Caution, reader!  Below is the "back stage" tour behind the book, Arcturus.  It's up

to you, of course, but you might want to read the book first, then return here

to read below.  Below the crossed scimitars, you will see how the author wove reality

with fiction.

 

    Civil war rages within Islam and spills over onto us.  A merciless minority terrorizes

broad swaths of the Muslim world.  Sometimes we may think that the USA is their sole

target.  That is not true; fascist Jihad hates broadly, tolerates no free people,  and loses

count of the nations the Jihadists lust to slaughter.  You are at war, choose it or not. 

 

                                                 

    

 

 

    America’s enemies are real. Arcturus is fiction. While Arcturus tells an imagined
story, plainly, some of the events on which the story is based are real,  including

the story behind the Arcturus’ rescue mission.

 

Places

    Pirates still prowl the Caribbean. The author conceived the story

from news accounts of lost yachts, taken and scuttled by drug-runners,

and from true accounts of people longing to escape Cuban communism.

The bitter events of 9-11-2001 added the element of Islamic terrorism.

 

    Perdido Cay exists only at a fictional latitude and longitude.  It means “Lost” Cay

—Lost Island.

 

   While the yacht Arcturus is fictitious, the Burger Flush Deck is not. The author

accurately describes the luxury yacht, and leaves you guessing (until later works)

how Gordon procured such a fine craft.  Arcturus will return.

 

    East Tennessee's rippling hills are valleys are accurately portrayed.  It's a beautiful

place to live.  You invited to visit sometime.

 

Characters

    Jack McDonald stands as a symbol for the young ordinary soldiers who

answer duty's call to perform extraordinary deeds, at great sacrifice. In naming Jack

McDonald, the author honors his own father, Donald Jack Mollenhour, once an

Air Force Second Lieutenant and bomber pilot, who died many years ago.  I wore that

young aviator's gold rank insignia bars, pinned to my own uniform on  the day I joined

the Army in 1973, 30 years after he took them off.

    Gordon Noone, spook turned spook recruiter, evokes mystery, in part, because

of his last name which, fragmented, spells “No one.” I draw from the finest of literary

tradition in naming Gordon Noone.  Ulysses tricked the Cyclops, telling the monster

that his name was "No man."  Gordon's first name also honors the author's high

school science teacher, and the last name honors the author’s mother, deceased.

   

    General Ortega is fictional.  Having said that, he is based very loosely  on the career

of  a fine young Ranger with whom the author trained, and who has gone on to serve

the United States for more than thirty years, much of this time in special operations.

General Ortega’s covert operation is based on the non-fictional, Operation Able Danger.

In no way does the author mean to imply that the real-life inspiration for General Ortega

ever ran any questionably-lawful operation.  The author’s creation of General Ortega

is meant to honor that officer and all soldiers who, like him, stayed in, put up with the

Green Machine, and spent their life in dangerous service to  the country.

 

    Major Hodges is also based on a larger-than-life, tough-as-nails British Army Major

 the author met.  He is too good a character to move on.  Brits: be assured, he will rerurn.

The author's respect for Britain shows through in Arcturus and Jack's next adventures

will have more of a UK flavor.

 

     Casteneda.  He's one reader's favorite character.  He's an enigma.  He's a lifelong

servant of communist oppression, yet he discovers deeper, truer loyalties.  He

awakens to the hope of a life of liberty.  He grows.  He's not based on any one

person; he is based on what the author imagines are the secret longings of the

Cuban people.

 

Weapons & Tactics

 

 

     The weapons chosen for use in Arcturus are authentically described.  If you like

guns, read Arcturus.  The guns of Arcturus probably would be good, sound choices

for such a cruise for the same reasons as cited by Jack.

     Having said that, tacticians from the military and law enforcement agencies love

 to argue and the author is certain that his tactical choices leave ample room for

debate. For example, some would have “upgraded” to the Uzi regardless of not having

test-fired that weapon.  My mind's open; as a Ranger Sergeant instructor used to say

when teaching a debatable tactic: "It's a technique." Have at it guys.

 

    Arcturus is more than the name of a star and a fine yacht.  Why I chose the name,

Arcturus, is explained in the book.  Arcturus and crew symbolize the post-Christian West.

The villain, Saya-Dar, symbolizes that virulent strain of the Muslim religion: authoritarian  

Islamic Jihadism. Its meanings include “protector” and “demon-possessed” but,

extrapolated to modern terrorism times, and drawing from one of its variants

(Saya-shikan), the character adopts Saya-dar specifically as "Protector of the Faithful"

by means of becoming the self-appointed "Destroyer of False Religions."  The translation

is not literal, but the author believes it is a fair extrapolation, considering the dominance of

jihadism in modern Islam.  The names--together-- represent the irreconcilable clash between

the Judeo-Christian-based West, and militant Islam, a clash that began in conquest  more

than a  thousand years ago, and shows no sign of ending.  And you thought it was just a

cool name. 

 

Historical Scenes

 

    The Queen Indiaman did carry Lucy Rand, taking the long way to India, through

the Caribbean to avoid French vessels, but burned instead of being lost to piracy.

Lucy did re-join John and they were married. The Sussex paper did carry an

account similar to that used in the novel.  The author changed the date to fit.

    While John McBan is fictitious, American vacillation over the War of 1812 was

not; nor was the Indian uprising. The British did loot and burn Washington, D.C.

The French did occupy Mexico for a time. The author could easily envision a secret

plot to re-take America, as hatched by McBan and the King.

    The arms found in the abandoned mission are cited as authentic muskets that

would have been used at the Battle of Vitoria. Their role in the story is based on

the real discovery of a preserved cache of similar, but later-manufactured,

British muskets found in India.  The account of Napoleon’s army looting Spain but

losing vast treasure during the chaos at Vitoria is true.

 

World Events

 

     The author hopes for the freedom of the Cuban people—soon.  Castro has cursed his

country and nipped at us long enough.  The rescue is fictitious, but based on a real

occurrence. There truly are vintage cars galore in Cuba, but the author does not know

if any are warehoused for future sale.  He hopes so.  By bringing attention to Cuba, the

author also thanks another former Army comrade of Cuban descent, who stayed in and

made General.

    The simultaneous truck bombings are fictitious but realistic. The author is

surprised that nothing like this has happened since 9-11-2001 and prays it

never does, but you may expect some similar attack any day. Islamic terrorism

is not going away anytime soon. The author assumes that if he could conceive of

the coordinated bombings, so can terrorists who thrive on dreaming up new

nightmares for us. Thus, the author writes Arcturus as a call to arms.

 

    Regardless of your political leanings, thanks are due to the current president,

and his administration, for preventing such bloodshed here.

    Martin and Gracia Burnham, Christian missionaries, were captured and held

by Islamic terrorists in the Philippines for over a year. Martin was killed during

the rescue that freed Gracia. Their captor was hunted down and killed by

U.S.-trained Philippine soldiers in 2007.  Hardly anyone noticed. Gracia’s written

account should make it plain that Islamic terrorists have no intention of stopping

until everyone in the World is their subject.  Everyone.  The author recommends all

Americans read her account In The Presence of My Enemies, found at

http://www.graciaburnham.org/index.asp?sec=2_1 and published by Tyndale.

    Tony Martin did go to prison for defending his farm in England.  His well-known

plight is partly responsible for some states’ enacting “castle doctrine” statutes

which reduce liability for shooting someone breaking into your home. Carson

Huskey’s construction site theft is a national epidemic, particularly where copper

wire and pipe are concerned.  The U.S. really does have a second amendment

guarantee of the right to keep and bear arms, without which, all others are mere

fleeting whims. 

    The Night Brigade is the nickname chosen for the 2^nd Brigade, 101^st Airborne

Division (Air Assault) in 1974 by Colonel Menetrey, Commanding. The name

symbolized the behind-the-lines raiding missions and the strike-from-the-sky

air mobility the division learned during the Viet Nam War.  Lots of nights in the

field.  Lots.

    Chris brought his dress uniform because Jack asked Donna to marry him.

However, here the author is taking great license. While some may differ, ship

captains lack the authority to perform marriages. It is a romantic notion,

though, is it not?                                  

  

 

M.J. Mollenhour