Four Nails

by G.J. Berger

Ashoka is the last male in a family of Indian elephant trainers. He handles wild and tame elephants better than his older brother, even better than his father. But in Ashoka's time, 227 B. C., decades of peace have dried up India's need for elephants and their trainers. The sudden death of his older brother forces the family to sell Ashoka to a Syrian trading caravan headed to lands where generals pay great sums for war elephants and their drivers. In the high plateaus east of India, the caravan stops at a village upset by an unruly orphaned elephant. It has four nails on its front feet, not the usual five. In elephant lore that predicts madness. The caravan's captain orders Ashoka to help the villagers slaughter Four Nails. Instead, Ashoka frees Four Nails and runs him off into the wilderness. Years later and after being twice sold, Ashoka washes soiled clothes and cleans out elephant pens for a huge army gathering on the coast of Iberia. One monster elephant with that army charges those who try to ride him. No one can control him or keep him from mischief—until Ashoka confronts him. It is Four Nails. Together again, Four Nails and Ashoka lead Hannibal's tragic and glorious invasion over the Alps and down the backside of Rome. Ashoka's connection to the big beasts, his gentle hand, and patience in all things help him survive and return home eleven years after leaving. Four Nails (at 100,000 words) is a largely true story of a reluctant hero and a special elephant ripped out of its natural habitat, master and elephant each tossed into war and made to fight for strange men far from home.

21 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 14, 2014

About the author

When G. J. was eight, his mom told him the story of Hannibal crossing the Alps with elephants and a great army. He asked her what happened to Hannibal after that. Mom didn't know, but he was hooked, had to find out, had to write about it.

G. J. spent much of his young life on the road and water, on ocean liners in steerage or working as a crew member on a tramp steamer. Wherever his travels took him, old walls, canals, storage holes deep in the ground made him wonder about how they got there, about the people who put them there, how they lived and got along.

The result is now two award-winning novels and a third in G. J.'s writing head. The places, the tides of history, some of the characters in Burnt Rocks and Four Nails are all as they were but have never been portrayed in any depth.

When not writing, G. J. tries to roam around the places he writes about, likes to sit and soak up the times back then and bring them to modern life in his stories. G. J. is convinced that for all the changes in last 2000 years, people loved and hated, suffered and rejoiced, destroyed and built out of the same urges as motivate them today. G. J. also writes reviews of all manner of historical novels for the Historical Novel Society.

G. J. lives in San Diego with his favorite grammarian and English Professor. They visit their two sons and two grandsons as often as the kids will have them.

Reviews

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free from the website, Voracious Readers Only. I enjoyed the settings and the storyline in this novel. A lot of research was put into it, I learned about a war and actual historical figures that I never knew existed. I liked that Ashoka grew to be such a fine man, it would have helped to establish his age and a timeline more. It could have more rich and vivid details, but I still really enjoyed it.

[Maria Sorgie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I fell in love with this story! I was hooked from the beginning and could not put it down. Wonderful characters and storyline. Thank you G. J. Berger for taking me to your world. I received a free copy from the author through Voracious Readers Only.