Uncommon Valor by Dwight Zimmerman

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Authors Dwight Zimmerman and John Gresham have written not just a book—they have managed to capture a piece of American history. Uncommon Valor is destined to become a military classic. It should be required reading at all the military academies! It is not just an accounting of six men who won "The Medal Of Honor" but an unfolding of emotions, history and honor itself. In the last decade, I have never enjoyed a military book more than this one. It inspired, educated, and entertained me.

Zimmerman and Gresham have created something very special between the pages—it is so much more than just history and fact telling. It is at times, spellbinding, insightful, and informational. This is a book that stands out from the rest. It is both my honor and pleasure to announce that Uncommon Valor is the winner of "The Military Writer's Society of America's" (MWSA) Founder's Award for 2010.

I personally endorse this book and recommend it to all Americans to read and not just those who like military or history books. WELL WRITTEN. WELL RESEARCHED! Most of all it is A MOVING AND LOVING PORTRAIT of six men who gave their lives in service to their country while fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Reviewed by: Bill McDonald (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Since the Vietnam War ended in 1973 and prior to September 2010, the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest award for valor, has been presented to only eight men for their actions "above and beyond the call of duty." Six of the eight were young men who had fought in the current war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both. All of these medals were awarded posthumously, as all six had made the choice to give their lives so that their comrades might live.
 
Uncommon Valor answers the searing question of who these six young warriors were, and dramatically details how they found themselves in life-or-death situations, and why they responded as they did. Also, for the first time, this book provides a comprehensive history of the Medal of Honor itself--one marred by controversies, scandals, and theft.
 
Using an extraordinary range of sources, including interviews with family members and friends, teammates and superiors in the military, personal letters, blogs posted within hours of events, personal and official videos, and newly declassified documents, Uncommon Valor is a compelling and important work that recounts incredible acts of heroism and lays bare the ultimate sacrifice of our bravest warriors.

Grey Wolf by David Huffman

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Grey Wolf -- A Novel in History is about life on a German U-Boat at the start of World War II. Oskar Keppler, the commander of the sub, was a veteran of World War I who developed the "wolfpack" tactics used in submarine warfare. The book is about his life and his men as well as some of the British opponents. 

When the war started, the U-Boat packs began sinking British and Merchant Marine ships.  The first vessel that they sank was a tanker. It was unarmed. The sub surfaced and fired a warning shot. Their target stopped and the crew evacuated before the Germans opened fire.

The U-Boats ran on the surface at night to charge their batteries and go twice as fast. During the day, the remained submerged. Most of the crew never got to go topside.  Living conditions were cramped and there was little privacy. The officers' mess was between two beds in an aisle.  They stayed out 6 weeks at a time. To conserve fuel, they did not run the electric heaters which made their living quarters miserably cold. The food was good at first, but the longer they were at sea, the less appetizing it became. After a few weeks, they made do with moldy bread and canned goods.
 
They didn't have many torpedoes, so they used them judiciously.  The boats were vulnerable to attack from the air since they had to spend so much time on the surface. Interestingly, early in the war, they could see the stacks before they could see the ships themselves.

The first voyage, the subs in the pack were too far apart. They were heading back after sinking 3 ships, when they heard that another U-Boat had sunk a tanker. The survivors were in the water and oil was burning all around them. Enlisted personnel bunked forward and the officers had to remove the table in the corridor so that they could pass. The sub was picking up the swimmers when they were spotted by carrier scout planes.  The pilots radioed the carrier for orders -- should they let the U-Boat rescue the survivors or should they sink the submarine?  The order came back, "Sink them!"

The U-Boat submerged and started evasive actions.  The carrier sent its escort ship to help find and destroy the sub. This left the carrier unprotected and the protagonist had the opportunity to go after the big target. Although almost out of fuel, the U-Boat sank the carrier.  As a result, carriers stayed out of the open ocean during the remainder of World War II.

At the end of the book, the U-Boat crew returns to Germany and a hero's welcome -- but the story is far from over.

This was a very enjoyable read... historical fiction is a good way to learn about little known aspects of momentous events.  Most of the events described in this book were taken from actual German war diaries. I was already interested in U-Boat warfare before I read this book, so I was an eager audience. Having said that, I highly recommend this gem of a read to anyone.  In fact, I'm looking forward to reading the promised sequels.

