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Amok
First printing.
287 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
May 3, 2021
This book is a real page turner. A Japanese soldier filled with madness and rage, who is a master samurai but, does not realise WW2 ended years ago. Amok is an apt title for this book.
A Japanese soldier alone but, not afraid
All who came upon him, have been slayed
He survives by his wits, and the Bushido way
Never lose focus , never capitulate, never stray
From his mission, though he knows not
The war is over, and his blood runs hot
A dangerous adversary, seven feet tall
Swinging his Kantana, the blade never dull
Slicing through skin, muscle, cartilage and bone
Surviving in the jungle all, alone
Madness, confusion, delirium, crazy
Slashing, and severing, and hunting, never lazy
Going about his work, his mission, his cause
Never stopping, relentless, no pause
Mimicking the monkeys, eat what they eat, do what they do
Surviving, striving, hiding, leaving no clue
Becoming the jungle, the flower and fauna, always aware
Blending in, hidden in plain sight, camouflaged, here and there
Ready to strike, whomever, day or night
No remorse, no deviation, no reason, just fight
A colossus, a Samurai, a monster, a warrior, a man
Unaware of the surrender,of his country, Japan
Never surrender, the code would not allow it, dishonorable, shame
So he goes on, striving forward, no blame
In killing his enemy, mission, all he understands
When death strikes, it will be, by his own hand
By Leo
🐯👍
A Japanese soldier alone but, not afraid
All who came upon him, have been slayed
He survives by his wits, and the Bushido way
Never lose focus , never capitulate, never stray
From his mission, though he knows not
The war is over, and his blood runs hot
A dangerous adversary, seven feet tall
Swinging his Kantana, the blade never dull
Slicing through skin, muscle, cartilage and bone
Surviving in the jungle all, alone
Madness, confusion, delirium, crazy
Slashing, and severing, and hunting, never lazy
Going about his work, his mission, his cause
Never stopping, relentless, no pause
Mimicking the monkeys, eat what they eat, do what they do
Surviving, striving, hiding, leaving no clue
Becoming the jungle, the flower and fauna, always aware
Blending in, hidden in plain sight, camouflaged, here and there
Ready to strike, whomever, day or night
No remorse, no deviation, no reason, just fight
A colossus, a Samurai, a monster, a warrior, a man
Unaware of the surrender,of his country, Japan
Never surrender, the code would not allow it, dishonorable, shame
So he goes on, striving forward, no blame
In killing his enemy, mission, all he understands
When death strikes, it will be, by his own hand
By Leo
🐯👍
June 2, 2023
Neat thriller that probably had more punch when it first came out in 1978. The story is largely set in a lush mountain valley in Luzon where enterprising Americans set up tobacco plantations after the Philippine-American war in the early 20th century. By 1978 when Amok takes place, many changes have occurred in the Philippines, but several ex-pat families still make a go with their plantations. During WWII, Japan took control over the Philippines and had the American colonials transported to a prison camp where many perished and Japan instituted a harsh regime, complete with a force to rout the insurgent holdouts in the mountains. Long story short, when Japan eventually lost and retreated, one of the Japanese counter-insurgents refused to surrender and for over 30 years has terrorized the remote mountain region around the tobacco plantations.
The Japanese hold-out is today known as the Amok, stands seven feet tall and still uses a massive samurai sword as his only weapon when he raids remote mountain villages and even at times the colonial valley for supplies. Unfortunately, one of the heads of a tobacco plantation ran into Amok just before the monsoon started (Amok was there to steal some supplies) and Amok promptly killed him. The brother of the plantation head, our main protagonist Michael, heads back from Alaska for the funeral...
Amok has become something of a legend after the war and for some, the war will never be over. The Japanese secret police were ruthless and collaborators after the war were ruthlessly in turn killed. There is lots more back story here, but we know one of the plantation families was an informer to the Japanese and that lead to the native insurgents almost getting wiped out; to this day, it remains a mystery who the guy was.
In any case, when Michael learns that Amok killed his brother, he aims to track him down and kill him. Michael has long lived in the US and fought in Vietnam and knows is business. The Japanese government flies to the valley the Amok's former commander hoping that he can get his surrender. Interesting mix of characters to be sure!
The strength of Amok resides within the brief but detailed scars left by the WWII among the characters. The Japanese guy, for example, stays with a native, respected doctor because his life may otherwise be in jeopardy by the locals. Of course, we also have the action and Amok is one crafty old critter who knows the mountains and was an expert in demolitions, traps and so forth. Fox tosses in a bit of romance to complete the package.
When this first came out, it forefronted the barrage of books, movies, etc., that focused on Japan, which at the time was flooding America with cars, radios and other exports and was now an enigmatic industrial rival. Fox spend some time developing the belief system that underpinned WWII for Japan to highlight the mental state of Amok himself. Good Stuff! 3 amok stars!
