3 out of 4 stars
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Time of Death by Frank A. Perdue is a mystery thriller set around the time of World War II. Private Alex O'Bannion, US Marine Corps, goes missing in action on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942. No one from his unit is able to find any trace of him in the dense jungle. After a time of grieving, Alex's wife Emily has him declared officially dead and marries his twin brother, Alan, whom she already had feelings for. Ten years later, in 1952, Alex suddenly shows up at the apartment of Mary Abrams, claiming it belongs to his family. He is still wearing his marine uniform and carrying his rifle. The last thing he remembers is being in the jungle of Guadalcanal. As far as he knows, it is still 1942...
Perdue's writing style is neat and easy to read, with no over-long sentences. I enjoyed this relatively simple style, with the story told in a straightforward way, which helped me to get through the book quickly. The story itself is addictive, as we follow along with Alex, wondering - as he is - just what happened for him to disappear from the jungle on Guadalcanal and reappear ten years in the future back in America. Subplots aside, this central mystery drives the narrative, and I found myself reading compulsively toward the conclusion in the hope of finally solving the puzzle.
The budding romance between Alex and Mary is handled with an endearing old-fashioned tenderness. Their feelings for each other are explored from each of their viewpoints at different times in the story. Alex's morality shows through nicely with his conflicted feelings about falling for another woman while he is presumably still married, even though he recalls having plenty of problems in his marriage to Emily. The flirtatiousness of seductive beauty Judy Graves from the apartment down the hall adds further spice - and romantic confusion - when her father pays Alex to change her bandages as she recovers from burns to her upper body.
The finale of this book is interesting and unusual. I liked it, but it did shift my perspective on the events I had read about considerably. I would have to reread the book to attempt to answer some questions I was left wondering about. If Perdue's goal was to challenge our perceptions, to really make us think, then he has succeeded. I generally enjoy any story that successfully executes such a marked paradigm shift.
Time of Death does contain several minor errors such as missing commas. Also, the author often uses a full-stop (period) and a capitalised "He" or "She" to attribute dialogue, rather than the correct use of a comma and "he" or "she". For example: "'I know.' She said..." should be "'I know,' she said..." With ten errors in the first fifty pages, I can only award this book 3 out of 4 stars. However, it is a thoroughly entertaining story which would appeal to any fan of mystery. It avoids graphic violence and coarse language, which is a nice change from some other books in this genre.
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Time of Death
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