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MWSA Review
The Road to Empire is author John Wemlinger’s semi-autobiographical novel of his years as a career Army officer. Wemlinger, a Vietnam veteran, has chosen a more contemporary period using the 9/11 attack on America as the linchpin for Jack Rigley’s 20-year journey from high school graduation through the many stops required by military professionals to his eventual rise to full bird colonel and brigade command.
This is not a military-only story. Empire is the small northern Michigan town where Jack and Annie spend their childhood. Despite living around the world, this is where their roots are planted. The genre of many of Wemlinger’s books could best be described as military-romance. He never forgets the story about wives, children, and other family members and the price they pay to support their loved ones.
Jack Rigley tells his story in the first person, occasionally alternating chapters narrated by his wife, Annie, who openly shares her joys, challenges, and frustrations living within the military framework. During Jack’s long deployments and intense training periods, Annie must run the household, raise the children, and deal with a dysfunctional extended family while trying to have a life of her own.
Rigley’s year spent learning to be a helicopter pilot is intense. The reader shares Rigley’s stress and anxiety, the successes and failures he experiences with his fellow pilot candidates, and the signs of leadership he often provides.
The story focuses on Rigley and his fellow officers; however, it’s the warrant officers (Chief) and senior NCOs (Top) who are often the quiet heroes. Wemlinger has great respect for the junior ranks.
Jack and Annie’s lives eventually come full circle, leading to the book’s title: The Road to Empire. They face significant health and family issues that require them to make life decisions that are never easy. This is a story of love, challenge, loyalty, and closure.
Review by James Elsener (February 2024)
Author's Synopsis
Army helicopter pilot Jack Rigley and his wife, Annie, face the trials of life in the military; lack of family support; separations caused by long deployments to dangerous combat zones, relocations to meet the needs of the service, deaths of loved ones, and the tug of heartstrings frimly rooted where each grew up, in Empire, Michigan. Ultimately, Jack will be forced to make a difficult choice; family or career.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Romance
Number of Pages: 259
Word Count: 75,000