Twentieth Century Limited Book One - Age of Heroes

Jan David Blais

Description

Overcoming disabling injuries, Vietnam vet Paul Bernard becomes an award-winning journalist and television newsman. Known for holding a mirror to American society and long critical of the radical right, after 9-11 Bernard attacks the Bush administration for Osama bin Laden's escape and leading the nation into a disastrous war. On assignment in Iraq, Bernard is killed under suspicious circumstances. Interwoven with the account of his life is an interview of his mentor, Professor Augustus F.X. Flynn, by a magazine writer profiling him. Frustrated by Washington's inaction, the two set out to find the truth about the killing.

Book One tells of Paul Bernard's coming of age, his Canadian immigrant roots, the patriotic and religious intensity of the early years. Then through the devastation of Vietnam to recovery and return, immersion in the New York newspaper scene, his family life. Twentieth Century Limited Book Two - Age of Reckoning, continues and completes the story.

Sujets

• Historical
• Fiction

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 21 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781623463557
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

TWENTIETH CENTURY
LIMITED
 
A NOVEL
 

 
BOOK ONE ~ AGE OF HEROES
 
JAN DAVID BLAIS
 
 
highpoint press
TWENTIETH CENTURY LIMITED – A NOVEL
BOOK ONE ~ AGE OF HEROES
Grateful acknowledgement is made for permission to reprint from the following copyrighted works. A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea , by William, Archbishop of Tyre, copyright © 1955 Columbia University Press, reprinted with permission of the publisher. The March of Folly , by Barbara Tuchman, copyright © 1984 by Barbara W. Tuchman, reprinted with permission of the publisher, Ballantine Books, a division of Random House/Bertelsmann. The Great Pretender , by Buck Ram, copyright © 1955 by Panther Music Corp., copyright renewed, used by permission.
TWENTIETH CENTURY LIMITED – A NOVEL. BOOK ONE ~ AGE OF HEROES copyright © 2012 Jan David Blais. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations in critical articles and reviews. For information, address Highpoint Press, P.O. Box 50, Watertown MA 02471.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication
(Provided by Quality Books, Inc.)
Blais, Jan David.
Twentieth century limited : a novel / Jan David Blais.
v. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
CONTENTS: bk. 1. Age of heroes -- bk. 2. Age of reckoning.
LCCN 2012910144
ISBN-13: 978-1477598375 (bk. 1)
ISBN-10: 1477598375 (bk. 1)
1. United States--History--20th century--Fiction. 2. Political fiction. 3. Suspense fiction. I. Title.
PS3552.L3468T84 2012 813’.54
QBI12-600147

Cover design by Nieshoff Design, Lexington, Massachuset ts. Published in eBook format by Highpoint Press, P.O. 50 Watertown, MA 02471. Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-6234-6355-7
ALSO BY JAN DAVID BLAIS
Twentieth Century Limited – A Novel. Book Two ~ Age of Reckoning. Highpoint Press 2012. Available as a trade paperback and in electronic versions.
Flight Path - A Novel. Highpoint Press, 1996. Reissued as a trade paperback and in electronic versions, Highpoint Press 2012.

 
 
For Barbara, Annie and Andrew

Author’s Note
A number of people were kind enough to comment on the manuscript and provide advice. Andrew Blais, Annie Blais, Ed Dence, Richard Griffin, Dennis Hanlon, Jamileh Jemison, Susan Keane, John Laschenski, Nicole Malo, Willa Marcus, Lindsay Miller, Larry Pettinger, Michael W. Settle, Peter Steiner, and Charles Tuttle. And a special thank you to John S. Corcoran for review and editing above and beyond. Also Mary Sullivan and Chris Walsh for editing and copy editing, Pat Nieshoff of Nieshoff Design for cover and book design, and Nina Johannessen of Blue Iris Webdesign for website design and construction. And Paula Blais Gorgas for her suggestions and enthusiasm throughout. To everyone, named and unnamed, who encouraged me in this enterprise, my heartiest thanks. Needless to say, the author is solely responsible for any errors the book may contain.
In writing Twentieth Century Limited, numerous books, articles, online and other resources were helpful. A list can be found in the Works Consulted section at the back of Twentieth Century Limited Book Two – Age of Reckoning . Other invaluable resources included Wikipedia, Britannica Online, the New York Times Online Archives, delanceyplace, and search services of Yahoo and Google.
Disclaimer
This is a work of fiction. It is entirely a product of the author’s imagination. Except for obvious references to known individuals, existing institutions and companies, and publicly-reported events, any resemblance to actual individuals, institutions, companies, or events is entirely coincidental. Because of the nature of the story – featuring print and television journalists who report the news – of necessity it makes reference to the real people who made that news, and events they were involved in. Where such newsmakers are quoted or paraphrased, the author has attempted to report their quotations or the gist of their remarks accurately. In some instances, interviews of real people by fictional characters are depicted in the story, as well as other interactions. These interviews and interactions and the dialogues they relate are entirely fictitious; the words, quotations, thoughts and impressions related are solely the invention of the author. Even here, however, the author has attempted to ascribe positions and remarks to these real newsmakers consistent with those they were reported as making in other contexts.
 
Watertown, Massachusetts – June 2012

“ Q. Why did God make you?
A. God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”
The Baltimore Catechism
“ No experience of the failure of his policy could shake his belief in its essential excellence.”
Said of King Philip II of Spain. Quoted in Barbara Tuchman, The March of Folly.
“ Compliance wins friends; truth, hatred.”
Proverbial. Quoted by William, Archbishop of Tyre in “The Problems and Motives of the Historian,” from A History of Deeds Done Beyond the Sea.
PROLOGUE

Prologue
SOMESVILLE, MT. DESERT ISLAND, MAINE. SEPTEMBER 2003 . The old man replays the tape for what, the tenth time? The twentieth? Bright sky and desert plain, blue and beige, plumes of dense smoke in the distance. Pan left to a reporter holding a microphone. In khaki pants and open shirt, he is hatless in the brutal mid-day sun. As the camera closes in the viewer is drawn to the eyes, dark as the behind.
“To wrap up,” he is saying, “another insurgent attack. How many fill-ups did the desert take back today? How many SUVs will run dry? Not long ago George Bush assured us a rejuvenated Iraq would pay for this trillion-dollar adventure of his, but like many of his promises, this one’s fading fast and will be forgotten unless we ask the tough questions.” The reporter’s head and shoulders now fill the screen, a faint smile crossing the familiar face. “Rest assured, ladies and gentlemen, we will continue to ask them. Paul Bernard, ETVN News, reporting from the desert outside Basra, Iraq. So long for now.”
The man jabs the remote and the VCR whirs to a stop. He slips in a second cassette and the screen fills. Vehicles at crazy angles, the smoldering carcass of a Humvee, a light truck with a red cross, an SUV, more Humvees, a med-evac helicopter. Uniformed personnel stand around. Two choppers hover above the scene, heavy with dust.
“All but one person in the Humvee were killed,” a voice is saying, “airlifted out within minutes of the attack. DOA on arrival at the medical facility in the Green Zone. Paul Bernard was one of them. Unbelievable. I can’t find the words. ETVN’s Middle East Bureau Chief survived but is in critical condition with burns over eighty percent of his body. They say he has a remote chance of pulling through. An officer riding in the lead vehicle told ABC News the attack came from over that hill,” the screen shows a rise behind the road. “Most likely a rocket-propelled grenade commonly used by the insurgents, it made a direct hit on the third Humvee in line. Military personnel spotted a vehicle taking off and gave chase. Choppers were called in but the attackers had too big a lead. At last word, there’s been no contact. From the Baghdad Airport Road, Ed Barkley, ABC News.”
The man tosses the remote at the sofa. It bounces off and clatters to the floor. Leave it, he says, cursing softly. He shuffles across the darkened room and bumps against the desk at the far wall. He snaps on a lamp. The study is cluttered – books, awards, diplomas, photographs, residue of a life of scholarship. He settles heavily into his chair, shiny, creased leather, impetuous purchase the day of his appointment a half a century ago to the History faculty. The desk is cluttered – books, folders, work in progress, work abandoned. Looking around the room, his gaze settles on the television, now dark, and he begins to weep. “These next days,” he whispers, “must rally, must make it through.”
ST. ANN’S CEMETERY, CRANSTON, RHODE ISLAND, TWO DAYS LATER. The storm didn’t rate a name, yet how the heavens opened. The second I get out of the car, up comes the wind, people wrestling with their umbrellas and now it’s coming down in buckets. Invitation only. TV trucks outside the gate here, police keeping them out. But for the weather, those damned news choppers would be following us around, too. The memorial next month in New York, that’ll be big, but you won’t find me there.
Climbing a small rise I hear the ropes groan, the canvas flap. Inside the tent, rain drowns out the priest as he commits Paul to the earth whence he came. Dust thou art and so on and so forth – more like mud today. Cronkite is here, Peter Jennings too, Dave Carney who I greeted earlier. Next come the pallbearers – his son Peter, spitting image of his father, old friend Pat, others I don’t recognize, maybe from the newspaper or the network. No sign of Hamid, or of the French woman either, a class act, that one. My eyes are full as they take hold of the tape. Hand over hand, down it goes. Now the daughter has the shovel and the wife comes forward, former wife that is. Have as little as possible to do with her. Others go up but not me. Need to know your place – all too rare, these days.
Now the group is breaking up. There’s a reception at the sister’s but I won’t be going. Volvo’s letting me know it wants to go north and I couldn’t agree more. All of a sudden I feel this tap on my arm – a young man, at least under that stupid hat he looks young.
“Professor Flynn?” he says.
“None other,” I reply.
He sticks out his hand. “Jonathan Bernstein.”
By now, I am getting soaked trying to put my umbrella back up. He reaches for it. “Here, let me give you a hand.”
I pull it back. “The day I can’t put my umbrella up they’ll be putting me in the ground.” I am thinking water’s gotten in the works, with the wind and all. Finally, he gets