Never on These Shores [Hardcover]

Stephen R. Pastore (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 30, 2007

1942: The Nazis have successfully landed in Mexico and have invaded the United States through Texas. The Japanese have conquered western Canada and have captured and occupied most of the West Coast from Seattle to the outskirts of Los Angeles. The Italians have launched a massive amphibious assault from Cuba and have taken control of Florida and the Southeast as far north as Atlanta. New York City and Washington D.C. are fortifying and preparing for the onslaught. American forces are stranded in Europe and Southeast Asia. The homeland is being defended neighborhood to neighborhood by women, the elderly and gay men, all ineligible for military service. The KKK and Right Wing radicals are supporting the invaders helping to establish concentration camps where Blacks and Jews are being transported all over the western U.S. Amid the carnage and brutality of an enemy seeking to destroy everything in its path, the American Spirit is put to its greatest test. Pastore weaves a tale that will not soon be forgotten as this highly imaginative story unfolds. It is an awe-inspiring parable of the true nature of the American people when put to their greatest test.

Editorial Reviews

Review

I was never much of a fan of what if novels although there have been quite a few over the years that were intriguing such as Robert Harris s, Fatherland. Stephen Pastore s book, Never on These Shores, has gone a long way toward changing my mind, however. The premise is that in 1942, Hitler has decided not to invade the Soviet Union and to focus entirely on Great Britain. Clearly, historians have long agreed that if Hitler had made any mistakes, this was the fatal one, at least for the Nazis. Pastore has German forces landing in Mexico and invading the U.S. through Texas, along with the Japanese coming in through Canada to conquer the West Coast and the Italians through Cuba into Florida. Now, if all this seems a bit far-fetched, it might be. But Pastore has you convinced within 20 pages or so that not only could it have happened, it would have happened just the way he says. I found myself unable to stop reading this book not because it is my job to read books, but because I simply could not help myself. There are a lot of characters and the action slingshots from city to city, state to state like a helicopter with a missing blade, bouncing all over the place and taking you with it. But somehow he never leaves the reader behind and it is Mr. Pastore s gift of being a good, perhaps a great, storyteller that keeps you hooked and most importantly caring about his characters. More important than this, he leaves you caring about the good ole USA, something in short supply these days. While it is true that the underdogs of American society, the elderly, women, blacks and gay folk are the heroes, Pastore has no agenda. He pleads no cause other than it is good to be an American and it might even be worth dying for it. I can t remember a recent book that made me care so much about my country. The book leaves you wanting more and I have it on some authority that there is more in the offing. This writer s talents seem abundantly evident and there is some speculation, I imagine, that will come out of this novel that Pastore is headed to fill the shoes of such writers as Herman Wouk and James Michener. I do not make such claims lightly. I state them more like a what if this is the next great novelist on the scene. Aren t I lucky that I read him when no one knew who he was. It is a rare treat, indeed, these days to be excited about a book. I have been so treated. --Losangelesnewtimebookreviews.com

A new maga-thriller is on the scene this summer and it promises to be a block-buster. Stephen Pastore's Never on These Shores is as good a summer book as anyone could want unless they want one longer and it seems this is only the beginning of an epic series of books by this relative newcomer. We searched internet records for the author and it turns out he is a bibliographer so, after some thoughtful analysis, it seems no wonder that the details of the world he creates in this book are so authentic. It is the best "what if" book I've ever read and I've read a bunch. The premise (an Axis invasion of the American homeland in 1942) is so compelling, we are at a loss to tell you why someone has not done it before. This book is one of those page-turners one should not take to the restroom unless you're planning on staying in there all day. And don't read before going to bed, because you'll be up all night. It is THAT good. Admittedly, there are a great many characters and sometimes I felt like I needed a scorecard to keep them all straight, but this book whizbangs all over the place and takes you for the ride of your life. I rarely pass a book on to other reviewers who ordinaily have their hands full, but this one is making the office rounds. It is not great literature, although sometimes you think Pastore verges on greatness, but it is a great read. More, please, Mr. Pastore. More! Jerry VanZandt, Senior Reviewer --Boston Journal News

Winner of the ALDOUS HUXLEY PRIZE for Speculative Fiction, 2007. --literaryawards.org.uk

About the Author

An acclaimed writer and playwright, Stephen Pastore has authored biographies of Thomas Hardy, Sinclair Lewis, Helene Hanff and Stephen Crane. His first novel, Alone in Eden was short-listed for the coveted Clarendon Award. Pastore s most recent play, Coming Back from Lyonnesse, was successfully produced in the United Kingdom in 2003. He was the first American elected to the prestigious Council of Management of the Thomas Hardy Society in the United Kingdom. He is the first cousin of Gregory Corso, deceased, who collaborated with him on his forthcoming book of verse, At the Brink of the World.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Cohort Press (June 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0977719626
• ISBN-13: 978-0977719624
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,141,267 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The Quintessential Lead Zeppelin of Alternative History, June 9, 2008

