1942: A Novel by Robert Conroy (English) Paperback Book

Description: 1942 by Robert Conroy Japan invades and conquers Hawaii after the attack on Pearl Harbor, in the most provocative alternate history novel yet from the author of "1901, 1862," and "1945." FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description Following the success of 1945, 1901 and 1862, Robert Conroy jumps to the beginning of World War II in the alternative history novel 1942, where Japanese Admiral Nagumo completely destroys Pearl Harbor and invades and conquers the islands.December 7 is "the date which will live in infamy." But now Japan is hatching another, far greater plan to bring America to its knees. . . .The Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor was a resounding success-except for one detail- a second bombing mission, to destroy crucial oil storage facilities, was aborted that day. Now, in this gripping and stunning work of alternate history, Robert Conroy reimagines December 7, 1941, to include the attack the Japanese didnt launch, and what follows is a thrilling tale of war, resistance, sacrifice, and courage. For when Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto sees how badly the United States has been ravaged in a two-pronged strike, he devises another, more daring proposal- an all-out invasion of Hawaii to put a stranglehold on the American Pacific Fleet.Yamamotos strategy works brilliantly-at first. But a handful of American soldiers and a determined civilian resistance fight back in the face of cruelty unknown in Western warfare. Stateside, a counterassault is planned-and the pioneering MIT-trained aviator Colonel Jimmy Doolittle is given a near-impossible mission with a fleet of seaplanes jury-rigged into bombers. From spies to ordinary heroes and those caught between two cultures at war, this is the epic saga of the Battle of Hawaii-the way it very nearly was. . . . Author Biography Robert Conroywas a business and economic history teacher who lived in Detroit. His alternate-history novels include 1901, 1862, 1945, 1942, and Red Inferno- 1945. He died in 2014. Review "A significant writer of alternate history turns here to the popular topic of Pearl Harbor, producing what is arguably his best book . . . Lots of vivid action scenes from start to finish . . . Enjoy this rousing historical action tale."– Booklist"Engaging . . . Fans of Tom Clancy and Agent Jack Bauer should find a lot to like here."–Publishers Weekly"A high-explosive what-if, with full-blooded characters."–John Birmingham, author of Without Warning Review Quote "Engaging . . . Fans of Tom Clancy and Agent Jack Bauer should find a lot to like here." Publishers Weekly "A high-explosive what-if, with full-blooded characters." John Birmingham, author ofWithout Warning Excerpt from Book Chapter 1 The day threatened to be pleasantly uneventful for U.S. Army Captain Jake Novacek as he dressed and got ready for another Sunday in paradise. After a hard weeks work, he thought he might go to Waikiki, lie in the sun, and stare at the attractive young women in their bathing suits. His only concern was that he still ached from Saturdays Army-Navy touch football game with other officers. They were ex-athletes like himself, but unfortunately, they were several years younger than Jakes thirty-six and had nearly run him into the ground. Jake was larger than most at just under six feet and almost two hundred pounds, which somewhat compensated for the age disparity when he managed to catch up with one of the young navy pups. It may have been touch football, but some of the touches were damned hard. Jake grimaced from a stiffness in his shoulder as he finished shaving. He was in his overnight quarters at Hickam Fields officers club instead of the small apartment he had in Honolulu, and admitted he had no one but himself to blame for the situation. But then he grinned. Touch football or not, it was fun to knock a sailor-boy officer on his ass every now and then. He checked his thick black mustache--which pushed the limits permitted by the army--and trimmed a couple of errant hairs. Jake had just put on his trousers and was deciding whether to eat breakfast in town or at the officers club when he thought he heard thunder. At first, he ignored it, but it was sunny out; why the thunder? As he pondered this, the sounds got closer. "Oh, shit," he muttered. Somebody was going to get in a whole lot of trouble for scheduling gunnery practice on a Sunday morning in December. Then he was on the floor and gasping for breath while his ears rang from the shock of an explosion. His small room was full of dust, and something cut his arm. Jake got up and ran down the stairs and outside, where other officers were gathering, shock and disbelief on their faces. "What the hells going on?" Jake yelled, and no one answered. Had some asshole dropped a bomb or plunked a shell down on the wrong spot? He felt a twinge of sorrow for the poor bastard. Then a plane flew overhead, and he saw the rising sun on its wing. "Japs!" someone yelled. "Were being attacked by the Japs!" Another bomb landed nearby, and he felt the concussion. Jake ran in the general direction of the airfield, dreading what he would see when he got there. He knew that the planes on the ground were vulnerable. Nobody was prepared for an attack. He arrived just in time to see a Jap plane peeling off from a strafing run. It passed over his head by no more than a hundred feet, and he saw the pilots face. It looked like the monkey-faced bastard was grinning. Jake wrenched his eyes back to the runways, where so many planes had been parked nearly wingtip to wingtip in anticipation of a saboteurs attempt to sabotage them, which General Short feared in these tense times. Jake had said it was a bad idea, and now, as he watched them burn and explode by the dozens, he knew he had been vindicated and hated the fact. Across the runway, a pair of 37 mm antiaircraft guns pointed uselessly at the sky while their crews watched the destruction. Angered, he ran across the field to the guns, dropping to the ground when another Jap plane streaked overhead. He comforted himself with the thought that a single man foolish enough to dash across a runway wasnt much of a target for a Jap in an airplane. He reached the guns, where a sergeant saluted him quickly. "Sergeant, who are you and why the