Jeff Wallace's Blog: The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle
March 18, 2018
Book Review, 'Rapidan' 15 Mar 2018
(Official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Rapidan" by Jeff Wallace, review by Kdstrack)
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
Rapidan by Jeff Wallace is a historical fiction novel that delves into certain aspects of the Civil War. It especially deals with slavery and the Underground Railroad.
Captain John Holland, wounded in battle, has been moved to home of the Van Meer family for recovery. With time, they come to appreciate and feel for him. After a time, John’s superiors make the decision to remove him from the family home. The family members are accused of being spies. Not content to simply remove John from the premises, the family members are persecuted. Anna, the daughter, escapes prison and death. During his convalescence at their home, John had fallen in love with Anna. He disobeys military orders and goes in search of her. Can he locate her and save her before his superiors kill them both?
The Rapidan River in Virginia referenced in the story was a vital crossing point for the armies in the Civil War. The other historical facts are accurate and pertinent to the story. The author especially highlights the situation of the slaves. This theme is then expanded to include those who ran the Underground Railroad. The dangers they faced and the risks they undertook to get slaves to the North are presented in an understanding and thoughtful way.
I truly enjoyed the focus the author gave to the slaves and the Underground Railroad. He presents a side of this phenomenon that is rarely highlighted. The depictions of the army and their living conditions are also well done. The living condition of freed slaves is taken into account. And finally, the author presents in a clear and vivid way the social injustices which women in this time period confronted.
The conversations in this story were excellently done. The story is written in third person giving the reader a universal view of the motives and thinking of each individual. The mood was also appropriate to the plot. There is a swing between suspense and calm, tension and peace.
The only thing I did not like about the book was the frequent use of incomplete sentences. For example, on p. 6: “Surrounding Holland, the unfamiliar house and its creaks, knocks, and recurrent, bewildering sounds of scratching.” I understand that the author is using this as a literary device, but its excessive use became irritating.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The subject matter had been studied extensively and was true to historical facts. The story was interesting and engaging, including the insights into slavery, the Underground Railroad and the freed slaves. I would recommend this book to readers of historical fiction and students of history in general.
(Review was written by Kdstrack)
Rating: 4 out of 4 stars
Rapidan by Jeff Wallace is a historical fiction novel that delves into certain aspects of the Civil War. It especially deals with slavery and the Underground Railroad.
Captain John Holland, wounded in battle, has been moved to home of the Van Meer family for recovery. With time, they come to appreciate and feel for him. After a time, John’s superiors make the decision to remove him from the family home. The family members are accused of being spies. Not content to simply remove John from the premises, the family members are persecuted. Anna, the daughter, escapes prison and death. During his convalescence at their home, John had fallen in love with Anna. He disobeys military orders and goes in search of her. Can he locate her and save her before his superiors kill them both?
The Rapidan River in Virginia referenced in the story was a vital crossing point for the armies in the Civil War. The other historical facts are accurate and pertinent to the story. The author especially highlights the situation of the slaves. This theme is then expanded to include those who ran the Underground Railroad. The dangers they faced and the risks they undertook to get slaves to the North are presented in an understanding and thoughtful way.
I truly enjoyed the focus the author gave to the slaves and the Underground Railroad. He presents a side of this phenomenon that is rarely highlighted. The depictions of the army and their living conditions are also well done. The living condition of freed slaves is taken into account. And finally, the author presents in a clear and vivid way the social injustices which women in this time period confronted.
The conversations in this story were excellently done. The story is written in third person giving the reader a universal view of the motives and thinking of each individual. The mood was also appropriate to the plot. There is a swing between suspense and calm, tension and peace.
The only thing I did not like about the book was the frequent use of incomplete sentences. For example, on p. 6: “Surrounding Holland, the unfamiliar house and its creaks, knocks, and recurrent, bewildering sounds of scratching.” I understand that the author is using this as a literary device, but its excessive use became irritating.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars. The subject matter had been studied extensively and was true to historical facts. The story was interesting and engaging, including the insights into slavery, the Underground Railroad and the freed slaves. I would recommend this book to readers of historical fiction and students of history in general.
