Batavia
by Peter Fitzsimons
Betrayal. Shipwreck. Murder. Sexual Slavery. Courage.
A Spine-Chilling Chapter in Australian History
What an amazing read. It is going to be very hard in 2025 to top this book. I picked it up on a whim, thinking it might be better than many of the historical fiction books I've tried about Ships and their crew. Wow, what a read.
The story was as gory and devilish as promised, but for me it was how the author told the story that made it memorable. Mr. Fitzsimons first gives the historical setup. Then he introduces us to the key players with their likes and dislikes which eventually play out in the most treacherous of ways.
This book is not for the weak of heart reader. I was informed of this in book reviews beforehand but took it lightly. I now know better and forewarn those tackling this misadventure after me.
Warning: There is a monster within these pages. One the likes of which you might never have come across in your past reading. I especially warn mothers and some fathers who choose to read "Batavia," children are not spared from the jaws of this monster. He is a terminator. And as in the 1984 movie "The Terminator":
"It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop... ever, until you are dead!"
What I liked about so monstrous a setting as Batavia's Graveyard is how you are placed on the island with the predators and prey, not knowing what horrendous incident is to come next. You have about as much hope as the prey do for rescue, but violence, death, thirst, hunger and weakness have drained you all of hope. Everyone is functioning in survival mode, including you the reader. Everyone, that is, with the exception of the Monster. For he merely entertains himself by having those who fear him carry out the violence unto death.
Meanwhile, the surviving prey are on the clock awaiting a rescue which is taking too long. Some discover a hero and hope in one man who organizes a group on a neighboring island where they were put by the Monster and meant to perish. But a showdown is inevitable between our hero and the Monster. And should the Monster succeed in his devious plans, the killing will continue until even the arriving rescuers are slaughtered and all opposition silenced.
I actually stayed up late on multiple nights turning the pages of this easy-to-read adventure/horror story. Maybe knowing the historical truth to the story added to my interest. I challenge anyone to start this book and put it down for more than 48 hours. You can't. You'll want to know what happens next and what evil ways and methods of killing will the monster come up with next. You can't believe some of the vicious things that have taken place in the book, yet you can't turn away from its pages.
Seeing the Monster's Mutineers carry out his every evil wish is very disturbing, and yet you read on. Because it reminds us of the evil influence one human being can have on a group of human beings. Also, it shows us what lengths fearful people are willing to go to when threatened with violence and/or violent death. And really, how can we judge any of these folks. We can try putting ourselves in their shoes, but there is simply no way of knowing how any of us reading this today would handle such a brutal predicament. Given the choice to kill a defenseless person or be killed yourself, what would you choose?
The challenge I had in reading this book was in some of the similar Dutch character names. The author does an excellent job of immediately translating anything written in Dutch, but the common Dutch names shared by some individuals did pose a bit of a challenge. But, in the long run, name identification wasn't as important as whether the person had joined the Monster's Mutineers. You knew them by their murder committed.
What really mattered most, thanks to the connect-the-dots, storytelling author, was what was happening on the page I was reading at the moment. Because every page seemed to add to what happened earlier or would happen later. The book kept me on alert for both past and future pieces to the puzzle. However, when innocent men, women, and children, with no chance of escape, are selected to be viciously slaughtered by a Monster, a story about being marooned on a desert island is taken to a whole other level. The only rhyme or reason to the madness lies with the Monster.
Yes, Jeronimus Cornelisz is every bit the monster as told of in book reviews and comments. But until one tastes the actions of said monster, one is like an atheist until his/her life is touched by a humbling God. So, tread cautiously should you choose to venture along with this Australian Bestseller by Peter Fitzsimons. Once you read what men are capable of under the leadership of a tyrannical beast like Jeronimus, you might never again let down your guard amongst so ambitious and inhumane narcissists in any leadership role, much less that of political leadership.
