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The Special Prisoner
John Quincy Watson was a young bomber pilot flying the new B-29 Superfortress in a mission over Japan when he was shot down and taken prisoner. Designated a "special prisoner," as were all Allied airmen, he, along with his comrades, suffered and almost indescribably brutal POW experience under a vicious camp commandant that Watson, with his friends, dubs the "the Hyena." When a chance encounter years after the war brings Watson, now Bishop Watson, into contact with a man he believes to be the Hyena, the Bishop must struggle with an anger and a desire for vengeance he thought he had long put aside. The Special Prisoner is a taut and dramatic novel.
240 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
6 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Jim Lehrer
43 books39 followersJames Charles Lehrer was an American journalist and the news anchor for The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer on PBS, known for his role as a frequent debate moderator during elections. Lehrer was an author of non-fiction and fiction, drawing from his experiences and interests in history and politics.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
November 20, 2013
This is a story of guilt and anger and how they are irrevocably intertwined.
First, some perspective on the title of the book. During World War II, the Japanese designated Allied airmen as special prisoners, prisoners who were meted out more brutal punishments because they brought death to Japanese civilians from the skies.
The basic storyline is this: A retired Methodist bishop sees a Japanese man in an airport. He believes this man was the same man that repeatedly tortured him and others over 50 years ago in a prisoner of war camp. He follows him.
The book replays his struggles with his dormant rage, his religious faith and his own guilt for things he had done. The book has a few nice twists but the idea, although a promising one, isn’t sustained well enough for me to strongly recommend reading this.
First, some perspective on the title of the book. During World War II, the Japanese designated Allied airmen as special prisoners, prisoners who were meted out more brutal punishments because they brought death to Japanese civilians from the skies.
The basic storyline is this: A retired Methodist bishop sees a Japanese man in an airport. He believes this man was the same man that repeatedly tortured him and others over 50 years ago in a prisoner of war camp. He follows him.
The book replays his struggles with his dormant rage, his religious faith and his own guilt for things he had done. The book has a few nice twists but the idea, although a promising one, isn’t sustained well enough for me to strongly recommend reading this.
April 5, 2018
This is another one of those books where I feel conflicted. On one hand, the story was interesting, and the writing wasn’t terrible, but on the other hand, it felt like a shallow examination of several extremely complex concepts. Are war crimes acceptable? How do we forgive those who hurt us? Do people we consider to be the most evil of all deserve to be forgiven? Do they deserve to die? What traumas stay with us throughout our lives, and if we don’t personally live them, is it possible to truly put ourselves in someone else’s shoes to understand their experience? So many wonderfully complicated questions that were only lightly touched on, which was disappointing. Exploring those concepts really would have added so much more to a somewhat interesting book.
Also, another thing that bothers me is the consistent racism all throughout the novel. I know that it was common thinking for the time period, and for someone who went through horrific treatment, I can definitely understand the anger and resentment that would continue to stay there. And since the novel is told from Watson’s point of view, the inclusion of racial slurs makes sense logistically. Yet, there were still a number of instances where they could’ve been left out in the modern day sections. I don’t know. I’m not someone who believes that Huckleberry Finn should be banned from schools because it has racial slurs in it, and I’m a big supporter of exposing people to topics that make them uncomfortable, but I just didn’t find half the comments about yellow skin, slant eyed, and descriptions of “tiny Japanese men” to be necessary most of the time. I don’t know.
Overall, interesting plot but ultimately, this novel falls short of what it could have been.
Also, another thing that bothers me is the consistent racism all throughout the novel. I know that it was common thinking for the time period, and for someone who went through horrific treatment, I can definitely understand the anger and resentment that would continue to stay there. And since the novel is told from Watson’s point of view, the inclusion of racial slurs makes sense logistically. Yet, there were still a number of instances where they could’ve been left out in the modern day sections. I don’t know. I’m not someone who believes that Huckleberry Finn should be banned from schools because it has racial slurs in it, and I’m a big supporter of exposing people to topics that make them uncomfortable, but I just didn’t find half the comments about yellow skin, slant eyed, and descriptions of “tiny Japanese men” to be necessary most of the time. I don’t know.
