The Odyssey: The Java Gold Book One: 1 - Softcover

Kingsley, Robert A

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1522736344 ISBN 13: 9781522736349

Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2014

Synopsis

It is 1941 and South-East Asia is in flames.
The Japanese forces storm south through Malaya. Singapore falls and the Japanese conquest of the Dutch East Indies begins in earnest. Despite furious Allied resistance, Java, the administrative centre, is soon encircled on all sides. With the Japanese already at Java's doorstep, the Dutch government hurriedly ships out all currency and other valuables. However, a load of gold is discovered left behind in a local bank. A damaged airliner is hurriedly repaired, a scratch crew is assembled and their orders are to fly the gold to safety in Australia.
But a malignant twist of fate intervenes. Sudden technical problems with the airplane force the crew to abandon the flight and unload and hide the cargo of gold in a remote spot. Several crew members are killed when they are attacked by a hostile population. The survivors barely manage to escape and when they reach friendly territory, they find out they are posted as deserters and wanted for theft of an airplane and the cargo of gold.
The few surviving crew members somehow struggle through the war, and after its end they try to retrieve "their" gold. But the jinx is still there. Every time the gold seems to be within their grasp, fate intervenes and they have to start all over again. And soon, the hunt becomes frantic when others start to sniff at the trail of the Java Gold. For years, the hidden treasure casts its spell on the surviving crew members. Misfortune, violence and death follow in their wake when they try to retrieve the gold after the end of the war.
Their bloody treasure hunt starts in the Dutch East Indies, a restive place despite the war's end. As the story continues, their expedition takes them across continents, spanning India, Australia, Europe and North Africa. Their exciting exploits and sizzling romances are juxtaposed with historical developments of places scarred by war and colonialism, the racism of corrupt societies and the emerging threat of terrorism. The tale is replete with danger and treachery as the pursuit of "The Java Gold" shows the treasure hunters that human life is the price of greed

About this title

About the Author

Robert Kingsley is a Dutch- Canadian author who currently lives in Europe, working as an independent ICT consultant out of the magical city of Amsterdam. He has a son and a daughter, both talented professionals in their own right. And very recently he became grandfather to a lovely grandson.

About his books:
First of all Robert is immensely proud to have reached the semi finals of the "2016 Adventure Writers Competition" with "The Odyssey", the first volume of "Java Gold" series. This multi-part historical fiction story will take the reader all over the world and through half a century of recent history.
He has combined his life-long interest in aviation and military history (especially World War 2) with local, on-site knowledge, gathered during his travels all over the world as an internationally active ICT consultant.

The first two volumes of "The Java Gold" are largely set in the former Dutch East Indies. Not many books have been written about the turbulent post war years in that area and especially Indonesia. The Japanese invasion, the post-war struggle for independence and the general unrest in South East Asia serve as a fascinating background to the story.
The idea for the book was born during a "steak and beer" dinner in a California micro-brewery. He had just come across a number of highly intriguing facts and events that had happened in Indonesia during and after the 2nd world war and said 'I could write a thriller around them'. One of his closest friends dared him to do so.
And so he did...

He originally intended to write a short "action" novel based upon the loss of a planeload of pure gold. But the story took over; love, tragedy and political complications somehow managed to sneak in and now he is busily working on Book Three of a multipart series...

Edition details

• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1522736344
• ISBN 13: 9781522736349
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 379