Reviewed by: Buddy Cox (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

World War Two is about to begin and a German Naval Officer is going to war. Again. Oskar Keppler, a U-boat veteran of the Great War, takes command of the Type VII submarine U-115. Based on the actual War Diary of a German U-boat at the outset of World War II, this novel presents the U-boat experience from the perspective of those who lived it. Vivid descriptions of life in a diesel-electric powered submarine: day after day of mundane drilling, horrendous smells and ever deteriorating food are punctuated by moments of action, elation, terror and dread. In perhaps the most important single patrol of the first half of the Battle of the Atlantic, a handful of men will change the balance of power, and strategic capabilities of their adversary, for years to come.

For the Fatherland by Walter Zapotoczny, Jr

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

One of my most personally prized books and which I refer to often is John Toland's Hitler.  When I first read it I was struck by Toland's attention to historical accuracy and his scrupulous even handedness.  He never made a single excuse for the Nazi mass murderer, but his biography put the crazed Austro-German in context.  Hitler, Toland showed, was much more than a madmen, a crazed genius and a psychotic � he was surrounded by people who in their haste to curry favor were even crazier.  It was groupthink gone wild and bizarre. Hitler came away looking pathetic, his career a lesson for the present as well as an eye into the worst in our natures.
 
Walter Zapotoczny's For the Fatherland does much the same for all those Germans who willingly carried out the insane policies of their Leader, putting aside common decency and their own inherent humanity.
 
Told through the flashback recollection of Kurt Schultheiss, an elderly veteran of the SS, Zapotoczny paints a compelling, frightening picture of a whole society gone mad.   
 
The blonde haired blue-eyed Kurt grew up in the 1930s and was caught up in the maelstrom of Hitler's Germany.  Like many other youth his age he became a member of the Hitler Youth and amidst the simple pleasures and joys of childhood and young teenage years -- camping, singing, and learning new physical and mental skills, was indoctrinated into a belief system that portrayed a new Germany the despondent populace could believe in and embrace.
 
Kurt was only one of millions caught up in this perversion of the truth.  Germans, he was taught were a superior race.  The rest of the world, especially Jews and blacks were inferior.  When Jesse Owens won his storied gold medals at the 1936 Berlin Games it was not because he was better than the other competitors, Kurt and his friends assured themselves, it was because he was given drugs to improve his performance -- no Schwartzer could possibly defeat a true German.
 
As the years pass and World War II erupts, Kurt is witness to some of the most dehumanizing and despicable acts in recorded history, and a party to some of them.  His ability to rationalize this sort of brutality, hatred and cruelty in the name of the nation is mind-boggling -- and is a belief he carries to the very end of the novel.
 
Zapotoczny has written more than a novel.  He has written a cautionary tale of how extremism and a simplistic world view can take otherwise ordinary people and make them commit, overlook and justify extraordinary evil.
 
When Nobel Prize winning author Sinclair Lewis wrote his frightening novel, It Can-t Happen Here, he was writing about a country in the midst of a national identity crisis, financial meltdown who found solace in a charismatic ideologue whom they allowed to destroy their freedoms in the name of "liberty" and "right thinking."  Truth in Lewis" America bore no resemblance to the pronouncements of extremists who thought liberty was not universal and that freedom was confined only to those who agreed with them.
 
Zapotoczny echoes that sentiment in For the Fatherland and makes clear that the lessons of Hitler's Germany are just as worth learning today as when Lewis wrote.  In the epilogue he writes: "We must always be vigilant of extremism and those who would profess to make the next new world."
 
If you only read one novel this year, make sure you read For the Fatherland.  Then turn on the news and listen to the commentators on the radio. Be afraid. Be very afraid.

Reviewed by: David Tschanz (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Growing up in Germany in the 1930s, Kurt Schultheiss was like the other kids in his neighborhood: rambunctious, inquisitive, and the center of his parents' world. With his blond hair and blue eyes, he was also the picture of Aryan purity, a poster child for the band of "magnificent youngsters" with which Adolf Hitler plotted to build his "new world." As Hitler's power grew, he created the Hitler Youth, a breeding ground for the Nazi SS. As members of the Hitler Youth, Kurt and his friends enjoyed camping, weapons training--and complete indoctrination into the Nazi philosophy of world domination. Eventually Kurt became part of the infamous Einsatzgruppen, a group notorious for atrocities committed against Jews and Russians at the German Eastern Front. In this captivating novel, an elderly Kurt looks back on his life and struggles to find atonement for the terrible sins of his youth, offering in the process his explanation for how youthful potential can go so terribly wrong.

Sisters of Valor by Rosalie Turner

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Sisters of Valor is a unique and thought-provoking glimpse into the life, heart and mind of a soldier's wife, more specifically a Vietnam era soldier's wife.  
 
Having actually lived the experience of which she's writing lends author Rosalie Turner unimaginable insight into her characters -- insight that would otherwise be impossible.  This personal familiarity authenticates her story like nothing else could, shedding much deserved light on the silent sacrifices made by our nation's military wives.  
 
The reader is invited into the heart of the main character, Susan Mitchell, and her three fellow "sisters of valor," Rose Magda and Texanne.  The story follows the lives of these four friends as they endure the hardships of maintaining their homes, raising their children, and sustaining normalcy as much as possible while their husbands are deployed to the jungles of Vietnam in service to their country -- a country that is unabashedly vocal about protesting the war that these dedicated men are so valiantly fighting.   
 
As if being estranged from their husbands isn't bad enough, the wives have to deal with the social unrest and controversy over U.S. involvement in Vietnam, dissension that sometimes invades the confines of their very own families.  
 
All four of these wives have distinctively different personalities and varying ways of dealing with twelve months of deployment separation.  As dissimilar as they are, they share a common thread -- a bond of sisterhood.  They share the loneliness, the fear, the void, the despair, and the ever-looming threat of the knock on the door that will deliver the devastating news that their husband won't be coming home.  
 
When that knock came for one of these four women in the story, my heart broke as surely as the character's did.  I felt myself gasp as I read what she was hearing -- that her husband had been killed in the Republic of South Vietnam.  
 
This is a deeply poignant reading experience.  It honors military spouses of not only the Vietnam theatre, but all theatres of war.  It's a great book for military lovers, and lovers of romance alike.  
 
Turner has a wonderful way with words, and a gift for sharing the character's emotion with her reader.  This story will tug hard on the heart, tempt some tears, and rekindle poignant memories of the tumultuous era in American history that claimed the lives of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy, and 58,000 heroic American soldiers who paid the ultimate price for their service in Southeast Asia.

Reviewed by: Claudia Pemberton (2009)

---

Author's Synopsis

The '60's were a turbulent time in our country, and it was especially difficult for the service wife as protests against the war were so personal against the serviceman.  In SISTERS OF VALOR four very different service wives come together to find the support they need.  The story continues until today when the wives look at what the Vietnam Era meant to us as a country, as families, and as individuals.

Digger Dogface Brownjob Grunt by Gary R Prisk

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Gary Prisk's DIGGER DOGFACE BROWNJOB GRUNT will be a huge hit with infantry combat veterans, and especially Vietnam veterans. 

Lt. Edward Hardin finds himself in Vietnam as a platoon leader.  Losing most of his platoon at Dak To, he vows that the survivors will all make it home.   But the Viet Cong have other ideas, and they aren't the only ones against him.  The South Vietnamese Army and even his own operations officer seem out to make sure Edward comes home in a body bag, or maybe not at all.  First as a platoon leader, then as a company commander, Hardin takes them all on, and deals punishment to anyone who threatens his men.  But will it be enough?

Any reader of this book will quickly see that Prisk not only talks the talk, but he walked the walk.  Only a man who led soldiers in jungle combat could so vividly capture this special brand of Hell.  In addition, Prisk's creative and darkly humorous writing style, keep the reader on his toes, forcing him to pay close attention to the scenes portrayed so that nothing is missed.  Most readers will appreciate that Hardin is a "grunt's grunt," focused on his men and only his men, his own career and reputation be damned.    Most readers too will catch one of the underlying themes: generals and colonels didn't know what they were doing fighting the Vietnam War, and left the average foot soldier holding the bag.  

I particularly liked Hardin's human side, especially when referring to his wife Linda.  I admit, I cringed when Hardin went on R&R to meet his wife and little girl, knowing it would be too easy for Prisk to go overboard on how Hardin was unable to shed the war while with his bride.  But the author handles the situation well, and the book flows up to and around this tender moment without any loss in focus, and rather than detract from the story, it actually strengthens Hardin's character even further.

Combat veterans, and Vietnam combat vets in particular, will relate to this book, and while they may find that parts of it stir up some less than pleasant memories, overall I'll wager they will be glad they read it.

