The Happy Life of Preston Katt

by J.J. Zerr

It is December 7, 1941, in Pearl Harbor when Seaman Second Class Preston Katt sneaks back aboard the Uss Callahan after a night of debauchery with a fellow trouble-seeking seaman. After a short night, Katt awakens with a hangover. Two hours after reveille, the Japanese attack.
Katt had enlisted in the Navy to escape Saint Ambrose, Missouri, and his alcoholic momma. But now, in a matter of moments, as World War Ii escalates into a monumental worldwide battle, his life hangs in the balance as bombs, bullets, and torpedoes whizz past him. As the skies fill with flak bursts, tracers, and diving Japanese bombers, Katt serves as a lookout, a role that quickly propels him into the atrocities of war. Soon weighed down by the deaths of sailors at Pearl Harbor and other battles, Katt is sent back to the States to work. But he is determined to return to the war and fight the Japanese on behalf of all those who died.
In this historical tale, a young sailor must confront Japanese bombs and torpedoes, his own conscience, and a typhoon as he fights in nearly every major battle in the Pacific during World War II.

198 pages, Paperback

First published May 6, 2015

About the author

John Zerr (J.J. Zerr) was born in St. Peters, Missouri, and graduated from Duchesne High School. In 1959, he began a thirty-six year career in the Navy, during which he completed two tours on destroyers. After joining the aviation community, he flew 330 combat missions over Vietnam. Across his Navy career, he accumulated 1017 carrier landings.

Following the service, he worked in the aerospace industry for eleven years. He began his third career with the publication of The Ensign Locker in September 2010. The story is set on a US Navy destroyer operating in the Tonkin Gulf in 1966. His second novel, Sundown Town Duty Station, was published in 2013.

Reviews

[Michael Wiggins · Rating 4 out of 5]

'The Happy Life of Preston Katt' by J.J. Zerr, might not meet everyone's definition of a happy life. Preston Katt's life began with an absent father, an abusive mother and many of the ingredients that rob a child of promise and happiness. He did, however, have just enough love and guidance that he found faith and purpose as a young man.

We meet Katt on a seedy night in Oahu just before the attack on Pearl Harbor. He and his partner in liberty capers barely get back onboard their ship, the USS Callahan, before World War II begins for America. In the early hours of the conflict, Katt discovers that God has given him sharp eyesight and the ability to see the enemy when few others can. This gift, coupled with promises he makes to the war dead and to the Father himself, changes him and molds him into a sailor that the United States sorely needs.

This change hardly makes his life easy or makes any difference in the shortcomings of his family life back home, but it does strengthen him and prepares him for a long war and the sacrifices he will be called to make.

This was a quick read, and some may find it a little too obviously Christian or Catholic. Others may find it to be just what they were seeking.

Note: I own this book, and I can't exactly remember why.

[Michelle Arredondo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book The Happy Life of Preston Katta few weeks back, placed it on my TBR pile and then some how for whatever reason misplaced the book..it was put at the bottom of my pile and unfortunately missed it's spot. I realized the mistake and put it right at the top to be read...now a few books later I finally got to this book. I signed up to receive this copy via giveaway. Why?? I am not even sure what made me curious. The cover maybe??!! I saw a hot looking nun on the cover. I thought, "Def something about forbidden love". And yes hot nun..cause she is pretty and young...then my brain starts going in the direction of equally hot body hidden behind them nun robes...steamy scenes between a woman of faith and a young also hot military guy. Yeah.....uh....anything but. Turns out I was nowhere near that...but could I have possibly been the only one thinking that when they saw the cover??!!

We are in the middle of World War II...at Pearl Harbor and the story starts off with Katt...Preston Katt but known as Katt...and his shipmate Moriarty...two Seaman Second Classes that crept off their war ship the USS Callahan to have a drunken dirty rendezvous with two local whores...they struggle with trying to get back on the ship without being noticed because they will obviously be in some major trouble if caught. Moriarty already is notorious for trouble making and Katt is just a skinny rookie that has not had much experience with life on his own. Moriarty is the bad boy...Katt has the conscience and is very driven by religion. He knows he needs to stop hanging out with Moriarty if he is to focus on his life goals in the military and life in general. But something always seems to steer him towards the temptations of Moriarty and all the rebelliousness he gets into.

I will elaborate further on my blog at http://dalaimommadrama.blogspot.com/ but if you don't feel like clicking on the link...could care less or just wanna stay on goodreads for my review then I will say this, it was a decent read. It has it's potential to be something much better but for what it is I can at least guarantee it is a decent story..the concept was solid. I wanted a better back story into Katt's childhood. I wanted to know more about Moriarty...and more of why the nun had to grace the cover of this book!! The ending broke my heart...haunting..bittersweet..and okay okay, maybe I shed a tear. But if this book had a little more of the story and less technical stuff it would be flippin' great. Still, I think it's a fairly good book and I do recommend it because it is a fast paced read.

Thanks to the peeps at goodreads and to J.J Zerr for my opportunity to win this book free via giveaway in exchange for an honest review to which I gladly voluntarily gave!!

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a work of World War II era military fiction and the author, a US Navy veteran, seems to hit all the right notes, guiding the reader through a vivid and realistic view of life aboard a Navy vessel. The World War II history enthusiast will find a lot to love about this novella as the protagonist Preston Katt experiences the attack on Pearl Harbor and then finds himself thrust into nearly every battle to come in the Pacific.

But the best part of the book is the fully drawn character of Preston Katt himself. A young Seaman Second Class on the USS Callahan, Katt leaves behind a youth spent with a mother who wouldn't know how to love him even if she wanted to. Aboard the Callahan and in the midst of war, Katt finally finds purpose, belonging, family, and home.

[Kenneth Flusche · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reminds me of the and I was there books I read in the 5th 6th grade. Recommend for young and old readers alike WWII Navy in the Pacific like you were there, young and learning as it goes along.