Review by FictionLover -- The Warramunga's War

[FictionLover]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Warramunga's War" by Greg Kater.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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The Warramunga’s War written by Greg Kater is a novel of historical fiction set in World War II. Fellow Australians Lieutenant James Monroe and Corporal Jack O’Brien meet up in Syria fighting the Vichy French. Lieutenant Monroe, known as Jamie, gets pinned down by gunfire, and Corporal O’Brien, known as Jacko, comes to his rescue. Jacko, who is half Aborigine, shows some extraordinary skills which he claims are part of his mystical Warramunga heritage. When the mission in Syria is over, a grateful Jamie chooses Jacko to be part of the team who will be sent to Cairo to work with the British army’s intelligence services.

While in Cairo, Jamie’s team works to uncover and arrest German operatives. To more effectively spy on the Germans, they recruit local women, including belly dancers and cabaret singers. During their time there, they befriend foreigners and locals and become involved in a local murder investigation.

The Warramunga’s War is an enjoyable book with many colorful and fascinating details. Like any good World War II story, there are hard-drinking soldiers, sexy but tough-as-nails women, men in disguises, foreign accents, and romance. Mr. Kater does a good job of weaving his tale of military intrigue with his other storylines, including just enough danger, romance, and French phrases to keep you interested.

I think that people who like military fiction will really enjoy his depiction of Cairo and its importance to the Allied war effort. The author did a great job with the international feel of the city, giving us various characters from around the globe. Later in the book, he does justice to the characters and accents of the Australian outback.

I enjoyed the novel. Overall, the pacing was adequate, but I felt it could be improved by cutting extraneous and repetitious details. For example, once the characters and their routines have been established, it’s not necessary to constantly mention every detail of their day. In Cairo, so many scenes began with a meal and went on to a meeting that featured another meal. Jamie’s team drinks more tea than Lisbeth Salander drinks coffee in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. And that’s a lotta coffee.

Some of the many meetings with the female operatives could have been described in a few sentences of short, quick dialog instead of a full chapter dedicated to another lunch at a public cafe. Frankly, I wondered why spies would have so many meetings with their operatives out in public.

In my opinion, The Warramunga’s War is a good book that will appeal to many people. Readers of historical fiction will enjoy it. Readers of spy novels will be happy, and those who enjoy stories of wartime bromances will fall in love with Jamie and Jacko.

The book was well edited and formatted, but I did find a few typos which were not very distracting.

I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars.

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The Warramunga's War
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[jcoad]

I agree with you the Cairo part was ok but nothing special. I felt the big "conclusion" to the spy story could have had a little more drama than the way it played out. The action of the first chapter was not seen again until the end of the book. I liked the part in Australia. I think the author felt more comfortable writing about Australia and the characters and story were better. Although, you did hear quite a bit about their meals in Australia as well.

[FictionLover]

I agree with you the Cairo part was ok but nothing special. I felt the big "conclusion" to the spy story could have had a little more drama than the way it played out. The action of the first chapter was not seen again until the end of the book. I liked the part in Australia. I think the author felt more comfortable writing about Australia and the characters and story were better. Although, you did hear quite a bit about their meals in Australia as well.

Yes, eating did seem to be a very popular topic with the author.

I liked the ending in Australia a lot, too. It had much more of an action/adventure feel than a lot of what happened in Cairo. He could have actually made 2 different books out of the plots. Of course, the going in and out of all the different villages, and their 'watering holes', for information, got a little bit old.

But I think it was much easier to read than some other novels.

Thanks for the comment

[jcoad]

I see the second book is available to review. I don't think I'm going to read it but curious if it was on your list?

[Helen_Combe]

This sounds like a very interesting book. I know very little about the war in Africa, so it’s probably educational too. Great review.

[FictionLover]

This sounds like a very interesting book. I know very little about the war in Africa, so it’s probably educational too. Great review.

Thanks for you comment.

I knew very little also. My husband loves war movies, the little I do know about Rommel comes from the movie Patton. This gave me a little bit more understanding.

[FictionLover]

I see the second book is available to review. I don't think I'm going to read it but curious if it was on your list?

I do have it because it was available as .pdf for BOTD. I actually liked the beginning even more than for this one, so I am going to read it despite the fact that it deals with child trafficking. I just don't have time right now.

[Kajori Sheryl Paul]

I love stories revolving around World War II. I think this book can teach a lot about the war in Africa.

Thank you for the great review.

[FictionLover]

I love stories revolving around World War II. I think this book can teach a lot about the war in Africa.

Thank you for the great review.

Thanks for the comment.

A lot of people seem to enjoy this novel, I hope you do, too.