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Lunch » Tags » Mystery » Reviews » "The Officers' Club"

"The Officers' Club"

1 rating: 3.0

A book

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Tags: Book, Cafe Libri, Fiction, Suspense, Mystery, Crime, see all

Author: Ralph Peters

Genre: mystery and suspense,

Publisher: Forge Books

Date Published: 01-18-2011

1 review about "The Officers' Club"

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"Do NOT salute me! There are snipers...who'd love to grease an officer." Forrest Gump

Feb 18, 2011

by mikedraper
posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Rating:

2nd Lt. Roy Banks is questioned about the murder of Lt. Jessica Lamoreaux. He tells investigators that he doesn't know anything about the killing. Then, the reader learns of events leading up to the murder.

Roy is having an affair with a Captain's wife and is part of a group that likes to party, called "The Officers' Club.'

Vietnam is over and life in the military is comparatively relaxed. Banks pals around with his buddy, Lt. Jeffrey Massetto.

Jessica arrives at a party with another officer. Later in the evening, she approaches Roy and attempts to seduce him. Roy tells her that he's involved with someone else and declines her offer. This seems to motivate Jessica and she continues to pursue Roy as if she had a fixation on him.

Roy doesn't want anything to do with her. He sees that she is manipulative and calculating. She uses other people for her own purposes and proceeds to sleep with most of the people in Roy's cirle of friends.

Later, Roy gets a call from Jerry. Jerry is in terrible trouble in Mexico and needs help. When Roy rescues him, Jerry tells Roy that Jessie set him up.

Was the novel interesting? Yes, in a dark way. It held my attention throughout and described life in a James Ellroy manner, bleak but true to life.

The characters seemed caught up in their own situations and unable to rise above them. This reminded me of the realism movement in literature with Frank Norris and Upton Sinclair. These character's lives weren't heroic, they didn't evoke sympathy but they did depict a slice of life.

I also applaud the author for his sensitive treatment of one character who was one of the early AIDS victims of the 1970s.