Birth of a (Small) Nation Part 4: Preparing for the Wrath of God
 | Average Customer Rating: Recommend The continuing story of a young American living as a fugitive on the Isle of St. Margaret's, he has survived the court-martial (“The Flight Lieutenant's Court Martial - Part 2”) and is freed from its burdens in time to resume his duties with the Air Militia on the very eve of Independence. This story follows the island and its people through Independence Day (April 15, 1973) and beyond. Everyone expects all out fighting… Product details and pricing info |
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2 Customer Reviews Posted
- Ebony & Eden. In the heat of home... where the hurricanes roam.
- UNCERTAIN PARADISE, the novel from which this series of Amazon Shorts is taken, is filled with an uncanny feeling of the teeming movement of LIFE itself, in a primordial essence available only on a small, primitive island on our globe, a feeling which John W. Cassell captured in UP for a reader like me who has never been off the USA landmass.
On page 315 of the trade paperback Uncertain Paradise: 1973:
>> The toll or destruction among these pathetic cardboard and sheetmetal structures where some eighty percent of the island's people lived was close to one hundred percent in every hurricane. <<
John Cassell has a unique writing style which flows with unadulterated ease. Each word quickens into a living presence in the reader's mind. The plot opens:
>> The rhythmic beeping at a variety of sound frequencies from the navigational and defensive systems of the Soviet Navy's Murmansk Class nuclear powered submarine Novy Mir had been the only sounds audible on the conning tower for the past thirty seconds. Two officers, clad in powder blue open collar shirts with miniature shoulder boards and navy blue trousers, stood intently eying a console of dials and digital displays. <<
That first chapter is also available in a pair of Amazon Shorts, Armageddon: 1973 - Part 1. At 49 cents each, they provide a perfect means of testing the waters of this novel prior to purchase. I'm betting that after reading the first few pages of part one, purchase will become a near and present danger.
Chapter Two opens in what almost appears as an alternate reality to the above quoted submarine scene:
>> Three days after the murder of Jerry Fisher anyone relying on the media for their version of reality would think the country was paralyzed with grief and despair. Politicians, clerics, community leaders of all races and faiths babbled on and on in each daily edition, talking about his goodness, his generosity, his love for humanity. It was getting so I couldn't stand to read "The Atlantic City Press" without losing my temper.... I had watched him revel in my terror as he calmly gave the necessary signal for one of my closest friends, a guy who was a decent as a man came, to be bludgeoned to death and decapitated before my eyes. <<
In an Amazon Shorts forum post featuring Hell's Quest: 1971, Cassell writes of his process of composing UNCERTAIN PARADISE: 1973, a fascinating novel of sub-cultural insight:
>>>> Once the island was clear in my mind I wrote chapter one to give the reader a sense of how the pieces fit together and what some of the hottest political issues were. Like Hell's Quest the first chapter wasn't directly related to the protagonist, but as a short story was easily one of my best.
The island and its society took root within me quickly and the story pretty much hit the ground running. I thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to write stories of flying and of describing the birth of a nation. the court-martial [both the previous chapter which shows the mission and the following which was the trial] proved a way to endear the reader to the people of the island. <<<<
For additional background on Cassell's pulling together details for the gestalt of this "living" island world, I would recommend reading the whole of that post in the HELL'S QUEST forum (a discussion which has evolved into a seminar on writing novels).
Be prepared that reading UNCERTAIN PARADISE will keep you on the edge of a thrilling sense of anxiety, wondering how John will get out of his ongoing, serious and potentially deadly conundrums.
Watching with awe and pride as a new author, John W. Cassell, launches more than submarines and hurricanes,
Linda Shelnutt
Author of several books on KINDLE and Amazon Shorts - 2008-06-20, 2 of 2 people found this review helpful, Rated:
- Excellent
- John W. Cassell is such an excellent writer. He never ceases to amaze me with his stories, his writing style and voice. He puts you right there in the middle of the scenes. You are living it with him. And with Part Four here, he has done it again. I hesitate to expound on the story, as I do not wish to give any of it away. Superb! Nothing less!
- 2007-08-02, 5 of 5 people found this review helpful, Rated:
