Mystery/Historical Fiction
Date Published: May 31, 2018
It begins with a disappearance… In the waning days of World War II, the Obake Neko is the last surviving Sen-Toku—a huge secret aircraft-carrier submarine created by the Imperial Japanese Navy. As the war comes to an end, the Obake Neko sets sail back to Japan with a cargo of unimaginable value. In the chaos of Japanese surrender, the clandestine vessel and its crew vanish in the seas of the South Pacific.
Fifty-five years after the war’s end, former U.S. Navy pilot, Bud Brennan breaks into Pearl Harbor’s submarine museum in Hawaii. Bud’s son, Mike, is still raw from the death of his wife and grappling with a new career but still jumps in to help his dad. But when Bud’s antics garner the attention of the Navy’s JAG, Mike realizes his father may possess knowledge about the near-mythical Obake Neko and its fabled cargo—knowledge that is also of great value to the Japanese Yakuza. Now, Mike must scramble to learn the whole truth of his father’s decades-old connection with the legendary Japanese submarine and fight to defend his father from relentless military authorities and deadly Yakuza operatives. Even decades later, the Obake Neko and its legendary cargo are still worth killing over.
Can Mike discover the truth and protect his dad before deadly assailants succeed in silencing Bud forever?
My Review
I really enjoyed reading this story! As a big fan of historical fiction, it was a lot of fun to read about World War II, Japan, Germany and the US in the never-ending historical battle. Mike has been dragged into one of the largest cover-up scandals in Japanese history. His father knows something about the elusive Ghost Cat submarine that sailed away from Japan’s shore and was never seen again. Not to mention the treasure they were said to have aboard.
Bud, Mike’s father, is haunted by his experience of being brought aboard the Obake Neko (Ghost Ship) and does not want to talk about it, and certainly doesn’t want any one to know about it either. As more and more people continue to come out of the woodworks, Mike rushes desperately to put all the pieces together before someone tries to kill his father over this.
A very well written story, I enjoyed the 1940’s Japanese flashbacks the most. Those characters had a lot of heart and soul into what they were doing and were, mostly, honorable men. I sometimes had a hard time keeping up with Mike as his personality is very dry and difficult to relate with, but a great character none the less. He is true to his analytical personality and I really wouldn’t want him any other way.
About the Author
David Gillespie moved to Hawaii as a teenager, where he attended public schools and graduated with a BBA and MBA from the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
Gillespie has had a varied career in Hawaii’s business community. As a consultant with a University of Hawaii program, he traveled to many Pacific Island nations. His experiences in these exotic locales, along with his keen interest and research about the Sen-Toku Japanese submarines, inform and enhance his writing.
Gillespie is retired and has taken up home improvement projects, earned a private pilot license, and works on writing historical adventure novels. He continues to enjoy life in Hawaii, his home, with his family and a tuxedo cat named Tick Tock.
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