The Japanese hold-out is today known as the Amok, stands seven feet tall and still uses a massive samurai sword as his only weapon when he raids remote mountain villages and even at times the colonial valley for supplies. Unfortunately, one of the heads of a tobacco plantation ran into Amok just before the monsoon started (Amok was there to steal some supplies) and Amok promptly killed him. The brother of the plantation head, our main protagonist Michael, heads back from Alaska for the funeral...
Amok has become something of a legend after the war and for some, the war will never be over. The Japanese secret police were ruthless and collaborators after the war were ruthlessly in turn killed. There is lots more back story here, but we know one of the plantation families was an informer to the Japanese and that lead to the native insurgents almost getting wiped out; to this day, it remains a mystery who the guy was.
In any case, when Michael learns that Amok killed his brother, he aims to track him down and kill him. Michael has long lived in the US and fought in Vietnam and knows is business. The Japanese government flies to the valley the Amok's former commander hoping that he can get his surrender. Interesting mix of characters to be sure!
The strength of Amok resides within the brief but detailed scars left by the WWII among the characters. The Japanese guy, for example, stays with a native, respected doctor because his life may otherwise be in jeopardy by the locals. Of course, we also have the action and Amok is one crafty old critter who knows the mountains and was an expert in demolitions, traps and so forth. Fox tosses in a bit of romance to complete the package.
When this first came out, it forefronted the barrage of books, movies, etc., that focused on Japan, which at the time was flooding America with cars, radios and other exports and was now an enigmatic industrial rival. Fox spend some time developing the belief system that underpinned WWII for Japan to highlight the mental state of Amok himself. Good Stuff! 3 amok stars!
March 13, 2016
I suddenly remembered this book while reading about Rogue Male, because that novel was mentioned in this one's blurb.
This is a slasher movie of a book. A rogue Japanese killer runs around cutting people up with a samurai sword. I liked it well enough in my teens, but cannot remember anything about the story.
This is a slasher movie of a book. A rogue Japanese killer runs around cutting people up with a samurai sword. I liked it well enough in my teens, but cannot remember anything about the story.
October 15, 2022
Rereading a book you loved as a teenager, 40 years later, you approach it with a slight sense of nervousness: what if it doesn't live up to your memories.
I needn't have worried. Second time around, AMOK exceeded my expectations. It goes straight on to my Top Ten of All Time list.
Very rare that a book from the 1970s is this fair and empowering to all the characters in it, including those who are women and those who aren't white. Whoever Fox was, it's a shame he never wrote many books. His research is unbelievably deep and solid, providing a realistic and well-detailed backdrop to the plot. Geez, he knew his stuff.
Every character is sympathetic in some way, including the human "monster" figure. An amazing job to look at the complex aftermath of war in a way that empathises with all sides.
And what a plot. This book is what they mean by a page-turner. Absolutely satisfying. Highly recommend.
I needn't have worried. Second time around, AMOK exceeded my expectations. It goes straight on to my Top Ten of All Time list.
Very rare that a book from the 1970s is this fair and empowering to all the characters in it, including those who are women and those who aren't white. Whoever Fox was, it's a shame he never wrote many books. His research is unbelievably deep and solid, providing a realistic and well-detailed backdrop to the plot. Geez, he knew his stuff.
Every character is sympathetic in some way, including the human "monster" figure. An amazing job to look at the complex aftermath of war in a way that empathises with all sides.
And what a plot. This book is what they mean by a page-turner. Absolutely satisfying. Highly recommend.
July 20, 2016
A must-read for any follower of the thriller genre. 'Amok' is very, very, good. A ripping yarn of the 'old school'--simple elements and no superfluous adornments. A plantation house; a surrounding jungle. Its a far-off locale; but otherwise this is how people used to live. Lamps; window-shades; wood. Darkness outside. Just the essentials. Gripping because of this stripped-down quality. Every character is set off with sharp delineation and contrast--described by their needs--there is space between each figure and that space must be crossed by loyalty and love. There is space that must not be crossed by this malevolent enemy--this 'Amok'. The question is, how to keep this demon away? The colonial environment is finely drawn; there are haunting descriptions of rain and heat and forest night; sound of insects; terror. An unusual book. Faint possibility of it being written by Ken Follett.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
April 14, 2022
A compelling and original tale that takes inspiration from classic mythologies, inviting us, the reader, to face the unknown “monster” in the jungle. George Fox reminds us that humans can be monsters too, and sometimes they have no choice about it. I read this in college, after picking it up at a used book co-op, and enjoyed the suspense and gory violence.
May 16, 2008
Found my copy at a friends of the library sale. It was well worth the quarter I gave for it. It's written in the genre of 80s action movie: ridiculous, but fun.
February 28, 2019
Good adventure thriller set in the Philippines of the late 70’s. Huge Japanese warrior left over from the occupation of WWII has wreaked havoc on several villages and some tobacco plantations ever since the end of hostilities in 1945. An estranged son of one plantation owner returns home from America after his brother is slaughtered by the ‘Amok’ in the hills above the plantation. The ‘Amok’ has never been seen, strikes rarely and so far and wide that some think he doesn’t exist. But he’s real, and he’s bad-ass. Decent adventure/jungle man-hunt type tale with flashes of shocking violence and disturbing flashbacks of WWII Japanese atrocities. Good read, recommended.
April 16, 2020
Although George Fox wrote several novels, Amok remains my favorite, and the ride is so fun that I can now breeze through it in about two hours now.
The story isn’t new by any stretch: a Japanese soldier is still fighting WWII in the Philippines in the 1970s. After all, even Gilligan’s Island did that one. But it’s the way Fox constructs his story that made this so much fun and so interesting.
Even the opening, where he notes that the word "amok" began as a noun, is a great approach to his story.
Fox’s story is also so cinematic that I found myself casting it as I went through my first reading 40 years ago.
The story isn’t new by any stretch: a Japanese soldier is still fighting WWII in the Philippines in the 1970s. After all, even Gilligan’s Island did that one. But it’s the way Fox constructs his story that made this so much fun and so interesting.
Even the opening, where he notes that the word "amok" began as a noun, is a great approach to his story.
Fox’s story is also so cinematic that I found myself casting it as I went through my first reading 40 years ago.
March 15, 2012
One of the best books I read in the 80's. It tells the story extremely well through the eyes of a hunted man
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August 8, 2012i bought this book in a train station in Italy when i was about 12 years old. never read it, until this summer, visiting my parents and looking through a bunch of my old books. it has been sitting in a bookcase of volumes that have been there for years and i thought, i can't imagine why, after all these years, i've never read this book...fun read, made me feel like a kid again, in an odd way (about, really, how i would be fascinated with books and often buy them, not realizing they were probably too 'old' for me until i found myself unable to finish them). good nostalgic trip for me,,
June 4, 2021
I originally read this book in 1980 and I thought it was a great thriller about a huge Japanese soldier ho did not know WW2 was over and living in the Jungle, carrying a sharp sword and slashing those he encounters. I recently found a paperback copy in my basement, so I started re-reading it. Good thriller that would of made a great slasher flick in the ‘80’s, sort of like Friday The 13th in the Jungle. Recommended read if you like these sort of thrillers.
January 3, 2016
It took a while for me to get interested in it but Amok was a pretty exciting book. I was just a bit disappointed by the ending because I thought .
October 22, 2019
I am not a big book reader, but I was asked to look at this book and man I could not put it down. I still have it although there is not much left of it as I lent it to friends and reread it many times...
November 15, 2019
Great book. It kept me engaged. The Japanese soldier character that George Fox created in Amok was larger than life, and he draws the reader in, waiting to see what this powerful yet deluded soldier will do next. I read it in a few sittings...
June 25, 2013
A fun read. Read this in the 80's and enjoyed it.
October 11, 2017
Read this one back in the 80s. Good thriller about a Japanese soldier who didn't realize the war was over.
October 24, 2018
My lordy lordy, this is a hair-raising, hell-raising read. It ain't fine literature, that's for sure, but it had me gripped from front cover to back. Great concept. Well executed.
July 23, 2020
Read in 1979. Doesn't ring a bell.
January 28, 2023
A real page turner, I liked the characters a lot. First book I finished in 2023.
Read while listening to the album Hope For Sale by Chiiild.
Read while listening to the album Hope For Sale by Chiiild.
February 29, 2024
It's paced like an older book written in the 70s. A pretty speedy read and a decent Pulp horror novel.
December 28, 2024
Big guy swing sword, pretty thrilling
December 31, 2025
This one brought back memories when I reread it. A real page-turner, it was published in 1978 and I read it not long after that. I remember being fascinated by stories of Japanese soldiers who hid out on Pacific islands, refusing to surrender although the war was over. So I was very interested in reading this story of a Japanese "hold-out.". He is known as "the Amok," a giant Japanese soldier surviving in the Philippine jungles following the war. An elusive and crafty creature, he has killed more than a hundred people. A savage manhunt gets underway to take down the Amok and bring an end to his bloody reign of terror.
Now, having reread it, I think I enjoyed "Amok" as much as when I first read it more than forty years ago! I'll be happy to donate this old paperback to a library book sale and I hope someone else will enjoy this story!
Now, having reread it, I think I enjoyed "Amok" as much as when I first read it more than forty years ago! I'll be happy to donate this old paperback to a library book sale and I hope someone else will enjoy this story!
November 10, 2019
A taut and terrifying thriller revolving around a Japanese renegade and World War II survivor who wreaks untold mayhem on innocents in the Cagayan Valley, Philippines. When Mike Braden, a Vietnam veteran learns of his brother's gory demise at the hands of the sadistic maniac, he decides that the time is ripe for retribution. An edge of the seat suspense follows with buckets of blood and gore.
October 10, 2008
I read this book many years ago (early 80's), so I cannot give an accurate review. I have it listed in my records as an "okay" read.
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September 13, 2012I read this book when I was a teenager in the early 80's and enjoyed it. Its simple straightforward and fun. I re-read it recently as a comfort read and still enjoyed it.
April 25, 2015
Pretty good adventure / horror story. Amok was a cool villain.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews