[Pacific Interlude] has some of the virtues and many of the vices of traditional war fiction. Examining the invasion of the Philippines from a perspective quite different from the usual hit-the-beaches fare, Wilson focuses on the dangerous lot of a Coast Guard gas tanker…. Unfortunately, the novel's genuinely exciting action sequences take a backseat to a cliché-ridden personal drama centering on the ship's captain, 25-year-old Sylvester Grant…. [Imagine] an earnest Van Johnson type as the hero and you've got the picture. Still, World War II buffs will be pleased with the action and willing to ignore most of the clichés.

Bill Ott, in a review of "Pacific Interlude," in Booklist, Vol. 79, No. 1, September 1, 1982, p. 31.