South by Java Head (Review)
"Highly dramatic and effective" Observer
"Exitements come and go at a breatless pace" The Times
Plot:
February, 1942: Singapore lies burning and shattered, defenceless before the conquering hordes of Japanese Army, as the last boat slips out of the harbour into the South China Sea. On board are a desperate group of people, each with a secret to guard, each willing to kill to keep that secret safe.
Dawn sees them far out to sea but the first murderous dive bombers already aimed at their ship. Thus begins an ordeal few are to survive, a nightmare succession of disasters wrought by the hell-bent Japanese, the unrelenting tropical sun and by the survivors themselves.
Soon it becomes a desperate battle of wills, and a battle of wits, to stay alive as they journey SOUTH BY JAVA HEAD.
Review:
This is the second book by Alistair Maclean and is absuloutely awesome. It's preceded by "The Guns of Navarone" and followed by "The Last Frontier".
It's mostly written in the location Maclean writes best: The sea.
About 50 people are on a extremely unsafe boat in the middle of the ocean. One after the other starts dying from different causes. Another small boat is roped to the main one and contains a gang of racketeers/smugglers. The passengers of the main boat are a few women a small boy of 3 years old, and some men. They have pretty much no water, and no weapons except a few guns. That's it. Nothing else. Now throw in ships, submarines, and aircraft of the Japanese, and you've got a hopeless situation. But for some reason the aircraft, submarines, and ships don't want to harm the boat for unknown reasons, they just want to capture it. I'm not going to say anything more.
This book will keep you on the edge of your seat; it's highly dramatic, suspenseful, and action-packed. I personally really like how the first mate finds ingenious ways to stay alive. What I also like is how the heroes in most of the first Maclean's have faults; they aren't perfect so it's way easier to connect with them and feel for them. What I also really like on most Maclean war novels is that how he portrays war. The heroes aren't knights in shining armour, but men with faults. He portrays war as something evil, which also kills innocents, and brings out the worst of many people, but also the best out of some people.
I highly recommend this book if you're over 14 years old. Some parts will make you laugh, and some parts will make you want to cry. Defintely recommended! You can buy the book here( Amazon UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0006172482/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437660789&sr=8-1&keywords=south+by+java+head
