By Jeremy Aquino, Courier Staff Writer
The Last Red-Line Brig, by Peter Carini, is set in the 60’s and is about a U.S. Naval corpsman (medic) named Joe Carini.
Throughout the book, Joe belongs to a brig (prison), gets into several fights, disobeys orders to help his patients, and steals supplies from the hospital for his diabetic grandmother. Joe was never caught–until he got in trouble for marrying an officer, who was not allowed to fraternize.
As a result, Joe is transferred 50 miles away to Camp Pendleton, where he becomes a medic for the All-Marine Red-Line Brig. Joe tries to survive in a hostile environment where the prisoners are hostile towards him and the guards are out to get him. The nightmare is controlled by a marine named Major Luca, who tries to make Joe’s life hell in the brig.
As a medical and prison drama, this story is intended for people interested in the military. Also, anyone interested in history, particularly in the 60’s and the Vietnam War, should consider this book.
The book was originally inspired by Peter Carini’s father, who wanted to put his own military experience into words. His wish was that the book would come out before his buddies from Vietnam died. For the most part, the book is accurate with what actually happened, though the author changed the names of some people and rearranged some events to make the storyline more cohesive.
Peter Carini is an English teacher at James Logan High School. In the future, Carini plans to write a bookion a different genre, such as a dystopian, sci-fi, or fantasy novel.