Book excerpt: Time and Tide begins with the Navy cruiser, Jefferson City, looming out of the dawn, fleeing a night of terror and death, the bodies of crewmen floating in water-filled compartments below decks. She has deserted her sister ships at the Battle of Savo Island - the worst naval defeat in U.S. history. New York Times bestselling author Thomas Fleming personalizes the war in the Pacific in this compelling novel of intrigue, love, and honor set aboard the fictional USS Jefferson City. From the night battles off Guadalcanal to the kamikaze-ridden skies of Okinawa, Time and Tide contrasts the horrors of war with the passions of love in this epic tale of Americans on the cutting edge of history.