Reviewed by: Rob Ballister (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Digger Dogface... is the winner of "Best New Fiction"and "Fiction & Literature: Literary Fiction" in The National Best Books 2009 Awards. (May 2010) Digger is a winner in ForeWord Reviews' Book of the Year Awards 2009. (May 2010) Digger is the Winner for "The Best Fiction Book 2010" in the International Book Awards. Gary Prisk brings to the art and craft of fiction the sensibility and the facility of a poet, rendering his narrative with a depth and texture that is unique and rare. Raw, gritty and saturated with black humor, "Digger..." is tender in a way most will struggle to understand. *****APEX REVIEWS 5-star. Over the past four decades, countless books have been written about the Vietnam War, often highlighting the experiences of soldiers who fought -and -died in it. Very few works, though, offer the unique perspective of the soldier on the ground, in the heat of battle, detailing the conflicting thoughts and emotions that often consumed them from day to day - and moment to moment.-----Throughout the pages of "Digger Dogface...", though, Gary Prisk provides the reader with just such insight. Based on his own experiences in Vietnam, "Digger..." takes the reader on a vicarious journey through the heart, mind, and soul of a soldier struggling to come to grips with the unfamiliarity of his surroundings, as well as the uncertainty surrounding his future. Deep, raw, and real, Prisk's riveting narrative will serve as an eye-opening introduction to the gritty truths of war and conflict for readers heretofore influenced by pop culture's more glamorous depiction of its true nature. Furthermore, the not-so-subtle commentary that Prisk proffers on the Vietnam War - and such conflicts in general - ultimately proves to be quite difficult to rebut. Equally tinged with humor and gravitas, "Digger Dogface..." is an intellegent, insightful take on a pivotal time in world history that will never be forgotten. A highly recommended, enlightening read.

The Letter by Jerry Yellin

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

From the get-go, the reader is drawn into the story by a letter written by a woman from Bellingham, WA, right before she passed away.  Her attorney has been instructed to deliver the letter to a Samuel Davidson, an eighty-two year-old judge residing in FL.  But instead of mailing the letter to Judge Davidson, the Seattle based attorney first contacts the judge's son, Rabbi Mark Davidson, of New York City.  It's important to note that the dying woman was Catholic.
 
The letter is a revelation to all concerned. Can a chance encounter between a dashing young P-51 fighter pilot and a pretty USO girl on Iwo Jima in 1945 have repercussions sixty-one years later?  Throw in a former priest and a powerful Fundamental Christian Senator and you've got a delightful tale.
 
"The Letter" is well written, entertaining and enlightening. There is a redemptive quality to Jerry Yellin's prose. He is a gifted storyteller and a visionary. He pulled off the same thing in his remarkable memoir "Of War and Weddings." The dialogue in "The Letter" is spot on, and even though his characters sometimes talk for extended lengths of time, it all seems to work. The author manages to juggle the subjects of war, religion and politics without sounding preachy. Not an easy feat. He can make the complex seem simple and the simple complex. The reader looks at all angles of a subject through the eyes of different characters. While the subject of Intelligent Design (Creationism) versus science (Nature) comes up, somehow Mr. Yellin is able to do this without sounding heavy handed or judgmental. 

The hint of violence is always on the back burner, and kept me turning the page.  My favorite line in the book:  "This is where grown men come to cry." A deep compelling story that will keep you awake at night, wondering about the future of this planet, the human family and where we came from.

Reviewed by: Kathleen Rodgers (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

A powerful fundamental End Time Christian Senator, anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic, discovers that his birth parents were Catholic and Jewish through a letter written by his dying Catholic mother to the Jewish father who knew nothing about having fathered a son. 

Crack Between the Worlds by Carmen Stenholm

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Crack between the Worlds is a historical fiction account of four generations of one wonderful woman's female ancestors, and their gutsy, heroic fight for survival, escape from poverty, and eventually, political brutality.  Through the voice of this author, as she weaves a story befitting her own family's experiences, we are reminded that our immigrant ancestors clawed their way through extreme adversity to find safety, hope, and homes in the United States, and blend into the great melting pot that makes Americans so unique.
 
It is a difficult thing to add the music of life to what is usually just a genealogical timeline for most families, as they glance backward, but the author does an admirable job, filling the gaps of history with the stories of real people, her people, as they make their way toward a murky destiny.  Daughters, who become mothers, and then grandmothers, have always been the bedrock of the earliest tribes, clans, and now modern day families. The author demonstrates this with a personal touch, identifying these unsung heroes in her own way, from her own lineage. 
 
