Recompense: A World War II Novel

The time: 1944. The place: the wilds of New Guinea. The assignment: bring about the downfall of the Japanese fighting forces.

Of all the heroes who contributed to the defeat of the Japanese in World War II, none remain as shrouded in mystery—still to this day—as the Coastwatchers. Born of a rag-tag group of observers and informants living throughout Australia, New Zealand, and the many island chains of the South Pacific, the Coastwatchers were comprised of ordinary people who risked capture, torture, and death to uncover and relay vital information of the enemy to the authorities.

Against this backdrop of conflict, intrigue, and secrecy, Russ Hamachek has framed a poignant story of a son’s love for a father lost. His youth and passion prompt him to make a tragic decision, plunging him into danger and disgrace, and taking the reader on a roller-coaster ride of emotion and suspense that continues until the very last page.

With its fast-paced dialogue (including Aussie rhyming slang), fully drawn characters, rousing battle scenes, and riveting courtroom drama, Recompense gives an eye-opening and thrilling glimpse into the lives of real-life heroes who fought and won the war in the Pacific.

With the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Russ Hamachek left his teaching post at the Midshipmen’s School at Northwestern University to become a PT boat captain for the New Guinea-bound Squadron 8, service for which he received the Silver Star. Back stateside, he was assigned as an instructor at PT Shakedown in Miami (along with Jack Kennedy, among others) and later given command of Motor Torpedo Boat Squadron 39, which shipped out to the Philippines to participate in the proposed invasion of Japan. After the war, Russ left the Naval Reserve to pursue a successful career in business, from which he retired at age sixty. He and his wife, Margaret, divide their time between homes in Portland, Oregon, and Tucson, Arizona.