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Casca #8
Soldier of Fortune
With its endless miles of infested swamps and heavily patrolled borders, the Cambodian jungle is an easy place to die. But for Casca Longinus, condemned to wander the globe as an eternal warrior, it's a place to make $200,000--if he can get a family of Chinese refugees out alive. Reissue.
181 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 12, 2014
4 people are currently reading
119 people want to read
About the author
Barry Sadler
85 books78 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
American author, musician and former green beret.
To the general public he is most known for the hit single "Ballad of the green berets"
After his musical career he decided to write a series of novels centered around the character "Casca Rufio Longinius" Who is cursed for piercing Jesus on the crucifix with a spear and is forced to forever remain a soldier until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
In the mid 1980s Sadler moved to Guatemala City where he was shot in the head one night in a taxi. He spent 7 months in a coma and died more than a year later.
American author, musician and former green beret.
To the general public he is most known for the hit single "Ballad of the green berets"
After his musical career he decided to write a series of novels centered around the character "Casca Rufio Longinius" Who is cursed for piercing Jesus on the crucifix with a spear and is forced to forever remain a soldier until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.
In the mid 1980s Sadler moved to Guatemala City where he was shot in the head one night in a taxi. He spent 7 months in a coma and died more than a year later.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
July 20, 2021
"The effeminate Orientals" and the ever willing South East Asian woman who wants nothing more than to make Casca her man and he make her his woman with the author always appealing to stereotypical Asian ways as if they are real and explains everything about what we need to know about South East Asia. Yes, it's all in here with hints of misogynism thrown in when racist stereotypes weren't enough. Sadler, is best when he sticks to the distant past and doesn't write about what he thinks he knows about.
January 5, 2020
Continuing some of the events from book one, The Eternal Mercenary.
After being seriously wounded and healing miraculously before the medics eyes, Casey Romain, goes AWOL. In the meantime, he has made a name for himself in SE Asia. He and a small team are engaged in a daring mission to free a trapped family from behind communist lines. Put me in the mind of the A-Team.
Non-stop action and quite a bit suspense.
Recommended!
After being seriously wounded and healing miraculously before the medics eyes, Casey Romain, goes AWOL. In the meantime, he has made a name for himself in SE Asia. He and a small team are engaged in a daring mission to free a trapped family from behind communist lines. Put me in the mind of the A-Team.
Non-stop action and quite a bit suspense.
Recommended!
March 29, 2025
Solid story. Better than the last few
March 13, 2023
"Casca: The Soldier of Fortune" by Barry Sadler is a gripping adventure novel that follows the legendary Roman soldier Casca Longinus as he is called upon to rescue a Chinese family from the depths of the Cambodian jungle.
The book opens with Casca being approached by an old acquaintance, who asks him to undertake a mission to save a Chinese family who are stranded in the jungle. The family has been kidnapped by Khmer Rouge guerrillas and is being held for ransom. Casca is initially hesitant to take on the mission, but he ultimately agrees, knowing that he has the skills and experience to complete the task.
The bulk of the novel follows Casca as he travels through the jungle, battling enemy soldiers and facing a series of dangerous obstacles in his quest to rescue the family. Along the way, he is aided by a group of local villagers, who provide him with shelter, food, and information about the Khmer Rouge.
Sadler does an excellent job of creating a vivid and detailed portrayal of the Cambodian jungle, which serves as the backdrop for the novel. He vividly describes the lush vegetation, the sweltering heat, and the constant danger posed by snakes, insects, and other jungle creatures. The author's firsthand experience of serving in Vietnam also shines through, as he effectively captures the sense of chaos and confusion that characterized the war in Southeast Asia.
The character of Casca is also well-developed and nuanced, and Sadler does an excellent job of portraying him as a complex and multifaceted individual. On the one hand, Casca is a tough and battle-hardened warrior, who is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and has seen more than his fair share of violence and bloodshed. At the same time, however, he is also a deeply introspective and thoughtful individual, who is haunted by his past and grappling with his own mortality. This combination of toughness and vulnerability makes Casca a compelling and relatable protagonist.
