Customer Reviews (4)

Back seat Casca
While more interesting than many of the Cascas between 13-21, this one was a little different in that Casca wasn't the main character.The chief actor in this story was Jinto Muramasa, swordsman and fugitive.Casca hitches up with him early on and throughout this book has the appearance of a passenger.

I think the writer had read too much of the Five Rings prior to writing this story and it was something more of a tourists guide to 12th century Japan rather than a typical Casca action story.It held me - just - but came up a little short of what I hoped for in a story of civil war.You just didn't get sucked into the action except maybe towards the end when both sides came together for the final reckoning.

A little too detatched for my liking and written by someone who wasn't really interested in the rest of the series.

Swords and Honor
I quite enjoyed this story, even though Casca was not clearly the main character here.He was obviously out of place in 11th century feudal Japan and maybe the writer wanted to portray this.Casca and his Japanese buddy travel to a fortress, evading capture on the way, and take part in a civil war that ends with a huge battle by the sea.Casca falls foul of a court intrigue and is banished.Nice ending.

Yet another great idea washed away...
This was another Asian adventure that I was hoping could topple the past ones. Though a tad better than his last one, not as good as The Warlord.

Barry seemed to have good ideas, but after Book #14, the series was seriously running out of steam. It saddened me then, and still saddens me now. Barry Sadler was either running out of time or ideas, or I was hoping other writers could refreshen a series that still holds alot of great adventerous potential.

Casca's Japanese adventure
Casca ends up washed ashore in feudal Japan and is taken under the wing of expert swordsman Jinto Muramasa and together the two embark on a bloody spree through Japan to bring a warlord to victory over his deadly rivals.

The passage relating to the manufacture of a sword is brilliantly done and some aspects of Japanese court ritual are interesting but sometimes the plot wears a little thin and some of it feels like its mere filling.But nonetheless its a good story and worth keeping.

For the world of Casca see www.casca.net ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

a good book
A good book about the war. so real you say that that you there with sergent rossen and captin asher and that you talked to col.tomlin ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A Razor Sharp Adventure Read!
Barry Sadler will always be best known as authoring the awesome Casca series. But he also wrote some other gems before and in between Casca novels.

This is one of them.

RAZOR reminded me alot of a Casca novel in the more modern-day era. Chock full of memorable characters of differing kinds, from mercenaries to African despots, RAZOR is a full assault adventure read that only someone like the old Barry Sadler could write with pure authenticity.

Having been there and done that, Sadler could write firsthand on such experiences as combat on foreign soil, along with what really lies beneath the heart and soul of comrades in combat. Good stuff.

I miss this amazing writer tremendously. Another solid read by him is Morituri. Check it out.

For High Octane Mercenary Adventure
Barry Sadler is known for his popular series about Casca the Eternal Mercenary, who is "cursed" by Christ to wander the earth as a soldier until His return. Razor is a conventional mercenary story with everything you'd expect. Hendricks, the mercenary leader, accepts a mission from the US governement to enter a foriegn country and rescue American civilians from a despot ruler. It's a mission with small chance of success. The story goes through the collection and training of the mercs, followed by the mission. As always, the best plans break down when implemented. With stealth, explosions, and shooting battles the story rides to a climatic end.

The story uses a familiar plot structure with a cast of stock characters. Adventure seekers will enjoy this fast paced tale. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Casca triumphs in Vietnam Hell
Not many of the later Sadler Cascas were all that good but this was one of them and it stands out because of that.Writing about Vietnam is what
Sadler feels happy with - as a former Vet he's obviously writing on home ground - and the story flows nicely because of that.

Throw in a suicide Viet Cong squad, a manic Cong commander and you have the basic ingredients for a good story.Casca pits his wits against the Colonel who sends out teams of suicide bombers and you can tell things will hot up.

The final scene in the swamps of the Cambodian / Viet coasts is grusome but spectacular all the same.

ANOTHER GOOD CASCA READ
This is a fun series.This particular book brings us back to the beginning of the first book when Casca is brought into the hospital and the tale begins.Now I will grant you that Sadler will never be up up for any big literary awards, but this story, like the other stories in the series are simply fun to read.They are true page turners for those who enjoy this genre.Actually, when you examine the facts Sadler spikes his book with, it is quite clear that he has done his home work.After Mr. Sadler passed away, the publisher has attempted to contine the series with a couple different authors.Those stories are a complete waste of time and paper.Stick with the Sadler written books.All in all I recommend this one highly.

Vietnam War conflict for Casca
This story is set right before the events that began the first book andshows how Casca came to be in the army hospital.This is about Cascatrying to stop a Viet Cong assassin squad carrying out its mission, and thepersonal duel between Casca and the Viet squad leader that has a uniqueconclusion in the crocodile infested swamps of southern Vietnam.You cantell from the dialogue and action sequences that the author had been thereand this gives the book that authentic feel that many war stories don'thave. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (38)

Let Down
Of all the poorly written books I've endured, this must rate high among them.This was the first book written after Barry Sadler's death and after a wait of something like a decade I'd have thought the people behind this franchise would have come up with a writer that honored his legacy.

However they chose this guy.Dengelegi has no conception as to what an easy read is, nor does he understand that the main character has to be a sympathetic one.Instead he makes him an incidental figure, thoughtful and hesitant.This is so opposite what Sadler made him I'm at a loss as to how this author got the job.

I keep this copy if only to preserve having the series, but it won't be read again, except maybe to remember how bad it was.Its so bad its funny.If you like slow dialogue, repetition, eating, fornicating, confused plots and getting from A to B via C, D, E and Z then this is your fare.If not, unless you're a Casca series collector forget it.

A final thought.Those who gave this book 5 stars must be the author's pals.Nobody surely could think this worth that much!

Who wrote this?
What were the owners of the Casca series thinking when they hired this no-brainer?This guy can't write, let alone carry on a series brilliantly done by a guy who knew how to grab a reader's attention and keep it.This is an action series, so why does this guy write about eating and getting fat?I also read in Sadler's books Casca can't survive underwater, but this guy says he can.So who do we believe, Sadler or this guy who knows nothing?Get rid of him stat.

Nice try but no continuity. Disappointing.
I really enjoyed the Casca series and was excited when I first heard someone was trying to continue it. As I read the book, I became dissapointed especially with the first part of the book where Casca is trapped under a sunken boat at the bottom of the ocean. In other books with similar situations, Casca would have gone into a catatonic state of sorts. For example, I believe it was Casca: The Warlord where he was buiried alive and went into a sort of deep sleep. Another book where he got trapped in an underground river and was only 'awake' when his body surfaced in areas with 'air' pockets. So, while the parts about him waiting for a fish to swim close enough for him to catch and eat were mildly interesting, it really has no continuity with other events in the overall story line. That added to the slowing of pace in the middle of the story led to my overall disappointment.

Poor story lets down expectant readers
A few years back I reviewed this book in a more positive light but after reflection I have come to the conclusion this is in fact a vast disappointment.

Dr Dengelegi is to be applauded for keeping the Casca story alive but I feel that on balance it would have been best if he had not written his two books as they are rather poor in comparison.There are five points to be raised about the Liberator as an example:

Firstly, the character of Casca is amazingly passive.Sadler wrote Casca as an action figure, a decisive man which was what made Casca the success it was.This Casca is too ponderous, thought-wracked and indecisive.It simply isn't Casca.

Secondly the volume of the book is too much; the success of Casca was to rattle through with action.Remember who the target readership are, a turgid and ponderous plot that repeats itself with copious feasting is not what we casca fans wish to read.What next, Casca The Obese?

Thirdly if anyone writes a historical novel, even if its fictional, you must get the history right.Its no good writing a book, for example, set in the American Civil War where General Jackson wins the battle of Gettysburg in 1856 for the Confederates.Its not accurate history and makes a mockery of the historical setting.Dr Dengelegi in this instance makes a right mess of things by having Europeans being contracted by an African tribesman to bring a bride to his king.The setting of this story is between the years 1434-1440 and Europe was not even aware of Benin existing at that time, let alone having an African contact them (how, I ask, did this tribesman in fact contact them anyway??).Its implausible.

Fourthly when continuing a Casca series, you must be mindful of previous novels in the same series.Dr Dengelegi did not which is a cardinal sin.He has Casca at the end of the book on deck of Vasco da Gama's ship on the voyage to India which was in 1497; in the Conquistador by Barry Sadler Casca was a prisoner in Seville between 1485 and 1517.This was unforgiveable.

Fifthly there were many irrelevencies in the story and I feel that the publishers did not take the trouble to edit it which is a pity as about 40 pages could have been taken out without much trouble without affecting the overall storyline, a reduction of something like 15% of the volume.

A poor offering for people who expected greater things.

For more Casca see www.casca.net

WAY OFF THE MARK
Being a long time Casca/Barry Sadler fan, I was quite excited when I saw and bought this one.Oh my!This book is so off the mark from the orginal series is almost made me ill.I must admit I was unable to finish the thing.I will grant you that some of Sadler's work, some of the later books, were not up to the standard of his first four, but they were never the less interesting and readable.This one is not.You would think that the publishers could come up with something better than this to continue the series with. If you are along time Casca fan, you will be quite disappointed with this one...I would recommend you not even read it and certainly don't buy it..borrow it if you must. All in all, a really bad work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Mindless
Soldier of Gideon begins in New Zealand set, so the narrative states, after Casca's escape from Vietnam and his encounter with Goldman that starts this epic series.As was stated quite categorically at the time, this occurred in 1970.

So AFTER escaping from Vietnam in 1970 Casca does some very clever time travel trick and ends up fighting in the Arab-Israeli Six-Day War which anyone with any historical knowledge knows was in 1967.This was just one crass mindless error from a ghost writer with absolutely no idea.This was quite a blatant cynical piece of publisher's exploitation of Barry Sadler's name to sell this piece of garbage.

The early narrative describes Goldman's superior officer as Landers.Barry Sadler created Landries as Goldman's senior officer, making another bad mistake by this writer.As to the content, once the team get to Israel to fight for the surrounded Jewish state, its a sequence of attack after attack.There's precious little attempt at character building, scenery description, any relief from the incessant fighting.I found it boring.

Eventually Casca has time off in Jerusalem where he manages to procure one of the missing Dead Sea Scrolls (as you do) that miraculously despicts the crucifixion scene that Casca appears in.And of course the vital bit is missing.Hardly original but I suppose that passed for an inspired piece of brilliance from this writer whose mediocrity knows no bounds.

Back to the fighting and everyone dies except Casca.Well there's a surprise.If you read Trench Soldier (Casca 21) the same plot, the same amount of fighting, the same lull in fighting followed by the same resumption in fighting and everyone else dying occurs.Same ghost writer, same result, same load of trash.

Disappointing
When I pick up a Casca book I want to read action, yes, but I also want to be entertained by a good story.This insulted my intelligence.Sad to see the series go this way but the publishers seemed to want junk junk rather than good pulp fiction.

If you like plenty of action then this is for you, but if you like a mix of a good storyline with it then forget it.I don't know about what war it was but it seemed Casca was in every battle it had.

The rundown...
I love heavily laden action/adventure stories. But this one, like quite a few latter others of this series, seemed like it was not even written by the illustrious author, Barry Sadler.

This novel was convincing me that JOVE was paying a ghost writer off as being Barry Sadler. It was that sterile. Very unlike Sadler's work.

Confused timeline and too much fighting
The thing about writing a series of historically related books is to keepa timeline as accurately as possible.In this instance the writer who tookBarry Sadler's original notes (Sadler did not complete this one) made areal mess of it.The incidents in this overdone novel relate to the 1967Six-Day War but chronologically in the Casca series it occurs AFTER 1970 (Ithink Sadler was going to write about the Yom Kippur War).Also this booktends to be one mad assault on an Arab fortress after another and it getsboring.The only relief is a brief lull in Jerusalem when Casca does a bitof reminiscing.Otherwise its really a waste of the readers time unlessyou like a Steve Spielberg-style all-action Rambo all-out war from page 1to the finish.YAWN.

Not the last, and certainly not the best.
There are two other Casca books written after this one. I really didn't care for this one as much as most of the others. Most of the story is somehow lacking in personality or any sort of imagination. I would reccomend not reading this one (or number 21 for that matter) until you have checked out the other ones in the series. Number 22 was pretty good ,if I remember correctly, as well. ... Read more

Book Description

Customer Reviews (2)

THE SHOOTER
Barry Sadler (the author of Casca and the Green Beret) doesn't dissapoint with this great book - his superb writing style and military knowledge combines well in this fast paced action/adventure novel.

Good Fun, Literary Slaughter...
Well, c'mon, I wasn't really expecting literature here, and I doubt you are either.Fortunately, literary slaughter isn't all that is going on is this yarn.This book is full of fire fights, torture, covert operations...it's got all kinds of good ol' masculine action in it.But some of the dialog is just terrible.There aren't really any deep plots, it is a pretty straight forward story, though the ending did surprise me a bit.It's not a happy tale; then again the subject matter isn't light.See the Amazon synopsis above for story basics.That said, it is a good, quick read, good for a trip or just an easy, entertaining read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (41)

Super Reader
The book opens with some US Vietnam war doctors looking at what should be a corpse, a man victim of the getting blown up thing. However, the body heals rapidly, which freaks them. It freaks them even more, when assisting with surgery to remove shrapnel they find a bronze age arrowhead. One of them has Casca's story inflicted on them.

Casca is part of the squad that executes Jesus, and because he wants to get back to a 'hot little Armenian dancer' he shoves a spear in to finish him off, given he was taking a long time kicking the bucket.

Jesus basically gives him a Chinese style curse telling him you will remain as you are then, if you are happy with it, or, you will live in a lot of interesting times.

Casca gets in a fight with a superior over the girl, ends up spending decades in a slave mine, helps out a supervisor, becomes a gladiator. Because of his immortality and work he is a lot stronger and more durable than a normal man.

Becomes a star gladiator, Nero gives him his freedom. After a two day bender he is busted by the vigiles doing the defecation and even worse abuse of a statue of Nero in the street, so Nero sends him to a slave galley. A few more decades of this, and his is back in a legion, having outlasted many emperors. Casca is not the sharpest knife in the drawer, that is for sure.

So, some more war, and Casca is getting sick of it after looking over a battlefield with 50000 dead.

He tries the suicide thing, stabbing himself in the heart, but no joy. His body rapidly ejects the sword.

The end sees him fighting in Israel, versus Arabs, in a more modern time.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

Great series, wonderful beginning
This is one of the most original concepts a series has had in many years.Taking the story of the Roman soldier who speared Jesus on the cross and making him cursed to live forever until the Second Coming was an inspired idea.This then, is the story of that man having to travel through history forever fighting.

The great thing is that the series is now continuing under a new author who appears to have got things back to where Sadler wanted (forget 23 and 24).This story here is the first century or so of Casca's life, telling how he began to understand his condition and finding years as a slave had no effect on him, and he emerges stronger from it (maybe a touch of Nietzsche - or even Milton?) and finds there are pros and cons to eternal life.

The action is spaced nicely, no overdoing it, unlike some of the later books in the series.You can't help but feel for the protagonist, having to endure some dreadful situations and knowing there is no release of death for him.

wonderful book/series
Casca: The Eternal Mercenary is a series of twenty-two books written by Barry Sadler.This series is about a guy named Casca Rufio Longinus; he was cursed by Jesus Christ. The curse is "Soldier, you are content with what you are. Then that you shall remain until we meet again."The curse means that Casca will remain as a soldier until the second coming of Jesus Christ. This is a fantastic series so far.The first book in the series is extremely descriptive, interesting, and unpredictable.
Mr. Sadler, the author, describes everything in great detail; it is so descriptive that the reader will get hooked on the book until he/she is done with it, such as when Casca describes exactly what happened the day he killed Jesus Christ.Casca says that he and the other soldiers were betting on who would take the clothes of Jesus and the two thieves, who were killed the same day.He goes on to say how he speared Jesus in the rib cage to kill him quicker, and how when he did that some of Jesus' blood ran down the spear shaft got on his lips.That is when Jesus cursed him.Casca then goes on to describe what happened after he was cursed.He describes what illnesses, injuries, and punishments he has received or avoided as he goes through his life.He also recollects what women he has married and fallen in love with, and the women that his enemies raped and killed.Casca recalls his slavery and what life was like in slavery.
This book in the series is interesting because Casca, the main character, is a depicted soldier who fought in the Vietnam War in 1970.He was injured by a piece of shrapnel which exposed an area of his brain approximately four inches long and three inches wide.Casca's body was taking steps to protect itself from infections by rapidly healing the abscess in his skull.This amazed the army surgeons, a colonel, and a major.Major Goldman, one of the surgeons, discovered that Casca's blood was deadly poison.He also discovered that Casca could speak the Latin of the Caesars.These facts are intriguing because no person who has a wound as such could heal by itself and few people at that time could speak such a tongue.Casca explained to Major Goldman about how he was cursed.While in the hospital, Casca told Goldman that he had been alive before the birth of Jesus and that he was the one ordered to kill Jesus.These are just a few of the multiple points of interest in the first book.These interesting facts came out of the first chapter.
The reader can never predict what turn of events lie in store for the soldier who lives infinitely.Every new place he goes, he receives a new name.No one knows that he is the same legendary figure because few people know that he can not die. As one progresses through Casca's life, one starts to believe that he will be dead due to a stab wound, some type of poison or sickness he incurs, but he still lives on because of the curse."Soldier, you are content with what you are.Then that you shall remain until we meet again."
This series, especially the first book arouses interest as it is interesting, descriptive, and unpredictable.I have had a wonderful experience in reading the series.I own all twenty-two books and have read the first seven so far. I recommend this series to anyone who is, has been or wants to be a soldier, or anyone who is interested in action/adventure books.

an odyssey through history!
This series by the author Barry Sadler is a modern blend of two ancient legends. The first is the legend of the roman centurion Longinus who was supposedly present at Christ's crucifixion.
He stabbed christ in the side with his spear to end his agony on the cross and afterwards he became a christian convert and a
saint.
The next legend is that of the wandering jew who was supposedly cursed by Christ to wander the world until the second coming.
The reason according to the story why he incurred the wrath of Christ was that he out of spite made a derogatory or insulting remark to Jesus as he was being led to his crucifixion.
The result of this blend has been Casca Longinus,a Roman soldier cursed by Christ to wander the world forever until the second coming.
Forever fighting,forever surviving and waiting for him to return.
This series of adventures takes our protagonist down through history from one war to another. In almost each case he endures wounds and horrible pain only to encounter more.
A strange unexplained power makes his flesh heal miraculously from all wounds inflicted and which renders it along with his blood poisonous to all other creatures man included.
His ability to outlive others makes his existence a lonely one without any lasting friendship or company. He finds himself in many cases the victim of other's brutality and hatred thus making his long existence also a harsh and violent one.
That which he desires so much eludes him and that is death,which is freedom from his brutal life and eternal peace. He is not so much a hero as he is a victim of fate in a situation not of his choice.
There is plenty of historic detail in this series much of it dealing with warfare and the military.
For those who want historic fact mixed with fiction this might be worth a try.
For fans of action adventure series in the tradition of "The Executioner" and the "A Team" this is a good recomendation.
There is plenty of fast-paced action in this series and it's guaranteed to keep you from yawning.
There are graphic descriptions of violence and gore so if if you're looking for light reading then I suggest reading Robert Fulghum instead.

Original Idea, Great Writing, Entertaining Historical Series
A while back a friend of mine mentioned something about a series of books following a man who is immortal, and this man was immortal because he was cursed to live forever by Christ as he was dying on the Cross.The man's name is Casca.Casca is a soldier of the Roman army around the time of Christ's death, sometime around 33 A.D.Casca is the soldier assigned to the mundane task of waiting for Jesus to die while he kept the small crowd around the Cross at bay.When told to finish the Jew off Casca stabs him in the side, just as the Bible tells it, but Jesus has a few words with Casca.The rest of Casca's life is then changed, and so the legend begins.Anyone interested in historical fiction and/or immortality should definitely read this book if not the entire series of 22 books spanning 2000 years.

In the Eternal Mercenary Casca life goes from soldier, to slave, to extreme popularity very quickly, but I don't want to give too much away.Read this book, the first in a long series of great stories about the man made to live until the return of the Jew.Until we meet again. ... Read more

Book Description
A new battle. A new legend in the 2-million-copy-selling series.

In medieval Venice, Casca becomes embroiled in a blood feud that sparks a war between families. But then, war is something the immortal warrior has survived before...

Casca lives on! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

Consistently bad from this author
Noticing some reviewers gave this book a better review than the first by Dengelegi I tried this one.Sadly it again failed to inspire me or bring me the same thrill I got when reading the Sadler books.This just doesn't get going and is the same mixture of confusion, slow moving storylines and Casca not being Casca as the Liberator was.

I'm glad to notice he was dropped after this, its a shame as that was two books too late.If anyone wants to learn how to ruin a series then study this.If anyone presented a publisher with this they'd be laughed out of the building.I bow to those who pick out historical faults or Casca lore faults and take their word for it.They spent far more time in picking these out than I was bothered to.One thing I did notice though was that a princess drank some of Casca's blood.I know from earlier books sadler wrote that Casca's blood was poison.This was just one typical dumb mistake from this author.

Again, this was a waste of time.

More painful reading from Dengelegi
Better than Liberator but then that wasn't hard.The book cover had nothing to do with the contents of the book, always a sign nobody at the publisher cared jack about it.Maybe they read the start, gave up bored and sent it out.This guy would have ruined Casca if he'd carried on any longer.I can't believe anyone gave this 5 stars, they must be the writer's buddies.

Painful dialogue, it moved so slowly you were screaming at him to get on with it.[...].The storyline went something like Casca is in Venice, saves Marco Polo from drowning, sits around saying little, gets dragged aspassenger on some long journey, [...], has some buddies die on him.They then get stuck in a snowstorm that lasts for months (but the old guys in a tent survive - huh??).Casca dreams about his childhood.He gets to China, does the wild thing with some girl, sees lots of important guys and saves the empire from revolt.

He seems to accidentally fall into things and never plans anything.He's like some luggage carried around by everyone else.This isn't Barry Sadler's Casca.Its some hobo from the streets with a sword.

Better, but still a way to go
I have to admit that this is better than his original attempt at this series. The battles are muchimproved. The problem is that he is still overly descriptive of areas of the story that really does not require it. I found myself skipping pages again.When a reader has to skip pages for a lack of interest, you loose the reader's attention. Sadler had the ability to reach out and pull you into the story, and when you did come up for air or food you were ready to dive back in immediately. In this book, ofttimes I found myself on the outside looking in, and I really didn't care if I finished. The author also had a tendency to stray from the story and loose the plot for a while, which confused me at times.

I'm sorry but if this author makes another attempt at this series I doubt I will read it.

Defiant to the End!
This latest Casca novel, the 2nd in this new authors Casca tryout, is still unfortunately coming up short.

Barry Sadler's Casca novels were fantastic pulp hero type action novels, filling a groove for readers that loved such short novels like Conan the Barbarian could truly appreciate.

Out of all of Sadler's writing ventures, only Casca really shined like a well polished blade. I still own all of the series.

I am glad and humbled that someone has tried to take up the huge writing reins to continue this series. A solid writer could well take on this saga, giving hungry old readers of the series - as well as new ones - new adventures of Casca, the eternal mercenary. There are hundreds of untold times to pick and choose from.

As much as I admire someone making an attempt, this author has come up somewhat short of just making a Sadler pulp adventure story. He shows potential, however. Practice makes perfect.

Well, one hopes anyway.

Better but still not Sadler
Paul Denegelegi's second Casca book is markedly better than the first but still contains a little too much over descriptive passages, making the book a little heavy at times.This story has Casca meeting a young Marco Polo in Venice and then accompanying him to China and the court of Kubilai Khan and he enjoys many adventures there.

Dengelegi writes well when battles are decribed but all too often there seems to be a little wandering from the main plot which detracts from the storyline.Sadler wrote in an all-action mode and this is what Casca fans really want, not a ponderous storyline which is why Denegelegi attracts a lot of criticism.

One thing I particularly disliked was the final part where the writer attempted to connect this book's storyline with the beginning of his first book and in the process contradicted Sadler's storyline for the character.Careless and with a little more care this would have been avoided. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

'The Animal' is Classic Barry Sadler!
Being a huge fan of this author's hugely successful Casca series, I happend upon this little gem in the library.

The Moi, or 'animal' in vietnamese language, is about what Sadler knew best - the vietnam war and the American fighting soldier.

But there is a great twist. Instead of just showing and telling the reader about an American Green Beret's struggle as a POW, he also gives us great insight on the political and personal viewpoints of the 'enemy'. Great stuff.

Barry Sadler proves once again here that he was at the top of his game - and had personal knowledge of such things as war.

Along with its ramifications on 'both sides'. Often times hard to read of the American POW's abuse, still The Moi is a gripping tale of a man's inner strength when dealt a horrible hand, being caught by the Viet Cong and being humiliated and tortured and starved by a sadistic viet cong commander - who was fully trained by the US military itself!

A must read. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

The series begins to dilute
Up to this one the Casca series held me, the stories were well written with good characters and the stories pulled you into them and you were, like Doctor Goldman, sent on a journey.But this one kept you out.Some of the storyline was good, but it was far too brief and sketchy and written hastily, particularly the last quarter.

Some of the characters were introduced and then discarded like some fast food carton.I don't want to read that; I want characters that stand up like Gus and Glam.The book jacket details were wrong too.Describing Casca soaked in blood was way off - he was soaked in the wacky weed and vodka, yes.He killed once as as assassin and some others whilst trying to get himself out of the various fixes he got into.But hardly buckets of blood as the book jacket said.This was the first of the series that descended into the mindless doctor waiting room junk reading material, and sadly wasn't the last.

Ghost writing....?
This novel started out fantastic - like many others - but then fell way short of expectation of fans. I like that Casca got hooked on hashish. That made him come across as totally human, especially for modern-day people reading about someone in the distant past getting hooked on drugs that are used now in out world.

But hardcore fans could detect a writing change in the series. Was this co-written with another? It certainly seemed so. Although not his worst, far from his best.

NOT THE BEST IN THE SERIES
I gave this one three stars rather than the two I probably should, due simply to the fact that it is a Casca book and is supposedly by Sadler.This is number thirteen in the series and is certainly not up to the good read the first several books were.I rather think I agree with the other reviewer here in that I suspect that this was, at least in part, written by someone other than the author, i.e. Sadler.The story seems rather thrown together and almost follows some sort of formula.Certainly the spirt of Casca was not there.On the other hand, reading it did me no real harm, it was kinda fun, and only took a couple of short sessions.Recommend it simply as it is a part of the series, but don't expect too much out of this one. On the other hand again, it is still far, far better than the recent two attempts by the publisher to bring back Casca.

The Assassin
Further to my review below it seems to me that many of Sadler's later books were written by ghost writers as the style widely differed.In this book it first began to be noticeable, and really is a bit too neatly packaged, particularly at the end where everything is neatly and conveniently tidied up.Its a little too unbelievable which spoils the storyline.

Otherwise the story is ok, without being anywhere near the classic of early Sadlers in this series.

for more Casca see www.casca.net

Casca The Assassin is Assassinated
I was quite disappointed with this story - it had the feel of being rushed through and had far too many convenient meetings and solutions at the end.Some of Sadler's books are good in parts, others good all through.This was assassinated after about one third of the way in!Maybe it waswritten in one afternoon and there were cakes in the oven... not one of hisbest but a few good points?Well, the induction into the Assassins waswell written and the Arabic characterization was good. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Sentinel keeps series going well
This story was well written, albeit with a little confusion at the start.The plot takes in the confrontation between the Brotherhood and Casca and his fight to keep them off his family.Set against this is a war he has to fight in Africa in post-Roman times and you have the right mixture of adventure, action and exotic locations this series needs as its lifeblood.

The suspense builds to its inevitable climax and the chase sequence at the end rivals any modern day car chase.Good stuff.Pity many later ones lacked this vitality.

Casca's Brotherhood confrontation
This book covers the late 5th/early 6th centuries in Byzantine Constantinople.Casca begins by saving an Alpine village from raiders then falls asleep for decades in a cave of ice ("The Sentinel").After saving the village yet again Casca is claimed by a young girl Ireina who is pregnant after being raped.They travel to constantinople and Casca joins the army.Meanwhile the girl and her son are captured by the Brotherhood and things go pear-shaped for everyone.I won't spoil the ending but its bloody, as you'd expect any Sadler story to be.

One of his last good books, this is a story of revenge. ... Read more