hell arent you shooting at them?" Jake yelled, his voice shaking in anger. The sergeant shrugged in utter disgust. "Im Sergeant Steinmetz and Ive got no ammo and no one will give me any." He pointed to a storage shed. "Our ammos in there, and the asshole in charge will only give it to officers. I guess he thinks its his and not the armys." "Then where is your officer?" "Sir, I have absolutely no idea where Lieutenant Simpkins is." The look on Sergeant Steinmetzs face told Jake that Simpkins was not sorely missed. It occurred to both men that the Japanese attack had stopped, and there was a dreadful silence punctuated by periodic explosions and the distant wail of sirens. Jake wiped a dirty handkerchief across his sweaty brow and then over his close-cut dark hair as he turned and looked out over the ocean. From where he stood, the sea to the south looked marvelously tranquil, even normal. He turned again and saw the ruins of Pearl Harbor and the smoking, burning death of Americas military strength in Hawaii. Jake was an intelligence officer and, like others, had pondered the meaning of the "war warning" theyd recently received from General Marshall in Washington. He wondered if the Japs had attacked other areas on Oahu. Logic said they had. Jake was angry at the total stupidity of it. He gathered the sergeant, commandeered a truck, and drove to the storage shed, where Jake bullied a poor supply sergeant into releasing some ammunition to them. Just for the hell of it, he also grabbed a .45 automatic and a couple of clips of ammunition. Having a weapon on his hip just made him feel better. But by the time theyd returned and loaded their guns, it looked like the fighting was over. The close-packed planes on Hickams runways were charred ruins, and some of the hangars and other buildings were burning. The dead and wounded lay on the ground, and other soldiers had begun to tend to them. Behind their position, they saw numerous churning clouds of black smoke that came from the warships in the harbor itself. A lot of good people had died this December 7, many of them his friends. Many of them guys hed played football with the day before. A staff car pulled up behind his guns, and a neatly dressed young lieutenant jumped out and ran over. On seeing the bars on Jakes collar, he stopped and saluted. Jake returned it briskly. "Are you supposed to be in charge here?" "Yes, sir. Im Lieutenant Simpkins." Jake didnt recognize him. Pearl was a large base, and hed been back for only a couple of months. "Where the hellve you been?" Simpkins grimaced. "I was off base, sir, and the bombing woke me up. It took some time for me to get here." That made sense, Jake thought. If he hadnt stayed late at the club the night before, hed have been several miles away in his own apartment. Sunday was a sleep-in and goof-off day, unless it was your turn to draw duty at a base located in the most beautiful spot on the earth. It was only luck that hed been on base this awful morning. Then he noticed something and drew Simpkins away from the group, where they could talk in private. "Lieutenant, you shaved after you got up, didnt you?" "Yes, sir," he muttered. "Shower?" Simpkins was puzzled. "Yes, sir." "And then you had breakfast, right?" "Coffee and a doughnut, sir," he said reluctantly. "Why?" Jake rubbed his eyes in weary disbelief. No wonder the sergeant wasnt concerned about Simpkinss absence. "Youre telling me it was more important to complete your personal ablutions and feed yourself than it was to get to the battle and defend your country? You saw that the Japanese were attacking. Why didnt you just throw your clothes on and rush over? Or did you think theyd hold up the war until you got here?" "Sir," Simpkins replied weakly, "I would have been out of uniform." Then he realized the inanity of what he was saying. "My God." Jake shook his head. There was no way he could blame Simpkins or the supply sergeant whod hoarded the priceless ammo during the battle. They just didnt understand what was happening. Hell, did he? Hed already shaved and showered when the bombs started dropping, so he too had arrived clean for the battle. But would he have continued if the bombs had fallen only a few minutes earlier? Jake didnt think so, but he wasnt absolutely certain. Being at war was something totally new to everyone. "Dont worry, Lieutenant, therell be a lot of recriminations for this among the higher-ups, and not a whole lot of concern about how one lieutenant might or might not have fucked up. Im not so sure Im doing the right thing myself, but at least were here and doing something." Simpkins looked relieved. He was about to say something when air-raid sirens went off again. "Jesus," said Jake and looked around for an enemy. Was this a new attack, or was somebody finally getting around to sounding the alarm for an earlier one? By his count thered been two distinct assaults on the Hickam Field area, with the last one several hours earlier. Simpkins yelled and pointed out to sea. A long line of dots was low in the sky and approaching from the south. "My God," Simpkins said. "Theyre coming right over us." Jake told the gunners to hold their fire. The 37-millimeters had a range of about ten thousand feet, which wasnt very much. The lead Japs were coming in low and fast, with other planes in long lines higher up and behind them. "Now," he yelled, and both guns opened up with a roar that was extremely satisfying. They were fighting back, and it felt good, damned good. "Whatre they going for?" Simpkins asked through the din. "Hickams pretty well shot over already." Jake agreed that it didnt make sense unless they were going to make an additional strike on the ships in the harbor. However, if the Details ISBN0345506073 Author Robert Conroy Short Title 1942 Pages 368 Language English ISBN-10 0345506073 ISBN-13 9780345506078 Media Book Format Paperback DEWEY FIC Year 2009 Audience Age 14-18 Birth 1938 DOI 10.1604/9780345506078 Subtitle A Novel UK Release Date 2009-02-24 Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States AU Release Date 2009-02-24 NZ Release Date 2009-02-24 US Release Date 2009-02-24 Publisher Random House USA Inc Publication Date 2009-02-24 Imprint Random House USA Inc Audience General We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:159335420;

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