David Roy Montgomerie Johnson has created an unforgettably frightening and detailed account of the ability of evil to creep silently into the most unlikely times, in 1968 – Somebody Else’s War. The novel takes place in the small, quiet town of Newport-on-the-Lake in the quiet border of Canada in early 1968, a time when the world is already at war, uproar, and political strife. But the inhabitants of Newport think they are safely out of the turmoil of the age. They chat at the Oxford Diner and talk with the Lord Mayor with no seriousness, and they engage in activities like chatting that make their small town so charming. However, under it all, Johnson sets a slow fuse of tension, revealing the truth that the characters are not ready to confront: darkness does not require a battlefield to develop.
Captain Sammy Enfield, a World War II and Korea veteran, is in the middle of the story as he comes to Newport in search of some peace after years of trauma. Sleepless nights, repeated nightmares, and his profound emotional wounds indicate a post-war world. The life of Sammy is mostly made up of his patrols, small doses of comfort with his cat Skipper, and submerged visits to The Mooring, where he finds a young waitress, Chrissy, who is able to provide him with some warmth that he no longer finds in life. His alienated wife, Becky, and their son, Warren, stay on the other side of the border in New York, which is the symbol of a dysfunctional family that is not coping with the burden of generational trauma.
As Sammy is re-establishing his life, the peace of Newport starts to collapse as the convict who escaped comes to town and his violent history turns him into a walking nightmare. At the beginning, “someone” enters the town without anyone noticing him, hides in run-down sheds, robs people, and observes. He is obsessed with Chrissy and foams at the mouth as he fantasizes about her all the time, as he silently approaches the center of town. The size of his presence is like a stain; at first, it cannot be seen, and then it cannot be denied.
The novel is extremely accurate in capturing the mounting fear. The townspeople turn a blind eye to small occurrences, a vandalized garage, a lost dog, muddy footprints by the door, by brushing them aside with the same obstinacy that the whole society displays in a period of turmoil. Johnson is able to contrast the banal routine of Newport with the mad monologue that a killer has in his head, and it makes the comparison between innocence and hunting terrifying.
However, that is not all the doom that Johnson lets the novel stop at. The effects of the aftermath include silent recovery, harsh reality, and emotional acceptance. Becky comes back, Warren gets his own way, and Chrissy starts regaining her life. Hurt but tough, Newport lays its dead to rest and looks into its future with cold-blooded realism.
1968 – Somebody Else’s War is not only a thriller book. It is a deep journey into the ways in which darkness moves, across borders, through generations, and into the places people most would not expect it to be. Johnson reminds the readers that the most kind societies may still contain some shadows, and the most powerful people may not be able to resist the load of the traumatic experience.
The darkness in Newport-on-the-Lake is real, it is human, and it will come out of nowhere, showing that no town is ever small when the people on its shoulders are the carriers of the history of a world epoch.
Contact:
Author: David Johnson
Website: https://davessillybooks.com/
Amazon: 1968 – SOMEBODY ELSE’S WAR
Email: 19olemiss55@gmail.com
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