The World Played Chess: A Novel

The World Played Chess is the fourth stand-alone novel by best-selling award-winning American author, Robert Dugoni. In early 1967, eighteen-year-old William Goodman joins the Marines and goes to Vietnam. In mid-1979, eighteen-year-old Vincent Bianco graduates from high school and works aa a builder's labourer to save money for college.

In 2015, lawyer and father of two, Vincent Bianco watches his eighteen-year-old son Beau going through the same process of graduating high school and heading for college. When he receives, in the mail, the journals that his friend William wrote detailing his experience in Vietnam, he recalls the wisdom this man passed on while they worked together.

As well as chronicling the events of that final summer with his high school friends, including a few close calls, his own journals of the time recorded his encounters with William, a man clearly afflicted by what was only just then being recognised as PTSD from his service year. Vincent wonders if experiences contained within these journals, his and William's, which reveal the stark differences in their journeys to manhood, will help him prepare his son for this challenging time in his life.

William describes rude awakening that is training, the overwhelming fear that guerrilla warfare entails, the shock of watching the men he carefully refers to as platoon mates die in front of him: calling them friends would only increase the pain. And, after months in the Vietnamese jungle, the difficulty adjusting to 'normal' life: too luxurious, too comfortable, too quiet, the food too good, the lights too bright, for any of it to seem real; and the attitude and expectations of society, a burden.

The format of alternating journal entries gives William's immediate perspective on what he experiences in Vietnam as well as then offering them in recall, with any insight gained, as Vincent hears them told. Occasionally interspersed with these are Vincent's narrative as a father, reflecting with surprise and pride on how Beau handles the trials life throws at him.

Dugoni's characters have an authentic feel: they display very human flaws but develop, learn and mature from what they have to face. He gives them wise words and perceptive observations, and rewards time invested in these characters with a moving, thought-provoking and uplifting read.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Lake Union Publishing.