Peter Martino

BROKEN TRIDENT is a character-driven drama exposing the travails of three roommates of the U.S. Naval Academy Class of 1999 through their training, Navy careers, romances, marriages, parenthood, successes, and failures.

At the outset, we meet the protagonist, David Kenilworth, at his own funeral. His two roommates, Charles (“Mags”) Maggio and John Kelly, are there with David’s wife and family to mourn his loss. We learn that David died at 42 years old falling overboard, in vague circumstances, from a cruise ship while on vacation celebrating his 15th wedding anniversary. The story then begins 23 years earlier on Induction Day at the Academy when the roommates met.

Inspired by James Webb’s A Sense of Honor for its portrayal of Midshipmen, Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina for its tale of disastrous relationships, and John Steinbeck’s East of Eden for its sultry family sagas, the epic plot reveals David’s tragic flaws and his change of heart that comes too late to prevent a catastrophic reversal of fortune. Whether David died by accident, suicide, or homicide holds the reader in suspense while exciting elements of espionage, deceit, and murder span the years 1995 to 2021 in accurate historic settings.

The shocking end evokes a response from the reader that combines pity for David Kenilworth with the hope of a brighter future for his family and college roommates.