Review by juliusotieno02 -- A Police Action by A. A. Freda

juliusotieno02 · Post by **juliusotieno02** » 12 May 2019, 01:44

[Following is a volunteer review of "A Police Action" by A. A. Freda.]

4 out of 4 stars

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A Police Action by A. A. Freda is a historical fiction novel which takes us through the normal life of a soldier.It also takes us through the Vietnam War including the challenges these soldiers face while trying to bring stability in Vietnam.

James Coppi goes to a club the first weekend after reporting to the army headquarters. She meets Samantha Powers, a beautiful lady who openly expresses her interest in him.They leave the club and head straight to a motel room where their love affair begins. She later reveals to him that she is pregnant, not for him, but for another man she didn't even know. Coppi takes responsibility and helps her through her troubles: He takes an initiative of looking for a doctor who performs a safe abortion. He even further help her by securing an apartment for her so that she doesn't have to stay with her friend, Kathy, anymore. The affair grows stronger with Coppi sneaking out of the camp to meet his girlfriend and receiving a couple of punishments every now and again.Just few months are remaining before the army leaves for Vietnam to engage in a war which the government calls a police action. Love continues growing in Samantha's heart while Coppi remains indifferent and undecided on this love thing. Will Samantha remain faithful throughout the war, for six months? It also takes us through the Vietnam War including the challenges these soldiers face while trying to bring stability in Vietnam. Will Coppi survive the war and maybe change for a better and responsible man?

Having worked as a soldier, A. A. Freda gives us a detailed life of a soldier as well as the challenges the soldiers face due to incompetence of the managers. Using a fictional character, Coppi, he takes us through the routine life of a typical soldier and proves the ancient belief in the three Ws: war, wine and women. There are several themes in this book. The most evident is the theme of war and conflict. While war is only depicted when the soldiers leave for Vietnam, several conflicts are evident throughout the novel; from the misunderstandings between Coppi and the other offers to the minor conflicts between Sam and Coppi. Another major theme is love and romance. The writer takes us through the private lives of Coppi and Sam with explicit romantic sex scenes.

Having read the book, I must admit that I really loved how developed the main characters were. The life of Coppi, for example, was one full of troubles. But his simple way of finding their solutions made him a likable character. Samantha, on the other hand, had a relatively dark past but she makes up for it and completely transforms after meeting Coppi. This also makes her likable. The use of humour, especially when the soldiers were conversing, also added a taste to this novel. At this point, though I found a few typos and punctuation errors, I must say that the book was very well edited.

On the other hand, I didn't find some things pleasing, majorly due to my personal taste. For instance, the book was written in present simple tense. I believe it would have been more impressive if it were written in past simple tense.Furthermore, the book had several explicit sex scenes which, in my opinion, didn't add any value to the story. I also noticed that the first part of this book had a disjointed storyline which may scare some readers.

To conclude, A. A. Freda made a really interesting book with an excellent plotting and character development. I therefore award A Police Action 4 out of 4 stars. Due to the constant use of swearing words and explicit sex scenes, this book may not be suitable for children bellow 16 years old. People who hold a strict opinion against abortion, alcoholism and promiscuity may also find the book uninteresting to read.

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A Police Action
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danielleamy · Post by **danielleamy** » 30 May 2019, 06:24

I'm not usually fond of historical fiction, however with the element of romance, I'm more inclined to try this. Thanks for the review, I'll consider reading this one!

juliusotieno02 · Post by **juliusotieno02** » 30 May 2019, 06:46

danielleamy wrote: ↑30 May 2019, 06:24 I'm not usually fond of historical fiction, however with the element of romance, I'm more inclined to try this. Thanks for the review, I'll consider reading this one!

With A Police Action, you'll never get disappointed. I honestly don't take it for granted that you commented on this post. Thanks so much.