true, and that it was his duty to pursue McCoy's self defense claim.They next thing that happened was that McCoy was promoted to Corporal, which was extremely annoying to the Italians, who believed that McCoy was promoted because he had killed the two Italians! And then, two Chinese sere found, Constable Hang Chee, and Sr. Patrolman Kin Tong, who confirmed McCoy's story that he had acted in self defense.Then, Banning called the Colonel and told him the news that there was no longer any reason to go ahead with a court martial, and McCoy was cleared to go back to duty."But not to Dog Company," Banning said. "You're being transferred to Headquarters Company. A man of your many talents would be of more use in S-2. And there's more. You're going to Peking for awhile. You're a problem, McCoy. The Italians want you punished. We can't do that any more. We want to get you out of sight. And we're going to do that by truck. A truck convoy is leaving on Thursday. Did you know that?'McCoy had then said that the word going around, is that what the convoys really do is spy on the Japs.Banning had then asked if that would bother him, and McCoy had replied that not only didn't it bother him, it sounded interesting.And McCoy was then told that he would be in a truck in that convoy, and that he would spy on the Japs, and that he would report back to him through a Lieutenant Mackling what Banning told Macklin to look for.And he got his knife back, and was known as "Killer McCoy."And he didn't report through Lieutenant Macklin, because Macklin was not as bright as he thought he was, and had been caught snooping by the Japs.Instead, he did his own snooping, wasn't caught, and reported the results of his snooping directly to Banning.This novel should have been very exciting, and still is, for the most part, except for many pages of detrimental factors that require skimming to find content.Even with these detrimental factors, SEMPER FI is still an exciting novel to read.McCoy had not been at the dance hall that night, because a Marine who wanted to be there had paid him $5.00 to take the duty.He had just re-enlisted for another four years, with the understanding that once he had done so, he would be promoted to PFC. With the promotion came the right to take the exam for Corporal. He had already taken the exam, done very well, and was sure his name would be on the promotion list.Unless he got into a brawl with a bunch of Italian marines.There were two things wrong with going out wearing a cartridge belt and bayonet. For one thing, he'd look pretty silly walking into the poker game at the Cathay Mansion House wearing that stuff. And if he did run into some Italian marines, they would take his possession of a bayonet as a sure sign he was looking for a fight.He decided to take his "Baby Fairbairn", which he'd won in a poker game.A police officer on the Shanghai Police Force had invented a really terrific knife, sort of a dagger.McCoy's was made exactly like the original, except that it wasn't quite as long, or quite as bib. It was just long enough to be concealed in the sleeve, with the tip of the scabbard up against the joint of the elbow, and the handle just inside the cuff.McCoy installed the knife, got dressed, and left to play poker at the Cathay Mansions hotel, on a rickshaw.U S Marines were not welcome in the fancy upstairs regions of the hotel. He walked down the sidewalk and then into an alley, which led to the rear of the building. He went down a flight of stairs to a steel basement door, and knocked on it.A small window opened in the door, and Chinese eyes became visible. McCoy was examined, and then the door opened. He walked down a corridor to a steel door identified as "Store Room B-6", knocked, and it opened for him.McCoy was welcome here, because he almost always brought fifty dollars with him, sometimes a good deal more, which he was prepared to lose with a certain grace, and without whining.In the nearly four years that he had been in China, McCoy had evolved a gambling system that had resulted in a balance of nearly two thousand dollars at Barclays Bank. He thought of it as his retirement system.Over three hours later, only he and Detective Sergeant Chatworth had any money left. The other three players had gone bust. Chatworth and McCoy decided to quit. McCoy strapped his knife on and followed the other pkla --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/11043160-semper-fi-corps-book-1](https://www.desertcart.co.uk/products/11043160-semper-fi-corps-book-1) --- *Product available on Desertcart United Kingdom* *Store origin: GB* *Last updated: 2026-05-23*