Beneath a Rising Sun

Frontier #10

by Peter Watt

"the home grown version of Wilbur Smith" The Sunday Age

As the Allied forces fight to repel invaders in the Pacific, the Duffy and Macintosh clans face their greatest challenges at home.

Sergeant Jessica Duffy relishes her work as a code breaker in MacArthur's headquarters but is also secretly reporting on the Americans to the Prime Minister. When she uncovers treason at the highest levels, neither duty nor dishonour will stop her getting justice.

Captain James Duffy, a decorated fighter pilot with the United States Marine Corps, is expected to wait out the war assisting the bond effort, helping to make movies that gloss over the tragic realities of combat. Despite his scars, he is desperate to return to the cockpit...until a chance meeting gives him something new to fight for.
Major David Macintosh has survived prison camps, torture and countless battles, but can he endure the machinations of his obsessive cousin, Sarah? Sarah is prepared to do anything to take over the family companies, and will destroy anyone who gets in her way.

From the frontlines of the Pacific to the back lots of Hollywood, a new generation faces deadly missions, impossible choices and an inescapable family legacy.

PRAISE FOR THE SERIES

"A rousing and revealing yarn" Weekend Australian

"the historical detail brings the ... 19th century to rip-roaring life" The Australian

"Watt's fans love his work for its history, adventure and storytelling" Brisbane News

Genres: Historical Fiction

368 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 10, 2015

About the author

Peter Watt's life experiences have included time as a soldier, articled clerk to a solicitor, prawn trawler deckhand, builder's labourer, pipe layer, real estate salesman, private investigator, police sergeant and adviser to the Royal Papua New Guinea Constabulary. He has lived and worked with Aborigines, Islanders, Vietnamese and Papua New Guineans.


He speaks, reads and writes Vietnamese and Pidgin - and has a reasonable grasp of the English language. He currently lives in Maclean, on the Clarence River in Northern NSW.

Good friends, fine food, fishing and the vast open spaces of outback Queensland are his main interests in life. He also enjoys SCUBA diving, military history, crosswords (but not the cryptic kind) and teaching.

He is a member of the Australian Institute of Management, the Australian Institute of Training and Development and the Australian Society of Authors.

He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree (University of Tasmania), Post Graduate Diploma of Training & Development (University of New England) and an Associate Diploma of Justice Administration (Sturt University).

Reviews

[Max Coggan]

There were too many characters in this novel and at times they didn't connect.

[Lee McKerracher]

Even though this book is part of a series, it definitely can be read as a stand alone, as I did. It's a great saga about the ongoing rivalries between the Duffy and Macintosh families focusing on the lengths some members of these dynasties will go to to get their revenge.

There are two very strong female characters in this story: Sarah Macintosh who has inherited her father's ruthless character and Sergeant Jessica Duffy who, perhaps in searching for her true purpose, discovers courage and strength she did not know she possessed, which becomes a turning point in the story.

A World War II setting also adds complexity to the plot as the scenes of murder, betrayal, love and treason play out in Sydney, the Pacific islands and the US.

My only disappointment was the conclusion. Peter Watt had invested a lot of time in developing the details of the various story lines running through the plot, then suddenly, there's a two page epilogue where everything is summed up. It was too simply brushed over which made the ending seem rushed, unfinished and disappointing.

[Sunflower]

Found this in my little local library, and had no idea that it was number 10 in a series. I felt a bit stupid at times trying to remember who the characters were, but now I don't feel so bad. After all, if I had read the other ones, it might have been obvious. After about half way through the cohesion improved (or maybe I figured out who was doing what), but never felt really satisfied by this book. It is possible to read it as a stand alone, but I think would be better with the rest of the series.

[Alisa]

Novels set in remote Australia, overseas during battle in war, and in the UK. Intertwined family drama that follows a couple of families for many generations from around 1800 to mid-1900s. Historical information regarding the war & so on is correct & interesting, and there is lots of fictional drama & family relationships added in. Very good reading. Some is a bit gruesome about assault & incest during old times (definitely for adults only, and it was a bit gruesome for me). A really good series. RD

[Neville]

Love this series and I compare Watt to Wilbur Smith in the way he writes.

The story focus is, as always, around the Duffy's and Macintosh families and the conflicts. WWII is still very much in play, with the Japanese intent on taking Australia for themselves, but Australia has a different perspective.

Sarah Macintosh plays a big part in her scheming to take over the Macintosh empire and eliminate the Duffy family, and she uses all means to achieve this goal.

[Joy Norman]

Loved the book as usual Peter Watt really makes his characters and what is occurring at the time interesting and I find I get really involved and keep reading. Loved the book loved the style of writing and information given..

[Sue]

Enjoyed journeying with the familiar characters in this series & the way that wartime in Australia was captured.

[Nigel Copeman]

People come and go

Who survived to carry on between the war and business life. You will have to read the book to find out. Another great story by this author hence 5 stars

[Igor]

10 down, 2 to go.....

[Michael]

Peter Watt is an Australian author who specialises in novels about WWII. I was given this book as a Christmas gift by a friend. The novel is a complete work of fiction. However, the general outline of the time period closely follows the path of the Pacific war as well as the political climate in Australia at the time, including the dancing around different feelings and attitudes between the two allies: Australia and the USA. The novel follows two powerful Aussie families: The Macintosh's and the Duffy's especially following the threads of Jessica and James Duffy, and David and Sarah Macintosh. The novel was a real page turner and kept me moving on to what would happen around the next plot twist. The novel also gave a different view of how the Pacific campaign was handled (only really having had the US point of view.) I enjoyed this very much.

[Nicola]

A good read during World War II with 2 families intertwined. While I enjoyed the read I can away feeling somewhat unsatisfied. Some of the back stories weren't really explained fully, the connections between the characters didn't always explain why they were in the book, and to top it off some stories were just left hanging. While saying all of the I enjoyed my first foray with Peter Watt and will be reading some of his other novels.

And now having checked out Peter's other books I now see I was reading book 10 in the series! Never was that mentioned anywhere when I chose the book! and I totally missed it on the Goodreads page as well. I can no look for ward to starting at the beginning and catching up...

[Jeanette]

This book has been written to include the ongoing saga that surrounds 2 Australian dynasties that appear in 9 other books by this author. However, the events of the 2 families can be easily followed as a brief background is given during the course of the story.

The subject of the book is not a surprise given the background and family of the author. Whilst containing some true facts of WW2 in the Pacific, New Guinea and Nth Australia as the author notes "the stories are designed to entertain" for which he succeeds in doing so.

An interesting and enjoyable read.

[Graeme]

As with all Peter Watt books a fantastic read