SOURCE: Caldwell, Christopher. “The Intrepid Traveler.” National Review 44, no. 8 (27 April 1992): 49-50.

In the following review, Caldwell praises Outerbridge Reach, commending Stone's moral concerns but citing weaknesses in the novel's narrative structure.

Robert Stone's characters have cleaned up their act in the last two decades. In his National Book Award—winning Dog Soldiers (1974), for example, they worried about what routes to take to smuggle heroin out of Vietnam, how many Dilaudids to pop for breakfast, and what kind of automatic weaponry to bring to meet the police. In his newest book, Outerbridge Reach, they worry about prep-school tuition, the ozone layer, and how to cover margin when the Dow drops fifty points.

Owen Browne (Annapolis '68), Mr. Stone's latest hero, is, as one associate puts it, “clean cut but serious. Serious but not weird.” He fought bravely and proudly in Vietnam along with his friends, the “last good children...