Overall, interesting plot but ultimately, this novel falls short of what it could have been.
July 30, 2017
Jim Lehrer's stories are always short, direct, and without fluff - this one being no exception. The first half of the book alternates between a WWII veteran who swears he sees his old Japanese prison camp commander at an airport (in 1999 or so) and his experiences being tortured along with other soldiers at the Japanese camp in 1944-45.
And then there's a plot twist, smack in the middle of the book, that is absolutely fabulous!
Can't give away what happens in the second half of the book, but the reason why I like White Widow and the few other Jim Lehrer books is because they have that human component of wickedness/evil that lies just beneath the surface of things that we'd rather not talk or write about.
And then there's a plot twist, smack in the middle of the book, that is absolutely fabulous!
Can't give away what happens in the second half of the book, but the reason why I like White Widow and the few other Jim Lehrer books is because they have that human component of wickedness/evil that lies just beneath the surface of things that we'd rather not talk or write about.
May 31, 2024
written in 2000, so not a new book. Written by Jim Lehrer, a respected newsman. This was about a pilot in WWII who was taken prisoner by Japanese troops. He survived but was not OK, either physically or emotionally. Most of his life he pushed down the memories but when he was 70+ the memories were triggered and his life took an unexpected turn. PTSD is and always has been a serious issue.
December 26, 2013
Lehrer tells of a violent act committed in the 1990s by a WW II prisoner of war to explore human nature, violence and redemption.
Well plotted, with a nuanced protagonist and an exciting trial.
Well plotted, with a nuanced protagonist and an exciting trial.
January 13, 2022
This book was a fast read. Very fun and and at times can make you think. But I think the message was a bit muddled. I am not sure how to feel about the protagonist or the God aspect or the depiction of the Japanese people or much of anything. And I guess that is the point. And it was a quick read (the first half is the exciting part). And it was enjoyable and a bit memorable. Just not sure exactly how to feel. Angry? Sad? Annoyed? I think the morals of this was a bit lost in the shock and awe factor.
September 2, 2019
The first half of the book was 5 stars. It was exciting, riveting, and a real page turner. Unfortunately the 2nd half was the opposite. It was way too drawn out and boring. It was like the author either ran out of ideas or needed to add a ton of fluff to hit a certain number of pages. If the 2nd half of the book was condensed and only the important parts were included, this book would have been 5 stars.
February 26, 2022
This was another really terrific novel by Jim Lehrer who is truly an outstanding author. The ending of this book is certainly not anticipated or expected, and it focuses on the true outstanding character of the main person in the novel. How many people would be willing to do what this man did at the end of the story >>> I suspect very, very, very few. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a real page turner, as I could not put the book down and read all 217 pages in one day.
December 11, 2021
Solid story of a WWII POW subjected to brutal treatment by the Japanese. Very easy to forget it's a novel instead of a history. Lehrer is an accomplished journalist who splices on a modern-day meeting between the prisoner and the Japanese guard that propels the book forward. Lots of twists and turns in this curiously heroic and tragic tale.
November 5, 2018
This is a truly horrible story about an unlikable person. And yet somehow this book is so well written that it was possible for me to actually see into the mind of someone I would otherwise dismiss. It was very thought-provoking, although I'm not sure what I learned from it.
January 14, 2020
I don't see the point of this book. Was it to rail against Japanese cruel and murderous practices during WWII? Was it to show that men of God are human too? That, in the end, humans are animals?
March 9, 2020
Great twist but also some of the moral concepts that are thought provoking.
March 22, 2024
Well intentioned anti-war novel that, like the characters in its courtroom, gets a little carried away with sensationalism
September 11, 2025
Very moving and unexpected ending.
October 15, 2013
The “Special Prisoner” gets its name from the war of World War 2 in which the American pilots of B-29’s got shot down or just had malfunctions and went down over japan. Then the Japanese found the survivor’s and sent them to the special camps because they were the main bombers of the fire bombing runs and later the transporters of the Atom bombs. John Quincy Watson is and was a B-29 pilot who is and was shot down then taken captive in 1945. He is and was a special, special prisoner because of one characteristic’s that he has; like a couple other pilots that were taken captive as well. Fifty years later he became a prominent religious leader that still has nightmares of his time being a POW (prisoner of war). Bishop Watson saw an elderly Japanese officer that might be the one who tortured him personally years ago. Watson pursued this man and began to even question him. The questions, you could say brought back horrific memories that not even the strongest of people could withstand. While in the process something happened to this Japanese man, known as the Hyena. Bishop Watson was cautious for his life and something would soon happen to him as well!
