The Flight Lieutenant's Court Martial - Part 1
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend A young white officer, bedevilled by the kidnapping of his girlfriend, leads a platoon of black soldiers along with irreplaceable construction experts and equipment across guerilla-infested mountains to build a critically needed airstrip on the west side of the Isle of St. Margaret's just days from its independence from Great Britain in 1973. On the way, he shoots his sergeant major to prevent a mutiny and the failure of the mission. The mission is ultimately successful but… Product details and pricing info |
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3 Customer Reviews Posted
- Licorice, Red, Black, or Yellow Dismay
- After an exquisite motivational speech from the leader, to his newly boot-camped men, the setting boomed large, street-marshal-charged, with a parade out of town to swells of a crowd:
>> They broke into wild cheers as we began moving down Highway One. Many threw ginger blossoms and palm fronds at the vehicles as they lumbered by. It was, I was told, the traditional 'blessing' for those embarking on a long, perilous journey, which also according to island tradition, was just about any journey. <<
From the departure of the mile-long convoy, sent off as a parade through the streets of Port Albert... to the arrival at the Hayes Construction Company site... the action momentum covered billowing intrigue that could feed even a pansy of the best pale breed. Throughout the whole, I was whacking my brain worms, wondering (among other things) what Colgate was up to, and whom the guy was that Cassell saved from death in Cassel's own front yard of his Maggierock "castle."
"Our Perilous Journey" ...(chapter 7, "Yetu Safari A Hatari," in the book, UNCERTAIN PARADISE: 1973 [PART ONE] (n/a))... provided stand-up-and-cheer military adventure, with creative strategy to die for (not). If Cassell can write military adventure to keep this reader awake and enthralled, he's a bloody genius! So there you have it; this author's brilliance precedes him... and follows in his literary wake.
Chapter 7 in UNCERTAIN PARADISE is also presented in this Amazon Short, part 1 of "The Flight Lieutenant's Court Martial." In this segment of plot, a passage was played out which makes men into men. Cassell's island sweetie was there, too, worming into hearts of readers in the wings, even though no one seemed to quite know on which side she was schlepping (or sleeping).
In a heart-shocker scene (direct from adventure-plot-heaven), Cassell (the character) was set up bloody fricking well, by Cassell (the author.. or was that set up done by Prime Minister Colgate...), for the flight lieutenant's court martial. Just prior to that pivotal-shot-fired scene, a haunting voice boomed into the camp-in-the-night, temporarily shifting this politics-in-the-making thriller into a sci-fi-fantasy, camp-by-the-wayside adventure. No such shift, though, with Cassell at the helm (marching baton) writing (conducting) the plots for his characters and whatnots. The double-edged hero showed his metal (and mettle), casting the devil into spotlight hell, and the supernatural-voice-in-the-night went down, with no further sound (effects)... after that final boom of the grenade launcher.
This is uncannily well-written military action.
Even so, this type of plot would have me skipping it, if it had been written by nearly any other author (possibly including dear ole Clancy). Under Cassell's authorship, though, I was there and willingly so.
There were so many twists in this chapter's plot, its subtitle could be, "Get Your Licorice Here!"... the only question being, would the sweet-tooth be coated... Red... or Black... though no yellow hearts could have made this start, nor finished on the chart.
If this chapter were made into a movie (and it should be), along with the rest of the novel posing as UNCERTAIN PARADISE, I have no doubt that an Academy Award would be assembling tout suite. The gold man in the statue would leap out of the inanimate, and snap to salute to his new owner, John W. Cassell. Believe it!
I do,
Linda Shelnutt
Author of several books and Amazon Shorts, including:
Myrtle's Ultimate Mystery
The Rose and the Pyramid (The Books of Gem)
Molasses Moon - 2008-03-10, 9 of 12 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Inventive and thought provoking
- A young Flt. Lt. leads his men into the unknown on a mission that may be vital or may simply be politically expedient. On the way, John Cassell weaves the threads of race relations, courage, threachery and death into a story that puts the reader into the shoes of the young man as he tries to overcome his inexperience and bring his men safely to their objective. The story and its sequel are taken from a larger work but the snippets of information given by Cassell, such as the fate of Connie, only serve to heighten the drama. Read this one and you will want to immediately read the sequel. I just did so and I reckon that you will not be disappointed.
It is inventive and thought provoking storytelling. - 2007-06-18, 10 of 10 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- A Military Short With Universal Appeal
- Cassell should stick to writing stories [such as this one] and let someone else do his product reviews. If you haven't read the product blurb "Cassell speaks about..." DON'T!!!! This story is one suspenseful circumstance after another. Besides the overall question of how they are ever going to make it, are the other situational ones leading up to the thrilling "who is the traitor???" The interaction between the young officer and his men is very good...as is the green officer's deferential attitude toward his senior NCO...intermixed with the question whether he is secret police [!!]. Throughout the long trek through the mountains with this valuable cargo..with the Communists likely to appear at any moment... you feel the camaraderie growing among the men, their commander and their industrial companions. It's the kind of military stuff with universal appeal. It's a story for anyone about pulling together...trust in the face of great trial...and personal bravery for the benefit of others. Militarily it's a story of devotion to mission accomplishment and a green officer building trust with his raw recruits, not to mention rapport wth the all important senior NCO and the people he is escorting... all the while keeping a sharp lookout for the guerrilla force that the odds say is going to crush them somewhere along the long and winding [literally] road. Five Stars!!!! For another cassellesque treatment of the challenges of mission accomplishment, see the chapters beginning with 'Janus in November' in linked product.Hell's Quest: 1971 For the same challenges facing police see Odyssey: 1970 and for freaks on the hostile open road see Odyssey and linked product An Aquarian Tragedy by James Mundell. M.V. Dooley
- 2007-04-24, 12 of 12 people found this review helpful, Rated:
