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Palawan by C. D. Williams

October 25th, 2007 by Andrew Ian Dodge

Palawan
C D Williams

A little under 250 pages with a nice tropical scene on the cover might lead you to believe that this was a fluffy little novel about romance in the South Seas. And that is just the point of the cover, to lure you into this rip-roaring thriller with Islamic terrorists and ‘Nam vets. Locals as diverse as the lush tropical jungle of the Philippines and Sin City aka Las Vegas add to a nice mixture here.

This is a great thriller that never once drags anywhere. The pace is quick, the novel is well laid out and the editing is better than most mass market paperbacks. The fact that Williams has pulled off a timely terrorist thriller with more pace and less verbiage than the mighty Tom Clancy is to be applauded.

This is a perfect novel for someone flying from the East Coast of the US to Vegas. A perfect travel novel that has enough to get you distracted but not enough to get turgid. I highly recommend this novel and feel almost intimidated that this is Williams' debut.

The novel would make a perfect movie, as long as Williams could make sure the baddies stay the same. Methinks there is a great script right below the surface. Let me assure you that it does not read like a script made into a novel.

The rescue of two young captives on the remote island of Palawan leads to a hunger for revenge by the leader of a terrorist group who follows his victims from Manila to Las Vegas in search of satiation. In Palawan, first time novelist C. D. Williams illustrates the reach of terror as it extends beyond politics and religion into the personal.

Lisa Sutton is a new college graduate who has accepted a missionary internship on Palawan, a sparsely inhabited island in the Philippine archipelago, run by a reverend and his wife. One evening Lisa is abducted along with her sponsors and a young man named Marty, who came to the island to dive with his friends. The kidnappers are members of the Abu Sayyaf, a terrorist group with connections to Al Qaeda. Once the captives are secured in a remote village, the group's leader, Commander Omar Ali Hassan, releases a video of the four and makes demands to the Philippine and United States governments in exchange for their lives.

This book cannot be read without recalling news clips of captives in Iraq over the last few years. Through his characters, the author provides a realistic depiction of the fear and anguish real-life victims must have experienced.  There is also a frightening characterization of an Al Qaeda devotee in Commander Omar Ali: He becomes obsessed with his goals of destruction and credits every violent success to Allah. Where the story departs from reality is in the execution of retribution by the victims.

Williams creates scenes in vivid detail. Most appealing are the descriptions of the tropical forests of Palawan and the fire power used by both the good and bad guys. Equally intriguing are the violent death scenes that, initially, catch the reader by surprise and, like the mangled remains of a fiery car accident, demand a second glance. After their rescue, the youngest victims start a business and a life together, but learn that they are still not safe. As Marty and Lisa take steps to protect themselves, the author continues to paint meticulous pictures that, on occasion, move a little too fast and tell a little too much too soon. A slower pace would have had readers in a tizzy by the time the glorious ending was reached.

Palawan is filled to the hilt with action, military history, and true- to-life terror. Williams has accomplished a solid first effort and clearly has the talent and capacity to achieve success as a writer.

Melissa Levine

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