One of the strengths of the novel is its depiction of the Cambodian people, particularly the villagers who assist Casca on his mission. Sadler does a great job of portraying these individuals as fully-formed and complex human beings, with their own hopes, fears, and desires. The book also explores the complex history of Cambodia and the legacy of the Khmer Rouge regime, providing a nuanced and sensitive portrayal of this troubled region.
Overall, "Casca: The Soldier of Fortune" is a well-written and engaging adventure novel that will appeal to fans of military fiction and action-adventure stories. The book is well-paced and suspenseful, with plenty of thrilling action sequences and moments of high drama. The portrayal of the Cambodian jungle is vivid and detailed, and the character of Casca is a rich and multifaceted individual who is easy to root for. While the novel does have a few flaws, particularly in its depiction of the Khmer Rouge, these are relatively minor quibbles in an otherwise enjoyable and entertaining read.
The book opens with Casca being approached by an old acquaintance, who asks him to undertake a mission to save a Chinese family who are stranded in the jungle. The family has been kidnapped by Khmer Rouge guerrillas and is being held for ransom. Casca is initially hesitant to take on the mission, but he ultimately agrees, knowing that he has the skills and experience to complete the task.
The bulk of the novel follows Casca as he travels through the jungle, battling enemy soldiers and facing a series of dangerous obstacles in his quest to rescue the family. Along the way, he is aided by a group of local villagers, who provide him with shelter, food, and information about the Khmer Rouge.
Sadler does an excellent job of creating a vivid and detailed portrayal of the Cambodian jungle, which serves as the backdrop for the novel. He vividly describes the lush vegetation, the sweltering heat, and the constant danger posed by snakes, insects, and other jungle creatures. The author's firsthand experience of serving in Vietnam also shines through, as he effectively captures the sense of chaos and confusion that characterized the war in Southeast Asia.
The character of Casca is also well-developed and nuanced, and Sadler does an excellent job of portraying him as a complex and multifaceted individual. On the one hand, Casca is a tough and battle-hardened warrior, who is skilled in hand-to-hand combat and has seen more than his fair share of violence and bloodshed. At the same time, however, he is also a deeply introspective and thoughtful individual, who is haunted by his past and grappling with his own mortality. This combination of toughness and vulnerability makes Casca a compelling and relatable protagonist.
One of the strengths of the novel is its depiction of the Cambodian people, particularly the villagers who assist Casca on his mission. Sadler does a great job of portraying these individuals as fully-formed and complex human beings, with their own hopes, fears, and desires. The book also explores the complex history of Cambodia and the legacy of the Khmer Rouge regime, providing a nuanced and sensitive portrayal of this troubled region.
Overall, "Casca: The Soldier of Fortune" is a well-written and engaging adventure novel that will appeal to fans of military fiction and action-adventure stories. The book is well-paced and suspenseful, with plenty of thrilling action sequences and moments of high drama. The portrayal of the Cambodian jungle is vivid and detailed, and the character of Casca is a rich and multifaceted individual who is easy to root for. While the novel does have a few flaws, particularly in its depiction of the Khmer Rouge, these are relatively minor quibbles in an otherwise enjoyable and entertaining read.
December 28, 2020
Most of the Casca books have taken place during ancient history. The most notable exception is Panzer Soldier, which takes place during World War II. So far that has been my favorite story of this series as the conflict was more focused and the stakes were great. Soldier of Fortune is like Panzer Soldier where the book is more focused. In fact, it is even more focused than Panzer Soldier as it takes place only in a few days.
It is the end of the Vietnam War and Casca is a mercenary. He is offered $200,000 to rescue some Taiwanese/Chinese refugees from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. To get there he and his team must parachute in and find the family which are believed to be hiding in a cave. This takes place during high point of the Khmer Rouge genocide where the people living in the Cambodian countryside are being executed in mass and that is what is in store for this family if caught. The entire book is this rescue and escape.
In this book, we see Casca in a smaller conflict with less than 100 combatants where tactics have changed. Some of the tactics that Casca used in large scale conflicts from previous books are on display here. One example is his use subterfuge to draw the enemy in and hit them hard with the hope of evening the odds and take out as much of the enemy as possible before they can regroup. This tactic works very well in smaller scale battles and feels more believable here. This helps connect the smaller scale battles with the large-scale stuff seen in earlier books.
Colonel Lon, the main antagonist in the book is intelligent and a worthy opponent for Casca as he knows military tactics very well. He pushes his men hard and knows he has the numbers. However, he has very little regard for human life, which adds a lot of tension as we know what is in store for Casca and team if caught. He isn’t Attila the Hun as we saw in the last book, but he knows how to keep fight a battle and keep the pressure on Casca and team.
I enjoyed this book as something different from the Casca formula. Initially I was not really all that interested in reading something that was closer to our era, but this one tells a surprisingly good story on a smaller scale. This is not your typical Casca story. Casca’s immortality does not really play a part in this book. He is not brutally tortured. The Brotherhood of the Lamb do not show up. But it is still a good war story that is effectively told.
After a book like this and Panzer Soldier, Barry Sadler knows how to mix things up and not get too stuck in a particular formula. Amid the grand sweeping eras that he usually writes about, he can also slow things down and tell a smaller tale. This keeps these books interesting and unique as Casca is a very versatile character that can pretty much be placed anywhere in history since the time of Jesus.
It is the end of the Vietnam War and Casca is a mercenary. He is offered $200,000 to rescue some Taiwanese/Chinese refugees from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. To get there he and his team must parachute in and find the family which are believed to be hiding in a cave. This takes place during high point of the Khmer Rouge genocide where the people living in the Cambodian countryside are being executed in mass and that is what is in store for this family if caught. The entire book is this rescue and escape.
In this book, we see Casca in a smaller conflict with less than 100 combatants where tactics have changed. Some of the tactics that Casca used in large scale conflicts from previous books are on display here. One example is his use subterfuge to draw the enemy in and hit them hard with the hope of evening the odds and take out as much of the enemy as possible before they can regroup. This tactic works very well in smaller scale battles and feels more believable here. This helps connect the smaller scale battles with the large-scale stuff seen in earlier books.
Colonel Lon, the main antagonist in the book is intelligent and a worthy opponent for Casca as he knows military tactics very well. He pushes his men hard and knows he has the numbers. However, he has very little regard for human life, which adds a lot of tension as we know what is in store for Casca and team if caught. He isn’t Attila the Hun as we saw in the last book, but he knows how to keep fight a battle and keep the pressure on Casca and team.
I enjoyed this book as something different from the Casca formula. Initially I was not really all that interested in reading something that was closer to our era, but this one tells a surprisingly good story on a smaller scale. This is not your typical Casca story. Casca’s immortality does not really play a part in this book. He is not brutally tortured. The Brotherhood of the Lamb do not show up. But it is still a good war story that is effectively told.
After a book like this and Panzer Soldier, Barry Sadler knows how to mix things up and not get too stuck in a particular formula. Amid the grand sweeping eras that he usually writes about, he can also slow things down and tell a smaller tale. This keeps these books interesting and unique as Casca is a very versatile character that can pretty much be placed anywhere in history since the time of Jesus.
December 14, 2018
I wrote a review that didn't save the first time, so I'll try it again.
This book in the series was a bit of a pain to read due to numerous types and proofreading errors. When does an MG34 machine gun become a .34 calibre weapon? When your editor and proofreaders either don't know or don't care what the author it talking about! I hate to harp on it, but when you read lots of other books that are much better edited, it gets to be annoying.
In this book, Casca and a couple of friends from his Vietnam days (book to follow) go on a mission for $200,000 to find and rescue the members of a rich Chinese family from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
While the story does have some good moments, it was like the author forgot about the subplot with the merchant who notified the Khmer Rouge that they were coming. Casca mentions that someone has to kill him, then it is never mentioned again. As this book weighs in at a disappointing 180 pages, that would have been a great way to finish off the book and give closure to the subplot that was important in the beginning, but is never resolved. Don't start what you won't finish!
I'll go back to my previous reviews in my walk down memory lane with this series. Since I first read it, I have completed a Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees, so they have probably jaded my earlier reading of the series. I hold to my statement that this is a great timewaster series because it is simple, easy to follow and has moments of great entertainment. However, I'm quickly realising that I would probably read many other books before reading this one.
