Customer Reviews

Beyond Peleliu

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
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"Beyond Peleliu" is a wonderful novel, rich in detail, with characters you really feel you know. It is not a typical "lawyer book." The story, which covers three generations, skillfully melds war, medicine, magic, and complex relationships with a dramatic courtroom story. Peter Baird is a great storyteller who kept me turning the pages as fast as I could. When I finished the book, I couldn't stop thinking about it.

Beyond Peleliu's characters are rich, they are vibrant, they are rounded and they are terribly flawed. In other words, they are real. The story centers on a father and a son who both measure themselves by their professional success and who both "succeed" in neglecting and hurting those who they love, and who they need, the most. We watch these characters' lives come full circle as the helpless little boy and the all-powerful father reverse roles in a climax that is both stunning and heart-wrenching. As I read the book, I was exhilerated by the characters' successes, crushed by their tragedies, angered by their self-inflicted mistakes and always hopeful for their resurections. But, above all else, I cared about them and I needed--really needed--to know what was going to happen to them. The story, and the characters, were ever-present in my thoughts long after I read the last page. This is a great book.

If you are looking for an intelligently written novel that is both riveting and insightful, you should read Beyond Peleliu. The author, Peter Baird, explores many facets of human behavior and misbehavior primarily through the lives of a physician and his son, who does not follow in his father's footsteps but becomes a wealthy trial lawyer. The book is great on two levels. First, it is a great story. For me, that's the most important requirement for a good novel. Second, it raises some profound issues about human behavior. For example, why do people with so much talent and potential do things that are so self destructive? Beyond Peleliu is a provocative, well-written book that features characters that all of us can relate to. I highly recommend it.

Wow! I am at a near loss for words. I received Beyond Peleliu 2 days ago from Amazon and finished it last night. I must say that I had a hard time sleeping after finishing the book. Obviously, the book touched me in a very meaningful way, as I'm sure it has other readers, based on the reviews.

Reading this book is a life-affirming event. The pain endured by the McQuades is so genuine it drew tears from the eyes of this (usually) unsentimental reader. And if you happen to be a lawyer (or fan of quality legal story-telling) the chapters dealing with David McQuade's trial and aftermath overwhelm with authenticity and genuine drama.

In less capable hands this multi-generational saga could have ballooned into a 500-700 page "epic." But Baird's writing is so concise and powerful, one feels that each word was chosen with care.

In short, this is a masterful novel. That it is a "first" is all the more astounding. One can only hope that Peter Baird will put his massive talent to use on another novel. If you don't buy another book this year, buy Beyond Peleliu.

Being the daughter of the Author allows certain priviledges. One of which is that I had the pleasure of reading the "official" beginnings of this novel. I remember receiving a bulky envelope in the mail, containing a loose leaf stack of type written pages, which was Peter's finished manuscript. I read it--none stop--beginning to end. I was impressed by the depth of the story. I could immediately envision this novel being published, being picked up and made into a screne play... I knew this was a story worth knowing and that many others would feel just as I did (even though they weren't related!).

Months past... and I hear that Peter has made some changes to the novel, and that it is going to be published, and that it has a different title... and my response to this was "I need to read it again!". So, I did... I received another bulky envelope--this time with a bound stack of pages inside--and I read the first page (which was different) and I got chills. This first page transformed the novel into something even more real, more personal, more moving than it was before. I continued on reading the book (after calling Peter and telling him my reaction and impressions about the first page)... and I was swept into the world of the McQuades once more... affectionately listening and watching (reading) the story unfold, from a more personal viewpoint....

It's been ann amazing experience... witnessing the process of manuscript to publishing. But an even more amazing experience is in the reading and absorbing the story of the McQuades... because all of us have the effects of war running through our families---from generations ago and through those to come.
This novel imparts an awareness of this fact... and so it is that this story becomes personal to all who read.

Beyond Peleliu by Peter Baird (Ravenhawk Books-June 2006) is a powerful book that follows the McQuade family through the years since World War II to the present. Though Tom, who served as the prime story teller through the eyes of his son, faced a lot of adversity from early in his life, he demonstrated that not only could he overcome the adversity but that it helped shape him. Helped him to be the person he wanted to become. We saw his daily challenges--from questioning the safety of vaccines to dealing with loss. And right from the title you see the effects of the War on the family--it's not just Peleliu, it goes beyond that. It's their life.


However this story was not just Tom's tale. It showed how the experiences of one person can filter through and have ramifications for their family and friends for generations to come. At the same time we were able to see David's curiosity as he learnt more about his father's life--what made his father the man he was. This was key in light of his father's current struggles--the dementia might have made it hard for David to see his father as this man who went through and saw so much. It may have helped David to see that he wasn't as different from his father as he might seem. When he got the call from Dr. Roberts, he knew something was up but he accepted it in a realistic way--he needed to do things on his own time. He couldn't rush but at the same time, he knew he didn't have forever.


The writing was tight and that served this story well--it allowed us to `hear' each story as a separate section of the elder McQuade's life, which was what I believe the author intended. Each chapter could have stood alone as a short story of what Tom had gone through, however, this didn't keep the stories from being viewed as parts of one long life story. It was easy to see how these stories built upon one another and taught the family in a way no school book ever could.

By the time I finished the book, just a short time after I'd started it, I felt as if I knew the McQuade family.

