ARA Review by Alan Zimm of The Warramunga's War

[Alan Zimm]

[Following is an OnlineBookClub.org ARA Review of the book, The Warramunga's War.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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This is a review of The Warramunga’s War by Greg Kater.

Summary: The novel tells the story of an Australian army officer and an enlisted man acting as intelligence agents in Cairo in August 1941. There are a few action scenes and the beginning of a romance.

Positive: The subject matter of the book, a spy novel set in WW II Cairo, is unusual, and has promise.

Negative: The dialog in the story is awkward and unbelievable. Upon first meeting, characters uniformly go into 200-word soliloquies giving their identity, family relations, origins background and the status of their girlfriends and parents. When the two main characters first meet, Jacko (an enlisted man) presents his tale in a single 200+ word exposition, while pinned down by an enemy machine gun! He also told the officer all about his Warramunga-tribal origins, in detail, something that another Aussie would be expected to know. Many “conversations” consist of long monologues disclosing information that the characters should already know, as in, “As you know, sir, we are in Cairo and the year is 1941…“ (I exaggerate. Slightly.)
Another problem with the dialog is the voice of the characters. All of them sound the same, no matter if they are an educated Australian officer, British officer, or Aboriginal enlisted man. More irritating is the author’s propensity to have a speaker say the name of the other party, over and over in the same conversation, exchanges like, “Hi Cap.” “Hi Jacko.” “Whatcha doing, Cap?” “Nothing much, Jacko.” “Want a smoke, Cap?” (I exaggerate. Slightly.)
The author has done research on the military history of the period. However, there are major errors. The most egregious is the issue of signals intelligence. The author has his characters complaining that the British codes have been broken. Historically, the codes were broken; but the British did not discover it until after the war. If in this story the characters complain about broke codes, why were the codes not changed? He also places HMS Prince of Wales in the Indian Ocean in August, when she did not arrive until December; either that, or the story time had advanced to December, which was not clear to this reader.
The author does not understand the military. Captains do not have direct access to generals. Lieutenants do not perform solo reconnaissance patrols. Officer promotions, even battlefield promotions, take longer than two days, and in the Commonwealth armies the recommendation has to come from another officer who directly observed the feat, which was not done in the story. Officers actually assigned to work with MI6 in an intelligence role were provided training in intelligence work before they are tossed into the field, which was not done in this story. One of our heroes is hit by “half a kilo” of shrapnel across the legs and back, is unconscious for two days, but is discharged from the hospital and is up and walking five days later. And, an enlisted man sitting down with officers for drinks, in public? Billeted with officers? The relationships and attitudes between officers and the Warramunga character are more from the 2020’s than 1940’s. The book totally avoids the issue of prejudice against the aboriginal people prevalent in that time. The author does not have a grasp on the ethos of the period, or portray it accurately as one would expect in a historical novel.
When one character visits the pyramids, we are treated to several pages on the history of pyramids. This unnecessary to the plot. It just fills pages.
There are huge plot holes. Four British/Australian agents all meet at an open-air café with a girl who is (at their request) socializing with a German intelligence agent and spying for them. How would that not blow her cover? In another questionable scene, the agents attack the residence of German agents without first posting a stakeout to determine when the bad guys would be at home. The officers are supposed to be posing as troops recovering as walking wounded, for over six months?
Sadly, I found the book … boring. After 100 pages I felt no motivation to continue reading. The characters are not engaging, and the plot drags.

Rating: I rate this book 3 out of 5 Stars . I cannot advance the grade to 4 for general readers because of the slow pace, plot holes and dismal dialog. It is not so bad as to require a grading of 2 (avoid), although many readers more familiar with WW II soldiering might want to pass on the book because of the inaccurate depiction of the military and officer-enlisted relationships.

Recommended audience: those with a particular interest in the WW II North African theater, and the Australian participation therein.

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