By 

Major Tom 58 "Majtom58" (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never on These Shores (Hardcover)

The premise of Mr. Pastore's story is neither "bold," "new," nor "exciting." Alternative histories have had a very successful niche market over the past 20 or so years, Harry Turtledove perhaps being the master with his extended series of "what if the Civil War turned out differently" series. Of course, one of the later ones ends up in the science fiction realm, with aliens attacking Earth during the Second Great War. But, if you like Mr. Turtledove's style, and understand what you are getting into, at least you know it will be well developed and written. Occasionally, speculative crosses into the mainstream, with, for instance, Phillip Roth's _The Plot Against America_, which touches a very similar theme--Lindbergh becomes President, and Nazi or Nazi leaning groups gain control of the government. Relocation camps, oppression of minorities, etc., follow.

Mr. Pastore's work is another matter. Poorly proofed and edited, it is stunning in its banality. It might have made a good graphic novel, a la _V for Victory_, in which the images would have supported pared down prose. Paring down the purple prose here would have been a good thing. Pastore's descriptions of his characters' steely attributes appear a parody of Ayn Rand at her very worst, and include little of what made her writing good.

But, I am not as eloquent as others, so I will let this review sink you into the miasma of this Lead Zeppelin of a book:

[...]

June 09, 2008
Never on These Shores

Fc9780977719624_4 An online publicist sent me a copy of Never on These Shores by Stephen Pastore to review on my blog. I accept books for review, but it's always with the following caveats:

1. I can't promise exactly when I will get to the book. I don't want reading to be a chore.

2. I don't promise a good review.

Most of the books to which I would not have given a glowing review fall into the "not my cuppa tea" category. Sometimes I offer these books as giveaways on my blog because I know there are people out there who love the stuff that I don't care for. One woman's junk is another person's treasure!

With apologies to the publicist, I cannot in good faith either:

1. Categorize this book as just "not my cuppa tea."

or

2. Give it away on my blog.

This might just be the worst book I have ever read. The premise definitely piqued my interest. It's May, 1942. The U.S. is being invaded by the Germans and the Japanese on several fronts. It's the alternative history of WWII. I hoped to be shocked and fascinated, like I was when I read The Plot Against America by Philip Roth which detailed the history of the U.S. after Charles Lindbergh defeated Franklin Roosevelt by a landslide in 1940. I'm afraid that Stephen Pastore is no Philip Roth and Cohort Press is no Houghton Mifflin. But I'll get back to that later.

First, let's look at the story. In more talented hands, the story could have been brilliant. The very idea that the U.S. could be invaded and defeated by foreign powers is beyond the comprehension of most Americans. Taking such an alien concept and exploring it, courageously exposing some ugly realities that might have evolved, could have produced a great novel.

Pastore's major error, in my opinion, was to people his novel with too many flat, undeveloped characters in too many places. The novel bounces from place to place without allowing the reader to develop a relationship to the situation or the characters. There is graphic violence that could have enhanced the horrors being described, but the acts of violence take place so matter-of-factly and suddenly that we don't really care because we didn't know the victims well enough to fully experience the tragedy.

I looked at some reviews of Pastore's book and promptly lost faith in the objectivity of book reviews. On the Cohort Press website, a review from "LA Times online" is quoted as follows: "I can't remember a book that made me care so much about my country." A glance at the book jacket and on the editorial reviews on Amazon.com indicates that this quote is not from the LA Times at all, but from "[...]" which doesn't seem to exist as a website. Another review states: "A new maga-thriller is on the scene this summer and it promises to be a block-buster." This review is from the "Boston Journal News" which does not seem to exist except in this Amazon review and on the publisher's website. "Maga-thriller?" - not so much? Other reviews on the book jacket, the publisher's website and Amazon are suspect at best with links to websites that no longer exist and URL's that seem to indicate reviews from a reliable source but do not, in fact, relate to that source at all.

If I am really swept up in a book, I probably would not even notice an inconsistency like this, but it was so typical of what makes this book an insult to the reading public. On page 175, Travis "eyed the growing dark stubble of his beard. He found the tube of shaving cream...and then began the distasteful act of shaving...After a few minutes, his shave complete..." A couple of hours later, on page 191, "Travis rubbed his hand over the stubble of his blond beard." Aaaaarrrrggghhhh!

Now, as for Mr. Pastore's publisher, Cohort Press. As best as I can figure, "cohort" must refer to a friend who is an equally bad and/or sloppy writer. I don't know all the ins and outs of the publishing business, but I assume that somewhere along the way, there should be a multi-step editing process during which errors in spelling, grammar and punctuation are eliminated. Now, I know I'm kind of picky about this stuff, but I'm not talking about subtle points of comma usage. (The comma usage IS atrocious, but see, I'm not talking about that.) I'm talking about glaring errors that could not possibly be overlooked. For example:

"It's hulking mass sat like a pregnant Leviathan..." (I'm not even going to mention the bizarre visual there...apostro-tastrophe!)

"A bunch of us are going into town on passes in a half or so..." (A half minute? Half hour? Half day?...and there's nothing about it that indicates that it might be slang.)

"The man with the cross moved promptly to the front of the church, began to dig a small hole some shovels from one of their pickups, and firmly set the cross into its foundation." (Small hole? Some shovels? Perhaps a "with" might work here?)

"All persons desiring to go to North Carlina, South Caroling and Virginia..." (This tells me that MAYBE there was a cursory spell check which would have recognized the error in the great state of Christmas songs as a word.)

And especially for Leigh who LOVES the misuse of homophones:

"His face taught and tense as he looked down upon her, rocking, rocking." (Can we have a verb here? I don't think his face was "teaching.")

I guess I am naive. I think that if someone's work is published in a book, that means it passed a certain quality test. It doesn't necessarily mean that I am going to like it and I'm OK with that. But publishing a book and putting it out on a bookstore shelf for $[...] should provide at least a minimal assurance to the reader that the volume has been proofread! I am going to be more suspicious of book reviews in the future.

Di

2.0 out of 5 stars Too many typos, October 8, 2010

By 

Bruce of the Endless Mountains (Tunkhannock PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never on These Shores (Hardcover)

This would make for a better read if there wern't so many slopy "typos". It appears this is from a self published, vanity press, not a major publisher, and apparently there is no "Victor Hugo Award", all that being said, this plot is an interesting concept, at times skillfuly rendered, at others almost unreadable. If a friend has a copy borrow it and try it for yourself. An eventual rewrite might render a first class "what if" literary scenario.

5.0 out of 5 stars leaves us wanting -- no craving --, July 1, 2007

By 

Reader Views "Reviews, by readers, for readers" (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Never on These Shores (Hardcover)

Reviewed by John Cartwright for Reader Views (5/07)

"Never on These Shores" by Stephen R. Pastore is one of those rare novels that come along these days that readers will find difficult to put down, either literally or figuratively. It has a "what if" premise that many of us thought about in history class: what if the Germans, Japanese and Italians invaded the U.S.? In the smugness of the Cold War, we were taught that such an invasion was impossible because the Axis Powers would have no "soft spot" to attack. Well, Pastore has solved this problem and fortunately we won before his idea got into the wrong hands. The Japanese land in Canada which has surrendered along with France and Britain, the Germans have allied themselves with Mexico (by force) and the Italians are in Cuba, all en masse. And all this happens before page 1!

If anyone can start this book and put it down, they're a better man or woman "than I am Gunga Din." This book is no soporific for insomniacs. In the tradition of such books as "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance," the action spans the American continent where Pastore has left the meek and humble (women, old men and gays and blacks) to defend the homeland against the pernicious onslaught of the Nazis and their allies. The American forces are stranded overseas after Hitler decides not to invade Russia and Great Britain falls. This is more than plausible; it was only a hair's breath away and if you don't believe it, read this book. Meager attempts at WWII "what ifs" have been written before, most notably "Harris's Fatherland," but nothing so grand in scope and so eminently believable. Pastore somehow manages to take the reader not only inside the fear-filled residences of New York City and Miami Beach apartments, but into the cotton fields of Texas and the gay bars of San Francisco. The KKK becomes a willing collaborator with the Nazis led by Rommel and blacks and Jews are rounded up and sent to concentration camps. I don't want to discuss any more of the plot for fear of giving too much away, but there is so much good writing in this book that one could spend hours talking about it at cocktail parties, cafes, and book clubs. What an immense joy it is to see such a book emerge from the pink dye-covered novels that are the current flood of sappy fiction inundating the shelves of American bookstores. And if HBO or some other movie factory does not pick this book up to turn into a silver screen gem, well then producers need to put their comic books down and take a long vacation. Rarely have I read a book where I care so much about the characters and see them not as ghosts inhabiting the page but real people that might actually be alive somewhere. This is the greatest tribute a reader can give to the author's art.

Don't think this novel is only action and adventure, either. There are moments of true great writing in the way Hemingway once said that he would be content to "write one true sentence." Much of this book will leave you weeping, occasionally laughing but always wondering, "What would I do?" It becomes a real journey of the soul and one cannot ignore the truths that emerge in light of the current history of our great nation when we seem to have lost our way. Pastore has offered up a real lesson in patriotism and genuine American values that have been shoved under the expensive rug of the oval office all too often.

There is no doubt that there will be more "Never on These Shores" volumes; thankfully Pastore leaves us wanting -- no craving -- the continuation of this story. I would write him a letter myself and beg, but critics are supposed to be above that, right? I wonder if the publisher will forward my plea....

Received book free of charge.