Beyond Peleliu is an amazing and courageous first novel. The action works, the storyline works, and the characters are real people. Using email for dialogue is satisfyingly contemporary and an accurate representation of how no place to hide our lives have become with laptops, cell phones, and perpetual multi-tasking. Anyone who is an only child will certainly relate to David's unrelenting, driven, and sometimes gut wrenching need to prove himself over and over again until the reason is lost and the adult is left with an unquenchable need to self-validate. The long reaching, multi-generational effects of war as portrayed in this novel are thought provoking as well. And yet all of this is not why I call this novel amazing and courageous. The author has bravely put both feet and obviously much heart into one of society's greatest ethical dilemmas - what is the humane response to the terror and devastating loss of Alzheimer's and similar diseases. While we pat ourselves on the back because we have one more new memory drug, the quality of countless lives is destroyed! Elemental human dignity is wiped out! Family members are left with nightmarish memories and cruel thoughts about their own aging process. Peter Baird puts this issue right out on the table and the result is not an easy read, but a disquieting statement that will stay with you long after you close this book for the last time.

This was a good read. It was fast moving and had good character development. The plot held my attention, and the book was a real "stay up late to finish" book.

I am not related to the author.

There has been a lot written recently about "the Greatest Generation," who sacrificed and fought and died to keep the world free half a century ago during World War II. Left untold is the cost that was borne by that Generation's families, and the price in human terms for those sacrifices. One of the most intense and horrific episodes of that war, (macabrely known as "Operation Stalemate,") yet one barely known, was the week in 1944 when American Marines landed on the small Pacific island of Peleliu, thought to be abandoned by the Japanese army. Tragically, it was a trap - the Japanese had actually hidden inside a maze of caves on the island, and the landing cost many American lives. The famous drawing of the `thousand-mile stare' of a battle-stunned GI was inspired by the psychological trauma suffered by those brave Americans.

In Beyond Peleliu, author Peter Baird has peeled away the wrapping-paper of what that campaign meant to those who were there, as well as to their loved ones and their legacies. Baird's story is compelling, and it speaks especially to practicing lawyers in evoking their deep, common, vivid nightmares.

Today's lawyer lives and works in a world that is constantly delivering mixed messages. The costs of attending law school are huge, so the financial pressure on new graduates is enormous and the need to earn enough for debt service is overwhelming. To be a super lawyer (a lofty sounding designation, perhaps, but one that actually carries no more cachet than the message "You May Already Be a Winner" from sweepstakes companies) requires long hours, nights and weekends. Where does the time come from? Take a guess.

Everyone - even lawyers - wants and needs a personal life. Some lawyers get married, some have long-term significant others and some have even gone so far as to breed. As time-management consultants remind us constantly, everyone gets the same 24 hours every day; the only discretion is how to spend them. When the demands for billable hours escalate, or the client insists that the project be done today, or the Judge won't grant a stipulation for a continuance, every lawyer is left with a decision to make: what can be cut from the schedule? How can we know what we are giving up, and what we are gaining from participating in this Moebius strip existence? Baird has created a work that permits the reader to contemplate these essential questions; indeed, the book virtually forces lawyer-readers to confront aspects of themselves that most would prefer to ignore, if not deny.

Weaving together a family's story from the Depression era to the present, Baird draws heavily on psychology, family dynamics and the nature of friendship. In Book One, we follow the father through his young adulthood, culminating in a most promising medical education, but veering into the horror that was the ground war in the South Pacific. His ordeal under fire scars him physically and mentally; both will cause reverberations for years to come. Standing alone, the father's story is a compelling one but the author examines the reverberations as well - particularly how they effect his son, who grows up to be a trial lawyer.

In Book Two, Baird tells the son's story, and this novel rises above the level of a `good read' and becomes important. The son is a successful litigator at a big firm, with a huge trial fast approaching. As with so many such individuals, these professional successes have come at significant personal costs; boom-and-bust relationships, ex-spouses and children who are now manifesting the symptoms of having had an absentee father. The trial lawyer who has encountered tough cases, tough clients and tough trials while trying to have a balance in his or her life will recognize these dilemmas. On top of them, the son receives word that his father - living in a geriatric center in Utah - is slipping into Alzheimer's, and needs to see him, whether he likes it or not. Any reader who has wrestled with the competing demands of family and career will find the story gripping and, perhaps, too close for comfort.

Equally penetrating is the portrayal of the son's relation with his kids. Seeing our parents as people like us - with strengths and weaknesses, with abilities and shortcomings, rather than omnipotent/omniscient/monstrosities - is a shock, as well as riddled with its own emotional fault lines. By tracing the story of the father through to the stories of the father's grandchildren, with all their intervening mishugas, the novel demonstrates how connected generations are, even though each may be oblivious to those ties that bind. While the writing is infected with banal clichés and stereotypes, and while some of his dialog is risible, the story told by Beyond Peleliu is perceptive, penetrating and haunting. Peter Baird has crafted a compelling story that is also a superb vehicle for examining the hardest questions, and considering their consequences. That he preserves the legitimacy, ambiguity and complexity of wide ranges of viewpoints is a tribute to his book and his confidence in the reader.

I had planned to read Peter Baird's novel for an hour or two yesterday.........I ended up finishing the book during the wee hours of this morning. I could not put it down!! Not many writers can describe the scars of war that are passed down through generations with such insight and power. I am not usually a person that reads "war" books. Actually, the cover is what caught my attention, but after reading the first page I was really hooked. The writer obviously has inside information on the consequences and internal conflicts the next generations face and must resolve themselves. Beyond Peleleu is a story that must be read........especially due to this ugly cruel war we are now in in Bagdad.