The author is a gift writer and yet there were parts of the novel (the love story with Amy) that where cliché; and there were some coincidences that weakened an incredible tale. The war story was gripping, authentic and thought provoking but the violence was more graphic than necessary in my opinion. I don\\\'t need to be hit on the head 50 times to know what it feels like to be hit on the head and the author just could not stop describing the atrocities that occurred. He not only repeated them over and over but in the most minute detail. If the point was to make the reader feel like it was happening to the them (reader) then he succeeded; but I was close to giving up on the book many times. TMI. I only continued because it was our Book Club selection. It was depressing and painful to read. When he described the pleasure some of the characters derived from inflicting pain I couldn\\\'t help but wonder if the author was deriving that same pleasure. The Japanese leaders in the story believe beatings, deprivation, cruelty were the only way to get the railroad built and perhaps the author likewise thought the only way for us to know this story would be to give us over and over and over again graphic descriptions of unimaginable atrocities. …as if it was for our own good.

If ¾ of the violence was edited out it still would be a powerful story and would rate another star from me.