THE LAST DETAIL

by Darryl Ponicsan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 28, 1970

Sad, sad, grindingly sad, but this tale of how the military establishment strangles the pure in heart is most likable if elementary. Billy ""Bad-Ass"" (white) and ""Mule"" Mulhall (black), both Petty Officers from Norfolk Naval Base, land the soft duty as ""chasers,"" escorting a prisoner to Portsmouth (N.H.) Naval Prison. The prisoner turns out to be Larry Meadows, a terrified eighteen-year-old, a helpless kleptomaniac who had been sentenced to eight years for stealing lorry dollars from the commissary store--obviously the victim of a brass hang-up. Gently, paternally, Billy and Mule (a brace of astonishingly nice guys) set out to make the last days of their innocent, lonely charge memorable. After a dreary visit to Larry's slovenly, unloving mother, they hit the sailor havens of New York and Boston--from sightseeing and comradeship with Billy's sometime girl to a whorehouse and a farewell outdoor picnic. It's all open and affectionate and boyish--but then they go through the motions and Mule and Billy do take the frightened Larry, lost and doomed, to what will be years of relentless brutality. Realization comes too late and the pair's unpremeditated AWOL leads to Billy's death and prison for Mule. Cinema-bound, and rightfully so.

Pub Date: Sept. 28, 1970

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Dial

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1970

Categories: FICTION