Amok [Mass Market Paperback]

George Fox (Author)

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback
• Publisher: Fawcett (October 12, 1980)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0449239950
• ISBN-13: 978-0449239957
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 3.6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,823,694 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, March 10, 2009

By 

Chem (Charlotte NC, USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Amok (Mass Market Paperback)

I first read this book when it came out in hardback and I was working after school in my local public library. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. I also read it a couple of times in the 80s, after I bought the paperback when they came out. Then I lost my copy.

Something made me look for another copy recently, and I find it's lost little with age.

The centerpiece of the plot - a Japanese holdout soldier named Kurusu - was probably inspired by a couple of discoveries of Japanese holdouts in the 70s. The most famous was a Lieutenant Onoda, found in the Philipines.

I'm not certain how to classify the book - historical fiction, action/adventure, etc - and it touches on several topics without going overboard, to its credit. These topics include the politics of a country dealing with having been a former colony, the former colonial settlers (in this case, American landowning farmers) who remained behind after independence, culture clashes (Japanese bushido juxtaposed with the tight American expatriate community and juxtaposed with the local Filipino culture, etc etc - you'll figure it out:)....

Its easy to view the book as a shallow 70s work (and a discerning reader will see some of that in the style; it has some elements of old chauvanism and "macho" mentality) but its main theme seems to be one of a search for belonging: outcast soldier Kurusu found it as a Japanese Kempentai warrant officer and maintained it while terroizing the locals for 30+ years as a holdout, American Mike Brandon's search for his place in life before he returned to his "home" (the Philipines), the American community's desperate charade of colonial power after the Philipines became independent, Capt Shimura's coming to terms with his wartime activities when he comes to search for Kurusu....etc etc. But none of this gets too deep - the action flows along and it all balances. There is also a minor romantic sub plot.

Great book in my little opinion. Try it !
(ps - a bit of knowledge of the Pacific theater of WW2 and Japanese culture helps the understanding. But its not required).

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book, February 11, 2003

By 

Joe Villicano (Clovis, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amok (Mass Market Paperback)

I really enjoyed this book from beginning to end. I enjoyed the dark side of this book as it showed this soldier just trying to survive. This is excellent reading if you have the imagination. Anyone giving this book negative reviews cannot appreciate fiction.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent, but preachy, April 15, 2003

By 

"ghiddyz2" (akron, ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Amok (Mass Market Paperback)

Good book, very well written. My problem with this book is, while the plot and characters are good, the novel itself is a bit preachy and the last half comes off as one great big message about the evils of war and tyranny and blah blah blah blah. A shame too, because the first third of this book had so much promise.