I'll plow through the series, but while the premise is great, I realise that so much more could have been done with it.
Worth the time spent reading, but better left on the shelf if you have more substantial reading to do or need a break from the hard slogging literary novels.
This book in the series was a bit of a pain to read due to numerous types and proofreading errors. When does an MG34 machine gun become a .34 calibre weapon? When your editor and proofreaders either don't know or don't care what the author it talking about! I hate to harp on it, but when you read lots of other books that are much better edited, it gets to be annoying.
In this book, Casca and a couple of friends from his Vietnam days (book to follow) go on a mission for $200,000 to find and rescue the members of a rich Chinese family from the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.
While the story does have some good moments, it was like the author forgot about the subplot with the merchant who notified the Khmer Rouge that they were coming. Casca mentions that someone has to kill him, then it is never mentioned again. As this book weighs in at a disappointing 180 pages, that would have been a great way to finish off the book and give closure to the subplot that was important in the beginning, but is never resolved. Don't start what you won't finish!
I'll go back to my previous reviews in my walk down memory lane with this series. Since I first read it, I have completed a Bachelor and Master of Arts degrees, so they have probably jaded my earlier reading of the series. I hold to my statement that this is a great timewaster series because it is simple, easy to follow and has moments of great entertainment. However, I'm quickly realising that I would probably read many other books before reading this one.
I'll plow through the series, but while the premise is great, I realise that so much more could have been done with it.
Worth the time spent reading, but better left on the shelf if you have more substantial reading to do or need a break from the hard slogging literary novels.
July 5, 2021
Casca has an adventure after the Vietnam War.
The beginning is slow, but there is a good bit of rising action that creates suspense and a nice climax in the last chapters. The reader is left to decide on the relative success of the mission, but I believe that, in general, Casey Romaine met most of his objectives. Other than avoiding the bite of insects, I did not notice that Casca used his superpowers. In this story, he achieves his goals through experience and determination. I liked the short scene in which one of the characters, Phang, encounters a huge cobra. I would've liked that the nemesis, Lon, would have had a more detailed, descriptive end.
The beginning is slow, but there is a good bit of rising action that creates suspense and a nice climax in the last chapters. The reader is left to decide on the relative success of the mission, but I believe that, in general, Casey Romaine met most of his objectives. Other than avoiding the bite of insects, I did not notice that Casca used his superpowers. In this story, he achieves his goals through experience and determination. I liked the short scene in which one of the characters, Phang, encounters a huge cobra. I would've liked that the nemesis, Lon, would have had a more detailed, descriptive end.
February 6, 2020
Sadler sets this installment of the Casca saga in Indochina towards the end of the Vietnam War. Casca has become Casey Romane and has fled the US Army after being grievously wounded, (See Casca #1). He is listed as MIA but serving as a mercenary for a somewhat flexible National Chinese intelligence officer.
May 16, 2021
You would think that these books written in the porn 'stache '70s would be cheesy bad (which is a good thing). Sadler managed to put a ton of pathos into the character of Casca Longinus. I only wished he lived to write more.
March 7, 2024
Read it before to bad the author passed away excellent author
April 29, 2015
So you just a soldier doing your job. You shove a spear tip into the side of this supposed messiah, except he is the real thing. He curses you to wander the earth till his return. Not bad right, immortality and all. Oh but he also curses you to be a soldier forever at war, never to know peace. This is the story of Casca the Roman legionnaire that stabbed Christ. Forever wandering the earth fighting one war after another. Great adventure series. Very recommended
February 14, 2013
Typical of the series, Soldier of Fortune sticks to formula and provides a similar, though better better story than Rambo: First Blood Part II. While I did enjoy the book, it was not one of the best of the series.
September 27, 2015
Not too much to say about this one. It mostly follows the formula, except in this one, what seems like the author's personal experiences *really* come through. And Casca seems a little more dickish than in his first couple of centuries.
February 16, 2016
Action-packed with plenty of twists to keep you interested.
December 21, 2015
Some nice lines, he was a Panzer soldier, and now he is fighting for Israel
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews