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4.0étoiles sur 5
Slade tackles the Pacific War, Nov. 12 2006
In SWASTIKA, Michael Slade explored the European component of World War II. In a natural progression, KAMIKZE examines the Pacific campaign, from atrocities committed against allied troops to the invasion of Okinawa and the bombing of Hiroshima. Slade obviously believes that no war remains locked in the past, but instead extends tentacles into the present and beyond.
The infamous attack on Pearl Harbor was only one component of a campaign by the Japanese to neutralize the entire Pacific rim, with simultaneous attacks on Hawaii, Hong Kong, Malaya, Guam, the Philippines, Wake Island and Midway. Slade displays particular interest in the Hong Kong invasion, since many soldiers assigned to defend the colony were Canadian. A particularly heinous event took place on Christmas Day, 1941, when Japanese soldiers attacked a field hospital at St. Stephen's College. Injured soldiers were tortured, mutilated and slaughtered. Nurses were raped and beaten. The survivors spent the rest of the war in POW camps.
Slade brings together General Tokuda--a hideously scarred old man who not only was present at St. Stephen's but is also a Hiroshima survivor--and Joe Hett, who was among the crew of the Enola Gay. Tokuda, now the supreme boss of the post-war yakuza crime syndicate, is obsessed by the Japanese concept of bushido--the Way of the Warrior. He travels to Vancouver to retrieve a mysterious vial of blood of great significance to him.
It just so happens that Vancouver is also the site of the Veterans of the Pacific Conference. The last three surviving members of the Hett family, representing three generations, convene for the conference: Colonel Joe Hett is a keynote speaker; his son Chuck is recently retired from Strategic Air Command; Chuck's daughter Jackie is the family "turncoat," having abandoned her birth nation to join Canada's famous police force.
No Slade novel would be complete without a psychopath or two. The one who calls himself Kamikaze--the Divine Wind--is devoted to the destruction of the Hetts because of their connection to Hiroshima. He idolizes Tokuda and sees him as a father figure.
The other homicidal maniac wants to avenge the murder of the father she never knew, one of the victims of St. Stephen's.
However, Slade also has some hidden agendas. He's not satisfied to merely present an intriguing whodunit that will have mystery lovers scratching their heads and sorting through enough red herrings to stock a fish hatchery--though he does.
In SWASTIKA, Slade lamented the sanitization of certain Nazi war criminals whose talents were coveted by the American military. In KAMIKZE, he postulates a controversial hidden motivation for the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima that doesn't appear in most history books.
The lies of governments, Slade suggests, are paid for with the blood of the young men and women who are sent to fight the wars these lies create. References to the contemporary fable of WMDs leave no doubt about which particular lies Slade has in mind. He also addresses the plight of Japanese immigrants who were sent to internment camps during the war and later deported for no reason other than their ancestry.
Fans of the series may miss seeing some of the old Special X regulars, since several of them are present only in cameo roles. With Jackie Hett and her partner, SWASTIKA alumna Dane Winter, Slade continues to expand the ranks of his fictitious force. He also manifests his willingness to heap abuse and even death upon major characters. Slade weaves together the historical strands of the narrative--complete with his famous attention to detail and rigorous research--with the contemporary tales of insane killers and the heroic feats of the Special X force in a gripping, tense and exciting climax.
Full disclosure: KAMIKAZE is dedicated in part to me. Slade and I have had several discussions about Canada's experiences in Hong Kong during World War II. Three of my uncles were stationed there. One of them died on or about Christmas Day, 1941, possibly at St. Stephen's. His body was never identified. I also own a well-worn and oft-read copy of the Hardy Boys' Detective Handbook.
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4.0étoiles sur 5
please Slade can I have some more!, Oct. 17 2006
I just finished reading this book and am at a loss for words. I always look forward to each and every Slade novel but I always feel empty when I'm done because I know I'll have to wait at least a year for another one of his novels.
I read my first Slade novel, Headhunter, almost 18 years ago and I've been a devoted Sladist ever since. Slade's novels are engrossing and always entertaining. As someone who is from the Vancouver area I take particular pleasure in the fact that the novels are based in the town I grew up in. Slade reminds one of how great and mysterious a place Vancouver can be.
This book was no diffent. After Slade's slight change of direction with Swastika I was eager to get my hands on Kamikaze. I thoroughly enjoyed this latest effort. My only complaint if it can be called one, is that this book was over far too quickly.
The story moves along at a frenetic pace and in typical Slade fashion the reader is given a micro-history lesson of not only Vancouver and the RCMP but in this case the end of World War II and the decesion to drop the Atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Personally I would have liked to see the book fleshed out with another hundred or so pages but all in all this is a great Slade novel.
It was nice to see a certain character from the previous novel Swastika survive their hideous injury but it also would have been nice for some linkage between the two stories. I can only wonder where Slade will go next with Inspector Robert Declerq and the crew at Special X.
I for one hope that Slade will contine his foray into the mysteries of the Second World War and possbily the Cold War.
Slade is today's Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and in that light I know it will only be a matter of time till Mephisto aka Moriarty rears his devious and demented scheming head.
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5.0étoiles sur 5
Zen bayonet, Sep 18 2006
This is a superb, elegantly styled thriller, part two of a double masterpiece centered on the Second World War. In Swastika Slade explored the legacies of evil spawned in Nazi Germany. In Kamikaze he focuses on the repercussions of Pearl Harbor and Hiroshima. Swastika evoked Teutonic precision and Wagnerian spectacle. Kamikaze reflects Asian aesthetic values with its intimate, organic juxtaposition of violence and philosophy. It's like a serene pond in an orderly garden, but instead of koi, piranhas wait beneath the surface to take off your fingers.
The Mounties of Special X investigate deaths linked to urban terrorism, Japanese organized crime, and decades-old vengeance. Regular Slade readers will find familiar touchstones in Kamikaze, mostly through the continuing exploits of recurring characters. But it's advisable to check preconceived notions at the door--Slade has long defied pigeonholing, and here he offers anything but formula. Well-developed characterization and humanistic introspection neatly balance plot mechanics and technical descriptions. Still, the dread remains, and the cuts are deep. As Slade writes about one character:
"The glittering blade of his sushi knife had been shaped on natural stone, and he slashed it across the cutting board with flourishes that were deft, swift, and uniform."
That's a fitting analogy for Kamikaze, the work of an author who knows exactly what he wants and skillfully brings it to life. I immensely enjoyed the novel and heartily recommend it to any reader who appreciates refinement with his or her thrills.
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de Michael Slade
de Michael Slade
de John Sandford
de James Lee Burke
de Stephen King
