Redcap [Paperback]

Brian Callison (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

A new title from this bestselling author set in Cyprus and Germany - Cyprus, 1957. Bill Walker is a veteran Royal Military Police staff sergeant something of a legend within the Corps, albeit a tarnished one. Major Steadman is a murderous psychopath who has sworn to kill him. Walker has no hard evidence, despite Steadmans killing of an unarmed child. But when a further atrocity occurs, Walker can no longer turn a blind eye . . .

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Popular British author Callison (The Judas Ship) is unlikely to attract much of an American following with this unpleasant military thriller that's heavy on gore but light on suspense. In 1957, Royal Military Police Sgt. Bill Walker is stationed in Cyprus, where the British forces are under fire from local terrorists. After narrowly evading death from an attack that claimed the life of a brother NCO, Walker stumbles across a war crime committed by his superior, Major Steadman—the execution of a young child whom the major claimed was a hostile. Later, the action shifts forward a decade to Germany, where more brutalities afford Walker the chance to try to bring Steadman to justice. Awkward prose, an anticlimactic denouement and Walker's levity in the face of horrific violence limit this one's appeal. (Nov.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Bill Walker is a staff sergeant in the Royal Military Police, a Redcap. After a patrol turns deadly, Walker, trying to sort out how his team could possibly have been ambushed, discovers that his commanding officer, Major Steadman, may be a little . . . well, unbalanced. At its heart, Callison's novel dramatizes a protracted duel between Walker, a good man, and Steadman, a sadistic psychopath. Spanning a decade (late 1950s to late 1960s), the story is epic in scale but, considering its subject matter, written with a surprisingly light touch. Callison packs the tale with the kind of vivid detail that keeps us flipping the pages. And Walker, who narrates, has an offbeat sense of humor ("I'm ruggedly handsome, too, by the way. As well as shameless about telling lies when not under oath"), and his self-deprecating wit often defuses moments that could have gone way over the dramatic top. An out-of-the-ordinary and very effective thriller. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Severn House Publishers (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0727891790
• ISBN-13: 978-0727891792
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,687,616 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Callison is the author of 22 best-sellers published by HarperCollins, Severn House, Futura, and Ostara. His novels have been translated into over a dozen languages including Japanese, Polish, Icelandic and Finnish. They have been printed in Braille, released as audio books, issued in large print editions and are used as creative writing references by several international learning institutions.

A former Merchant Navy officer sailing in cargo liners to Australia and the Far East, Callison subsequently worked in commerce before becoming a full-time author. Following service with the 51st Highland Division Provost Company (TA), Royal Military Police, he returned to his seafaring roots to maintain an active 35-year connection with ships as a Naval Control of Shipping Officer in the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service.

More recently he completed a three-year tenure at the University of Dundee as a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund. His latest title to be reissued in print is 'A Flock Of Ships' (Ostara Publishers 2011: also available on Amazon Kindle). On first publication of that now-classic work, Alistair McLean wrote, "The best war story I have ever read. No qualifications, no reservations, no exceptions as to type and time: it's the best. Makes 'All Quiet On The Western Front' look like one of the lesser works of Enid Blyton".

He continues to help new writers become published writers (www.writermentoring.co.uk). 'Hopefully putting something back into a trade that has been good to me.' Writing: guiding aspiring novelists: teasing out the very essence of professionally-competent authorship is what he excels at, and he submits a portfolio comprising some two million published words as evidence.

'A Ship is Dying' is his second title to be published in electronic format. A further 17 Callison titles are scheduled for release as Kindle eBooks during the winter/ spring period 2011/2012.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Salty Language and gripping story, February 14, 2007

By 

Mr. Stephen Kennedy "skenn1701a" (Doha, Qatar) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Redcap (Hardcover)

The joy of Brian Callison books, is the feeling you get of reading about real characters and real reactions, with real language. This book is no exception.

The story is in two parts, revolving around Staff Sergeant Walker (a redcap, which is a military policeman) and his encounters with the unhinged Major Steadman - the Amazon synopsis sums it up well.

It is the writing which sets Callison apart - Walker speaks (and thinks) in an authentic colloquial style, even interrupting his own thoughts. There is humour, of the black and dry kind, and the action scenes are gripping and breathless, with no detail unspared when things get gory. However, behind the façade of salty guy-next-door language, is a well structured story which is all about characters and their evolution. The final confrontation is virtually all verbal and yet is one of the most gripping endings in recent memory.

Modern day thriller writers could learn a lot from Callison, who imbues hard-bitten characters with warmth, callousness, fear and other emotions, in much more real proportions that heroes are normally imbued with.

Regular readers of Callison will not be disappointed - this is better than his last couple of books. New readers will enjoy I am sure, but it is an odd introduction to an author who almost always sets his stories at sea. Buy it and read it - but for new readers I suggest starting with `A Flock of Ships' and `The Sextant', both modern day descriptive classics of war at sea.