This book is the author’s first novel, based on the lives of his father and grandfather. They lived through the end of the 19th century and most of the 20th. Their lives were full of drama, conflict – often with each other – courage, and a desire to make something of their lives. You will read about some of the extremes of human experience. There are jaw-dropping adventures from the Amazon jungle, early aviation, the horrors of submarine warfare, and the world of spying. Tod Peterson, the father, was born in San Francisco in 1885. He lost his mother and ran away from home in 1897, miraculously to join his anthropologist father in the Amazon jungle. His father was killed in a jungle ambush in 1903. Tod became an early aviator, then a mercenary, and ultimately crashed his plane in the UK. He married the nurse who put him back together during his years in hospital. Disabled, he tried to pursue his plan of building a family life in Amazonia, but failed. He later became a key contributor to the Manhattan Project. Tod’s son Scott had an idyllic childhood. But as another world war loomed, his father became increasingly difficult. Scott tried to appease his father by taking on a wartime frontline career in submarines, becoming the youngest submarine commander when only 23. The continuing tension between father and son is a key theme in the book. Scott’s deteriorating mental condition was compounded by post-war stress, spying in Poland. While there, his younger son was killed in an “accident”, and Scott only just escaped with his own life. He then somehow managed to pursue a business career, which was almost as dangerous, in countries he visited like Colombia and Iran. Finally, he wrote and published nine successful novels. What the two men’s wives gave to their husbands shines through the book. Tod would not have survived without his wife Mary’s physical and mental support. Marcella gave meaning to Scott’s life as he struggled with his demons. He took his own life not long after she died. You have to ask why there is so much suffering from often completely pointless and devastating conflict, which continues to this day.
