Australian Jimmy and his best friend, Sandy, grew up together and are closer than brothers. At the start of World War II, the two enlisted. Jimmy got sent to Ceylon and then on to India and Southeast Asia. Sandy is posted to Darwin but then killed in the first big Japanese bombing in February 1942. After the war, Jimmy goes to Darwin to find out what happened to his friend. He finds a little more than he bargained for.
This is a very short novella that covers, for the most part, just a few days. The author describes it as a thriller, and that’s perhaps the best category. Jimmy does set out to solve a mystery, but he gets to the bottom of it rather quickly, unlike the author’s detective stories where clues mount up slowly and red herrings abound.
One of the interesting things about this book for me is the historical background in which it’s set. Darwin, at the far north of Australia, was a major port and naval base. The civilians were evacuated towards the end of 1941. Then the city was then heavily bombed by the Japanese just two months after Pearl Harbor. As with the American naval base, the Japanese wanted to cripple the allies’ capabilities. Even after the war ended, access to the city was limited by the Australian government. At the time of this story, the population of the city was almost exclusively male.
We don’t get to know Jimmy all that well, but enough to sympathize with him. He doesn’t reveal much detail about what he did during the war, but he clearly acquired the skills necessary to stay alive in the jungle. He seems like a nice guy but can be ruthless when he needs to.
“My Name Is Jimmy” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).