(Review was written by Kdstrack)
November 1, 2017
Rapidan
Excerpts from 31 October 2017 Kirkus Review of 'Rapidan' :
It’s September 1862 in this historical novel and the Confederate and Union armies have all of Richmond on edge. Following Gen. Robert E. Lee’s advance north, a father and daughter of the Richmond gentry open their doors to care for a Southern officer badly wounded by Union foragers near Mechanicsville. Capt. John S. Holland, scion of a wealthy family allied with Jefferson Davis, took a ball in the leg that shattered his femur in two places. He convalesces in a newfangled contraption designed to spare him amputation while Anna Van Meer reads aloud to keep his spirits up. In Anna’s opinion, “Those who want the war should have it in abundance and leave the rest of us alone.” Her father hates slavery, and before the conflict broke out she assisted him in the operation of a station on the Underground Railroad. She suspects he has kept that station going all this while. After he accepts the captain, Anna wonders why her father is striving “to create the illusion they were supporters of the Southern cause,” recalling that “they’d never gone to such lengths before.” But the war closes in and before long Anna finds herself in flight, away from the comfort she’s known and with the principal folks in her heart put to a test. Holland, for whom she’s fallen, works valiantly to protect her, though he knows himself to be “a diminished man.” Wallace (The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle, 2017, etc.) is a serious artist who never fails to attend to his audience’s needs, providing fast-moving action and characters of real depth. Though they might have come across as implausible clichés, both Anna and Holland strike the reader as complex and credible, and their early courtship (during which “his presence was like a noxious smell that rendered her life wretched”) convinces in an accomplished, fresh, and indirect style. The author understands the period well. The intricacy with which he layers his characters’ historical imaginations can only enrich any reader’s understanding of the tensions of the 1860s and the tangled hearts of men and women. -- Kirkus Reviews
A novel of war and recovery from a consummate storyteller at the height of his powers. -- Kirkus Reviews
It’s September 1862 in this historical novel and the Confederate and Union armies have all of Richmond on edge. Following Gen. Robert E. Lee’s advance north, a father and daughter of the Richmond gentry open their doors to care for a Southern officer badly wounded by Union foragers near Mechanicsville. Capt. John S. Holland, scion of a wealthy family allied with Jefferson Davis, took a ball in the leg that shattered his femur in two places. He convalesces in a newfangled contraption designed to spare him amputation while Anna Van Meer reads aloud to keep his spirits up. In Anna’s opinion, “Those who want the war should have it in abundance and leave the rest of us alone.” Her father hates slavery, and before the conflict broke out she assisted him in the operation of a station on the Underground Railroad. She suspects he has kept that station going all this while. After he accepts the captain, Anna wonders why her father is striving “to create the illusion they were supporters of the Southern cause,” recalling that “they’d never gone to such lengths before.” But the war closes in and before long Anna finds herself in flight, away from the comfort she’s known and with the principal folks in her heart put to a test. Holland, for whom she’s fallen, works valiantly to protect her, though he knows himself to be “a diminished man.” Wallace (The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle, 2017, etc.) is a serious artist who never fails to attend to his audience’s needs, providing fast-moving action and characters of real depth. Though they might have come across as implausible clichés, both Anna and Holland strike the reader as complex and credible, and their early courtship (during which “his presence was like a noxious smell that rendered her life wretched”) convinces in an accomplished, fresh, and indirect style. The author understands the period well. The intricacy with which he layers his characters’ historical imaginations can only enrich any reader’s understanding of the tensions of the 1860s and the tangled hearts of men and women. -- Kirkus Reviews
A novel of war and recovery from a consummate storyteller at the height of his powers. -- Kirkus Reviews
June 16, 2017
Kirkus Review Excerpts: The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle
Kirkus Book Review Excerpts: "The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle" by Jeff Wallace
"It’s 1970, and George Tanner, a young American military police investigator, is in his 32nd month in South Vietnam. He’s charged with unraveling an unusual case: why did a Caucasian man wearing U.S. military gear walk out of the rain forest 100 kilometers north of Saigon in the middle of the night and straight up to an American infantry outpost?" -- Kirkus Reviews
"Tanner’s knowledge of Army procedures derives him as much solid information from repair slips and serial numbers as he gets from tough-guy action sequences—though there are plenty of those. Wallace’s pacing is taut, his characters well developed, and his Vietnamese locations authentic and beautifully evoked." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A well-written, thoughtful military thriller that appreciates complexities and tells an exhilarating story." -- Kirkus Reviews
"It’s 1970, and George Tanner, a young American military police investigator, is in his 32nd month in South Vietnam. He’s charged with unraveling an unusual case: why did a Caucasian man wearing U.S. military gear walk out of the rain forest 100 kilometers north of Saigon in the middle of the night and straight up to an American infantry outpost?" -- Kirkus Reviews
"Tanner’s knowledge of Army procedures derives him as much solid information from repair slips and serial numbers as he gets from tough-guy action sequences—though there are plenty of those. Wallace’s pacing is taut, his characters well developed, and his Vietnamese locations authentic and beautifully evoked." -- Kirkus Reviews
"A well-written, thoughtful military thriller that appreciates complexities and tells an exhilarating story." -- Kirkus Reviews
April 8, 2017
Book Review--The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle
From The Veteran--Books in Review II
From monthly archives, April 2017
'The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle' by Jeff Wallace
Review by David Willson
The main character of this thriller is George Tanner, an American Army major who advises a Vietnamese military police company. In April 1970, a Caucasian male walks out of the rain forest just north of Saigon. He intersects with U. S. Army personnel and is shot and killed.
Most of the rest of this engrossing novel deals with finding out the identity of this man and what was he doing all alone in the jungle. He carried no I.D. and his clothing told those who found him very little.
Tanner is tasked with unraveling the mystery. He comes to find out that there are people who do not want him to find the answers. Danger seems to lurk around every corner for Tanner as he stumbles around following the few clues he has.
This is a work of fiction, we are assured, but Wallace, a former Army officer, tells us that “the characters, facilities, organizations, military units” we encounter bear much similarity to their real counterparts. The historical setting rings totally true to me as I spent a lot of time in the very spots the author has chosen to place his story in.
Wallace’s representation of his Vietnamese characters is extensive and jibes with what I saw when I was in Saigon. The main character falls in love with Vietnam and with a woman named Tuyet. He wrestles with the problem of convincing her to go to America with him. She cannot imagine herself living in anywhere other than Saigon.
This serious novel deals with Vietnamization, but does not dwell on the usual preoccupations of Vietnam War fiction. It is said more than once that we should have stayed the fuck out of Vietnam. Attention is paid to the French at Dien Bien Phu. As for the Americans, Wallace writes: The “world’s best Army is struggling to defeat a bunch of rag tags.”
I enjoyed this thriller and was happy that it was more like a Graham Green novel than the usual infantry novel penned by often resentful and angry former draftees. I highly recommend it to serious readers of Vietnam War literature.
–David Willson
From monthly archives, April 2017
'The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle' by Jeff Wallace
Review by David Willson
The main character of this thriller is George Tanner, an American Army major who advises a Vietnamese military police company. In April 1970, a Caucasian male walks out of the rain forest just north of Saigon. He intersects with U. S. Army personnel and is shot and killed.
Most of the rest of this engrossing novel deals with finding out the identity of this man and what was he doing all alone in the jungle. He carried no I.D. and his clothing told those who found him very little.
Tanner is tasked with unraveling the mystery. He comes to find out that there are people who do not want him to find the answers. Danger seems to lurk around every corner for Tanner as he stumbles around following the few clues he has.
This is a work of fiction, we are assured, but Wallace, a former Army officer, tells us that “the characters, facilities, organizations, military units” we encounter bear much similarity to their real counterparts. The historical setting rings totally true to me as I spent a lot of time in the very spots the author has chosen to place his story in.
Wallace’s representation of his Vietnamese characters is extensive and jibes with what I saw when I was in Saigon. The main character falls in love with Vietnam and with a woman named Tuyet. He wrestles with the problem of convincing her to go to America with him. She cannot imagine herself living in anywhere other than Saigon.
This serious novel deals with Vietnamization, but does not dwell on the usual preoccupations of Vietnam War fiction. It is said more than once that we should have stayed the fuck out of Vietnam. Attention is paid to the French at Dien Bien Phu. As for the Americans, Wallace writes: The “world’s best Army is struggling to defeat a bunch of rag tags.”
I enjoyed this thriller and was happy that it was more like a Graham Green novel than the usual infantry novel penned by often resentful and angry former draftees. I highly recommend it to serious readers of Vietnam War literature.
–David Willson
The Man Who Walked Out of the Jungle
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