2 out of 4 stars
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A Police Action is apparently the official name given to the Vietnam War by American officials, in an attempt to down-play it and cater to the prevailing political climate of the time. This book by AA Freda doesn’t do it much justice either. Having read other books on this controversial war and having had a few conversations with its veterans, I believe the author could have done more research and provided a better depth and insight to the background of this story to make it more believable.
Specialist Fourth Class James Coppi is a wheeler-dealer college drop-out who joined the US Army for a two-year term, and is being trained to serve in Vietnam. Shortly before being deployed, Coppi meets a girl, Sam, at a dance hall for a one-night stand. On learning that she is already pregnant- the result of a previous one-night stand- he feels sorry for her and arranges for her to terminate the pregnancy at an illegal clinic. He also provides her with a rented house and a bank account to fall back on while he is away. Coppi promises to return to live with her after his discharge from the army, and off he goes to war.
Being an accomplished gambler, shyster and loan-shark, Coppi takes every opportunity to make ‘extra income’ which he wires home to his mother for safe-keeping. These activities might be making him rich, but they also make him quite unpopular with some of his fellow servicemen. However, it seems that no matter what trouble he finds himself in, Coppi has a way of talking his way through it and turning it to his advantage. He appears to have no scruples about who he rips off, or how he does it, which is in jarring contrast to his unwarranted kindnesses to Sam.
Of the war itself, or the country in which it takes place, little is said. The descriptive passages generally revolve around how Coppi personally experiences things and they provide insufficient situational ambience to engage the reader. Very little of the politics or public opinion surrounding the war was explored, and the prominent figures that one might expect to get a mention were all but ignored. The author writes in the present tense which should make the story seem more ‘here and now’, but I feel it doesn’t really work for a book set around fifty years ago. The dialogue style is probably fairly true to the era, but is inconsistent in delivery. In one situation, a character talks in short, simplistic sentences, but in the next scene the same character waxes lyrical for two or more paragraphs in the manner of a lecture.
I felt the character development could use more work to give them depth and interest. I found them shallow and lacking emotional integrity and maturity. Sam, the runaway daughter of a Christian minister, didn’t give much thought to taking a stranger home from the dance hall, nor to ending her pregnancy. Coppi was both a man of no scruples and one with ideals so high that he couldn’t live up to them to his own satisfaction. The comrades-under-fire relationships one would expect to find between the servicemen played a very superficial role in the story line.
In view of the fact that I did not really enjoy reading this book, and that the conclusion is predictable and trite, I give it 2 out of 4 stars. The editing is quite acceptable with only three errors detected, so I would add another half-star if that were possible. I’m not sure who to recommend this book for, as it lacks the punch required by war-story enthusiasts, and even the history side of it is sparse. It does contain some expletives in the dialogue as you would expect in a military environment, but I did not find it overly offensive. I doubt it would appeal to children or even young adults as the Vietnam War is probably not a subject that would hold their interest for long. I feel a lot more could be done to honour and respect all the servicemen and women who served in this terrible conflict, and I feel the author glosses over a number of issues and situations that are really relevant and would make the story more memorable.
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A Police Action
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Lack of thorough research on such a serious subject points to the author's half-hearted attempt to write this story. I am going to skip this one.
