Trafford Publishing: Oath of Allegiance

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Oath of Allegiance

by Peter Jonas

325 pages; quality trade paperback (softcover); catalogue #03-0617; ISBN 1-4120-0248-6; US$26.50, C$32.00, EUR22.00, £15.50

A teenage girl and a boy survival story in the late 18th century in Nova Hollandia (Australia). The story will continue in South America's jungles and the adventure has a happy ending and a hint to be continued.

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about the book about the author sample excerpts catalogue info

About the Book

Our story begins in 1770 in New Holland- later renamed Australia. The first settlers arrived there as a result of an unsuccessful mutiny. In those days mutinies were punished very severely, either by death or deportation. The sailors received the latter punishment. Their settlement started out with incredible difficulties, but during the following 25 years they managed to build a neat little town.
As they explore the new continent they found gold, which had no value in the wilderness. Upon reconnecting with the outside world after 25 years, this very wealth of gold would be the reason for the complete destruction of the settlement.
A teenage girl and a boy were to be the only survivors. A long series of adventures awaited them until they managed to escape their captors thousands of miles from their homeland. During their adventurous journey, with slave hunters, cannibalistic Papuans, and bloodthirsty convicts on their heels, they had to prove, time and time again, that they had the ability to survive and find a home for themselves one day.

About the Author

Peter Jonas was born in Budapest, Hungary, 1967 and moved to the U.S. in 1988. The Oath of Allegiance is his first attempt to get published in the United States. Peter has written several novels and a science-fiction novel "Mission to Mars" was his first work in 1981. The following three books were written for children, and included "Just say HURRAY to Vacation" in 1983, "The Prairie Hunter" in 1984, and "The Secret of the Cave" in 1986. The story "The Big Blue Azure Diamond" written in 1987 is a fun mystery/adventure book.
The author has the gift of being able to vividly visualize what he reads and he is able to make others see it as well through his writings.

Sample Excerpts

DEDICATION
I am Peter Jonas, a native of Hungary, a small European country. Hungary is a dry country; we don't have oceans or seas. We do have a history when we had three seas, but when I was born in 1967 the only thing left was the imagination of it. Imagination to travel the unknown, to great distances. But the biggest challenge of all is to travel back in time over 200 years, when most of the world is still unknown. I would like to take you with me on this journey to Australia, back where my story begins in the summer of 1770.
You can witness a mutiny, a revenge of power, and how life can go on when people almost give up hope. Then you can see how the well planted trees makes wonderful fruits, how life goes on for twenty-five years, and then almost gets completely wiped out by evil and greed. Only two survivors continue the journey into the unknown. You can witness how life bounced them left and right, through good times and bad. And in the end how the Good gets what it deserved and how Evil lost in the end of the fights. You will learn about nature, and the elements which are an aid to those who deserve it and a destroyer to those who dare kick the weak and defenseless while they are down.
The journey is long and hard, but you can learn from it. Never give up hope and always live to see another day in paradise.
SYNOPSIS
Dear Readers,
The story I am about to tell you is quite unusual.
It took place a very long time ago. Even if there had been written records, these pages would now be yellowed scraps of paper.
We go back to the summer of 1770, to a distant continent that was yet to be reached by civilization: We are in New Holland, now called Australia.
A ship on a voyage of discovery is pitching in the waves. Crackling gunfire suddenly interrupts the screeching of the seagulls. A mutiny breaks out aboard the ship. It doesn't take long to subdue the mutineers; they are deported to the unexplored continent.
After incredible difficulties, they settle successfully. They build their little town and start to live off the land.
One day something incredible happens: they find gold, which sets off feverish preperations among the settlers for the future. In order to benefit from their riches, they must return to civilization.
Time passes, and there is no good news coming from the outside world. Their plan fails, and the people tire of their monotonous lives.
A new generation is born, growing up in the jungle near the shores of the ocean. They are unfamiliar with the events that took place 25 years before. They are children of the new continent, facing their future cheerfully and courageously.
We now witness the development of puppy love between two teenagers: the heroes of our story, William and Susannah.
William is a suntanned 16-year-old boy with an open, honest face. His dark brown eyes that can gleam defiantly when necessary radiate intelligence. His hands are quick when hunting, and his heart is open to falling in love, although he has not yet suffered from this maddening yet sweet malaise. He inherited enormous strength from his father, quick wit from his mother. He carries himself with a natural elegance.
Susannah is a charming 15-year-old with ebony hair, and eyes, blue as the ocean, sparkling in her suntanned face. Her whole being is illuminated by the love and tenderness that she is ready to bestow forever on her first love. She is five foot three; her figure is in wondrous harmony with the noble womanly features inherited from her mother. Her slender, dignified stature hints at noble ancestry. Her heart is still free but ready for the passion of love that awaits her.
The two young hearts find each other on the same night that they becom orphans.
The gold treasure brings death to the inhabitants of the settlement, inflicited by the convicts and their allies, the bloodthirsty Papuans.
Many trials and tribulations await the two young people. Their love for each other gives them incredible fortitude to survive the long series of calamities they will have to face.
Their parents' murders drag with them the two surviving witnesses who could some day testify against them before the earthly of heavenly court, along with the captured dazzling golden treasure.
One day Susannah and William find a way to escape, and start on a journey that takes them thousands of miles from their home, to the jungles of South America.
They find refuge with the wonderful Tonga tribe. But an ongoing feud with the neighboring tribe results in the near annihilation of the Tongas. They must set out again, this time as the leaders of the tribe.
They don't wait long for revenge against the murderers of their parents and friends. Fate brings them all face to face again, but this time the young people emerge victorious.
Their families' fortune falls into the appropriate hands, and our heroes have an opportunity to return to civilization.
There is one question left unresolved: Should they stay with a society that rejected their parents, or return to the jungle to their tribe, continuing their simple, nomadic life appreciating this Paradise? But that is another story....
INTRODUCTION
Our story begins in the last quarter of the 18th century. Great Britain was hungry for expansion again. Exploration, colonization, and the acquisition of natural resources were their goals. The British Admirality commissioned several voyages around the globe, one of the most significant being the exploration of the renowned South Seas. Captain James Cook had been assigned by the Admirality to lead the expedition and gather information about the new territory. Due to the growing economic crisis in England at the time, crime was on the rise. The House of Lords gave orders to transport criminals to the remotest of the new colonies. There, they would labor for the mother country, and in this way contribute to the restoration of Great Britain's peace and prosperity.
On August 26th in the year 1768, Captain Cook weighed anchor in Plymouth and sailed south. His company included three merchants and four lady members of the House of Lords. They spent six months off the coast of New Zealand until they became convinced they still had not reached their destination. Sails spread anew; they now tacked a more westerly course. Finally, on April 19th, 1770, they caught sight of the New Holland coast. Ten days later they dropped anchor in Botany Bay. Setting sail from there, a new danger awaited the voyagers. Gigantic shoals loomed up ahead of them. Captain Cook instructed the lieutenant, with the help of eight of the rowers, to press farther north of the shoals in order to determine their span. One mile from shore their voyage was delayed an entire week. They could do nothing but wait for the team to return.

Catalogue Information