My overall satisfaction with the “Special Prisoner” was five stars. I found this book to be inspirational because even though Watson and the others were put through tough and brutal things, Watson didn’t kill himself yet some of the other prisoners chose a different path. I most did not like the character “the Hyena” which was the villain of the book. I most certainly loved the character “John Quincy Watson” who was the Hero of the book. This book has got to be one of the best books I’ve ever read even though my collection is low it still surpasses the others such as “into the wild” or “of Mice and Men”. Overall this book is amazing and has good thoughts on WW2 logic regarding U.S.A side as well as Japanese. Of Mice and MenInto the Wild
My overall satisfaction with the “Special Prisoner” was five stars. I found this book to be inspirational because even though Watson and the others were put through tough and brutal things, Watson didn’t kill himself yet some of the other prisoners chose a different path. I most did not like the character “the Hyena” which was the villain of the book. I most certainly loved the character “John Quincy Watson” who was the Hero of the book. This book has got to be one of the best books I’ve ever read even though my collection is low it still surpasses the others such as “into the wild” or “of Mice and Men”. Overall this book is amazing and has good thoughts on WW2 logic regarding U.S.A side as well as Japanese. Of Mice and MenInto the Wild
September 14, 2014
In the 1980s and most of 1990s, before I quit watching TV, I had been a fan of McNeil and Lehrer's NewsHour on PBS; I used to watch it almost every day. This was an interesting, serious, and mature news program unlike the so-called news on the networks. So I was quite excited about Jim Lehrer's book, "The Special Prisoner". Alas, I am not able to recommend it - while the plot is engrossing, the book is not written well.
John Quincy Watson used to be a B-29 bomber plane pilot during World War II. He participated in many bombing raids on Japanese cities and villages, where incendiary bombs were used. Men, women, and children on the ground were burned alive, and their surviving parents, children, spouses, or siblings could smell the burning human flesh. Watson could smell it too.
One day Watson's plane is shot down; he falls into Japanese hands, and in the infamous Sengei 4 camp for war prisoners he witnesses and is subject to unimaginably cruel torture applied by Japanese soldiers to Americans. One sadistic Japanese officer - whom the prisoners named Hyena - excels at torturing the prisoners of war. Almost each day an American is killed through unspeakably cruel means in front of other prisoners.
The plot of the novel begins in the 1990s, when Watson, who in the meantime became a Methodist bishop, spots Hyena at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. The past is told in flashbacks. The novel is, basically, a revenge story. It is quite crude and has A Big Ethics Question written all over it, all in capitals. The novel reads as if it was written with the purpose of becoming standard book club fare. There is some bad writing too, for instance, in the unconsumed sex scene. Very readable novel but grossly flawed.
Two stars.
John Quincy Watson used to be a B-29 bomber plane pilot during World War II. He participated in many bombing raids on Japanese cities and villages, where incendiary bombs were used. Men, women, and children on the ground were burned alive, and their surviving parents, children, spouses, or siblings could smell the burning human flesh. Watson could smell it too.
One day Watson's plane is shot down; he falls into Japanese hands, and in the infamous Sengei 4 camp for war prisoners he witnesses and is subject to unimaginably cruel torture applied by Japanese soldiers to Americans. One sadistic Japanese officer - whom the prisoners named Hyena - excels at torturing the prisoners of war. Almost each day an American is killed through unspeakably cruel means in front of other prisoners.
The plot of the novel begins in the 1990s, when Watson, who in the meantime became a Methodist bishop, spots Hyena at the Dallas/Fort Worth airport. The past is told in flashbacks. The novel is, basically, a revenge story. It is quite crude and has A Big Ethics Question written all over it, all in capitals. The novel reads as if it was written with the purpose of becoming standard book club fare. There is some bad writing too, for instance, in the unconsumed sex scene. Very readable novel but grossly flawed.
Two stars.
November 27, 2012
I go back and forth on this one as to whether the book really merits a 2-star review. In the end, it's not really a bad book. The premise is interesting enough and I tend to be intrigued when the protagonist in a book is a senior citizen (probably a product of my progress into middle age).
One of the foundations of the story, if it is to have the desired effect, is the prison camp experiences of the protagonist. Whether due to diminished sensitivities because of the treatment of such settings in other works or Lehrer's writing, I did not find myself all that shocked at the depictions of those experiences. There is a bit of a twist toward the middle which drew me in some, but then the book goes into trial scenes which feel pretty tired and somewhat predictable.
I won't give it a 1-star, since in the end the The Special Prisoner is just "meh."
One of the foundations of the story, if it is to have the desired effect, is the prison camp experiences of the protagonist. Whether due to diminished sensitivities because of the treatment of such settings in other works or Lehrer's writing, I did not find myself all that shocked at the depictions of those experiences. There is a bit of a twist toward the middle which drew me in some, but then the book goes into trial scenes which feel pretty tired and somewhat predictable.
I won't give it a 1-star, since in the end the The Special Prisoner is just "meh."
June 23, 2011
World War II B-29 pilot John Quincy Watson accidentally come in contact with a Japanese prisoner camp guard, nicknamed the Hyena, 50 years after the fact. As a young man, Quincy and others were brutalized in the Japanese camps, left with scars that would never go away. This engrossing book presents the reader with questions, of hate, retribution, forgiveness and brutality. What would you do if you had a chance to confront a person who had caused you to suffer the humiliation, physical damage and mental duress suffered by such a man as Watson? This book is not easy to read in some of its brutality. These facts are coming to light more and more as we get away from the events of WWII. It is worth every minute spent reading it. Memorable.
March 14, 2010
This is an excellent novel about the horrors of abuse and the long-term effects on both body and soul. I felt the author did a very good job balancing the perspective of both the American and Japanese characters, and with presenting the faith of the protagonist. The plot moved quickly, but I felt that all the necessary parts of the story were told, and it came to an elegant, truthful conclusion.
June 1, 2010
A B-29 pilot who was a POW in Japan. Gruesome at times but raises questions and from different perspectives. Underscores "War is Hell" no matter which way you look at it.
Thought of my Dad flying over Japanese controlled territory and living in Japan in a completely different (but not far removed) time.
Thought of my Dad flying over Japanese controlled territory and living in Japan in a completely different (but not far removed) time.
July 9, 2007
Sengei 4...what a hellish place. To come out alive is one thing, to put it behind you another. How does a retired pilot turned priest react when he sees the man who tortured him all those years ago? Read to find out...
August 20, 2010
Novel about an American airman in Japense POW camp during WWII. Very few books written that I've seen anyway...very disturbing but also very interesting. Wasn't thrilled with the ending, but it had a nice tie-in to earlier parts of the book. Worth reading!!
September 3, 2007
Yes, it's that Jim Lehrer, from PBS, and he's quite a good writer. This novel is a riveting view of what it was like to be an American prisoner of war in a Japanese POW camp. Compelling.
December 23, 2007
intense, a little violent
September 15, 2008
Very absorbing story about a WW II POW, both during the war and today. I didn't expect anything too engaging or colorful from Lehrer, but was pleasantly surprised.
January 3, 2009
Pretty interesting historical fiction. Surprising ending, but pretty neat to bring it back to a fellow prisoner's demise.
April 10, 2010
A WW ll B-29 pilot and subsequent Japanese prisoner sees his
sadistic Japanese prison camp commander in the DFW airport
fifty years after the fact and follows him to San Diego.
sadistic Japanese prison camp commander in the DFW airport
fifty years after the fact and follows him to San Diego.
September 17, 2013
One of the best books I have ever read! However, the ending could have been written better
March 11, 2015
Very good read, not at all the ending I was expecting!
January 1, 2018
Interesting plot. Nice twists (one big, one little). Held my interest as I like military hiatory.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews