V for Victor

by Mark Childress

Alabama, 1942. The war is everywhere, but Victor--a sixteen-year old boy sent by his father to care for his dying grandmother on a lonely island in Mobile Bay--can only dream of it. Then he wakes one amazing night to a thunderous roar from the Bay, and watches as a thug burns his boat. He also discovers a decomposing corpse, witnesses a near-seduction . . . and sees the ominous shadow of an enemy submarine surfacing at night.

Suddenly Victor is playing unforeseen roles--now hostage, now pursuer--in the perilous war at home. . . .

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction

289 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

Mark Childress was born in Monroeville, Alabama. He is the author of the novels A WORLD MADE OF FIRE, V FOR VICTOR, TENDER, CRAZY IN ALABAMA, GONE FOR GOOD, ONE MISSISSIPPI, and GEORGIA BOTTOMS. Childress has received the Harper Lee Award for Alabama's Distinguished Author, Thomas Wolfe Award, the University of Alabama's Distinguished Alumni Award, and the Alabama Library Association's Writer of the Year. He is a staff member and a director of the Community of Writers at Squaw Valley. He has lived in Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia, California, Costa Rica, and currently lives in Key West, Florida, where he is writing his eighth novel and a film script.

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book disappointed me, especially since it gets fairly high reviews (maybe I should try another by this author). It has a nice historical premise. Young man, 16, waiting to break out into the adult world during WWII, stuck watching his dying grandma in her remote spot in Mobile Bay. The character has adventures with the rich, the traitorous, motor boats, a teenage bootlegger, and a Nazi submarine inside Mobile Bay—there actually were Nazi subs outside the bay during the war. Sounds like fun?

Victor actually seems about 13 or 14, not a teen on the brink of adulthood. I didn’t particularly warm to him as the protagonist. I found it hard to picture this as an adult novel. It seemed more like boy’s adventures with Nazi’s. Adolescent books are fine if you’re expecting to be reading that, but I wasn’t.

Finally, it has a lot of old fashioned Southern Gothic. Crackers that speak reallll slow, traitorous adults, probably inbred moonshiners and gators in the swamps. Too much. Putting that in the mouth and head of an inexperienced child is a good choice on the part of the writer, but I’m ready to move on.

[Patrick Gibson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an awesome good book and an easy read. Mark Childress is a really really good writer . THis is about a family in Southern Alabama near Mobile during the second world war. Victor is sent to his Grandmother's House to help care for her while she is sick and goes between exploring the swampy coast area south of Mobile and listening to hear his Grandma's stories of her past , and listening to her radio. Great story very pleasant, funny, and sad at times.

[Sam A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a fun read as Mark Childress' books always are! It is interesting that he starts the book with sixteen year old Victor reading his Hardy Boys book in his grandmother Willie's house because I felt like after a few chapters that I was reading an adult version of the Hardy Boys books that I enjoyed as a youngster. It is a book about a teenager who is seeking adventure but is hampered by having to care for his aging grandmother as an assignment from his stern, overbearing father. Victor's relationship with his father is not a very good one to say the least. This adventure takes place near Fairhope, Alabama near Mobile Bay during World War II and starts with Victor's accidental encounter with what turns out to be a German submarine and his subsequent quest to solve the mystery that develops. To give any more details might be a spoiler for this action packed thriller with its many twists and turns. A quick read and a most enjoyable one.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I checked this book out from the library because the author is from South Alabama and the setting is coastal Alabama where I live. The story is exciting, 1942 Mobile Alabama, WWII is happening across the sea, a young boy (16) becomes a man while uncovering a Nazi plot to infiltrate spies from a German submarine in Mobile Bay. Intrigue set in the Grand Hotel, the Fairhope fishing pier, moonshining, Jubilee, bodies washing ashore, Magnolia Springs! WOW! This is a must-read, highly entertaining and suspenseful.

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mark Childress, V for Victor. Four stars of five. Certainly a fast-moving and action-filled coming-of-age novel. The young protagonist, Victor, has several tasks: watch over his dying grandmother, solve a World War II Nazi plot, and learn about his family and friends. Victor succeeds as admirably as a sixteen-year-old boy stuck with these monumental tasks can. The appearance of Butch as a sort of doppelganger adds a good deal in tension to the plot. Butch also resonates well with Victor’s character. This is a fast, enjoyable read, and the flaws of coincidence are in the main forgivable. The novel catches the 40’s war era quite well. It also portrays the split between classes quite well. And, the reader gets a double coming-of-age novel, in the sense that bad boy Butch also does some growing up.

[Ramey Channell · Rating 5 out of 5]

V for Victor is a terrific story from beginning to end. In 1942, sixteen year old Victor is sent to take care of his aging grandmother on an island in Mobile Bay. Victor wishes for excitement and adventure, and gets more than he hoped for. Amazingly imaginative, totally well written and believable. So descriptive, the reader actually sees, feels, smells, the river, swamps, boat docks, plus an invading submarine. I loved reading it!

[Joyce Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since it was set on Mobile Bay, I loved the location and references to places like the Grand Hotel. The characters were also well drawn, and the story of a sixteen year old boy in 1942 hunting down a German submarine was certainly intriguing. However, the author's style made me work too hard. Sometimes I had to really "study on it" to figure out what he was saying.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Teenage boy finds German spies in 1942 Mobile Alabama. The subject was intriguing and I had read another of Childress' books and enjoyed it. This one, not so much. The first couple of chapters were difficult to get into, but midway the book picked up and ended like a Hollywood movie. Interesting, but I would not recommend.

[Tom Eldridge · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another fun adventure from Mark Childress, always a little quirky, but interesting and entertaining tale of a teenager in Alabama during WWII.

[Amy]

"(He) was thinking how hard it would be to look in a mirror if the worst parts of your life showed all over your face."