What a lucky family to have their genealogy captured for all time by a book like this, to know who your great, great grand mothers were, and the hardships they endured. A story that is all too common in our great land, it is nevertheless a story that too often goes untold.  Many blessings for Carmen Stenholm for telling it, and sealing such love and beauty in the book of time, and life.  Recommended for female readers who share such a story in their own family's history.

Reviewed by: Bob Flournoy (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

There is an interesting story to tell about all of us and our families.  Crack Between the Worlds is such a story.  It has universal appeal because, through this family, we have a mirror that reflects our own ancestors --- and the courage, unyielding tenacity, and occasional bouts of luck that
must have occurred in a somewhat similar fashion, to bring each of us into the world. The power of this story comes from an unflinching look at the character's lives.  In it, heroism is balanced with selfishness and petty concerns; perseverance is sometimes rewarded and sometimes dreadfully crushed.  It's a story of horrific tragedies and unquestioning resolution to keep living despite the cost.  It's a story of big mistakes and small kindnesses, of roads taken at great cost and roads untaken, perhaps at greater cost.  It's the story best summed up by the words of Johanna, the family matriarch, who, on the day the Nazi soldiers ravaged her town said to her granddaughter in response to the child's desire to simply give up, "You have to care, Ella.  That's what this is all about, you know---to care even when it hurts, to have the strength and courage, my little one, to care even when your mind and body want nothing more than to run away."

Internal Conflicts by Flint Whitlock

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Flint Whitlock's novel, Internal Conflicts, is both distressing, and endearing. With its amusing but flawed protagonist, it mimics the cynical symbolism of a 1960s anti-war movie, The Americanization of Emily. However, Peter isn't an intellectual coward.  The actual story begins with a flashback. Peter Lutin is a Second Lieutenant in the US Army who obsesses on his personal inadequacies. He's too short, not athletic enough, a virgin at an age when the status reflects on manhood rather than character. He has abandonment issues. He worries about his inability to make moral stands--and while he recognizes that the times are changing, his personal journey is one of confusion and self-doubt. He's the proverbial lonely man in a crowded room. 
 
The author uses Peter's wobbly perspectives to demonstrate the anxious 1960s. A product of the manic paranoia brought home by many World War II veterans, Peter's naive view of the world sets him up for one disappointment after another.  Women are illusive Madonnas. The Kennedy Assassination both breaks his heart and inspires him to take up the banner of his fallen hero.  Authority figures are always right and just. One must be responsible and make the hard decisions. Like many young men of the times, idealism ruled most of Peter's life.  The rest was a restless search for sexual intercourse.
 
Unfortunately, Peter's treasured precepts seem quaint and untenable as he starts his Army career. He discovers that women can be as coarse and free-wheeling as any college frat. The military shakes his naive view of justice and his new friends present him with a cynical world view that he can't quite accept or defend.  Worse, when he suspects that a friend has been murdered, Peter doesn't have the courage to challenge the wrongdoer.
 
Internal Conflicts is a page-turner. However, the final chapters do not tie-together all the issues the author raises in the first 200 pages. Interestingly, this doesn't detract from the novel, but adds a twist that rings true. In Whitlock's somewhat shocking conclusion, we see Peter face many of his fears and take a stand -- unfortunately, like the less-than satisfactory ending of The Americanization of Emily, that stand can't be sustained and the choices presented to the protagonist are muddy combinations of right and wrong. Unlike the movie, Peter pays an enormous price for his choice. 

Baby boomers will relate to this tale. Trying to live up to the expectations of the "Greatest Generation" was not an easy task and the transition from confused and insecure childhood to independent adulthood was difficult for many. Peter's struggle will resonate with those who faced a changing social structure, bitter disappointment in friends, family, and the object of our affections--and the angry reproachment of parents whose youthful passion had been channeled into more acceptable avenues. While not technically a "war" book, there is a single, heartbreaking, bifurcated scene.

This book deals with adult themes and although not overt, the sexual scenes are not intended for youngsters.

Reviewed by: Joyce Faulkner (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

The novel follows the life of Peter Luton, a young, idealistic Army officer in the mid-1960s caught up by the events of the Vietnam War and desperately seeking a path to manhood.  Stationed in West Germany where he is enjoying the hedonistic good life, he is fearful of being sent to Vietnam.  At last the inevitable happens and he finds himself in the war zone.  He comes to the conclusion that manhood can only be won on the battlefield--a realization that leads to a shattering climax on a South Vietnamese highway.

Dangerous Past by A. F. Ebbers

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Dangerous Past is a mystery-thriller in the spirit of both Scott Turow and Ernest K. Gann. When a bomb detonates in the hold of a West Sky airliner, Captain Frank Braden conducts a harrowing emergency landing, heroically saving the plane's 110 passengers and crew. During the investigation, the FBI accuses Braden of planting the bomb in a brazen attempt at suicide. To clear his name, he is forced to dredge deep into his Vietnam service, sifting through a world of narcotics, espionage, and murder. Discovering his demise will clear the way for a political appointment, Braden must prove his innocence before his nemesis can eliminate him and rise to the highest levels of government.

A.F. Ebbers is already established in publishing and aviation circles. His debut novel will be well received in both. It will also prove a good read for anyone who enjoys action and intrigue.

Reviewed by: Stephen Phillips (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

This is a contemporary story of Airline Captain Frank Braden, a former Vietnam pilot, who is being stalked by unknown assassins who must arrange his death to look like a suicide or an accident before a specific deadline. And Braden has no clue as to why people would want to kill him. 
 
Soon after the assassins arrive in Austin, Texas, the airliner Braden is flying undergoes a terrifying and deadly decompression explosion. Braden is suspended from his flying job and is suspected of being unstable since the FBI is led to believe he caused the airliner explosion in a suicide attempt.
 
Little by little Braden and his wife are pulled deeper and deeper into a dangerous web of intrigue that will eventually rock the highest levels of Washington.
 
Several attempts are made on his life and even his wife and children are threatened with death. And when Braden turns to the local police for help, they do not believe his stories since they think he is schizophrenic and suicidal, exactly what his assailants want the authorities to believe.

Muted Mermaid/Shaved Ice/Chocolate Soup Trilogy by Del Staecker

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Del Staecker's Trilogy is the continuing story of a group of characters centered around Ledge Trabue,  a private man who draws trouble and goodness in equal parts.  Charming, cleverly plotted, and endearing, the three books are as addictive as M&Ms.  The themes aren't especially new -- good versus evil is as well-worn as my grandma's house shoes. However, I couldn't stop reading.  I tried. I'm a busy woman, after all.  I tucked the first book, The Muted Mermaid, under the seat in my car -- but as the evening wore on, I started thinking about it out there in the cold garage and fancied that it was calling me.  In the middle of the night, I snuck out with the flashlight app on my cell phone and retrieved it for one more hit before sleep. 

Around 4 am, I splashed cold water on my face and brushed my teeth. I went to bed, but figured, what the hey?  I just had to know why anyone would murder the luckless Karen Blaine. The novel finishes with a satisfying bang -- the bad guys and girl bite the dust...er... water. I yawned and stretched, relieved that my obsessive fascination with the hard-headed, sour-stomached protagonist and his motley circle of friends had reached a conclusion. There now.  I had work to do, but I promptly fell asleep and didn't wake up until past noon. I opened my eyes, still tired from my late night adventures in Staecker-land.

There, sitting on my night stand, was Staecker's second novel in the series, Shaved Ice.  I tried not to look at it. I got up and got dressed.  I focused on my laptop, my cell phone, my little red poodle dog, my work -- but my eyes kept finding their way to the red, white, and black dust jacket. What IS shaved ice, I wondered.  I squinted, trying to figure out what the beckoning cover was trying to tell me. No, I'm busy. Shaved Ice -- hmm, sounds like a delicious, sinful treat -- something you'd buy at a ball game -- or a circus. I picked it up.  Just one chapter, then I'll get down to business, I told myself.  Ledge and his buddy the Professor are called back to Nashville. Oh no!  It's Reggie and Win. I LOVED Reggie and Win. Poor Amelia. Poor Elvira. I HAD to find out about them, didn't I?

So there I sat at Denny's the next afternoon, my Senior Country-fried steak growing cold as Trabue and the Professor made a pact with the Devil to take down another evildoer. "NO," I muttered, "Don't do it.  You'll be sorry." I bit my tongue and glanced around. Everyone stared at their Grand Slams. People are used to cell phones and Bluetooth earpieces these days. They don't look at you quite as accusingly when they catch you talking to yourself. I returned to my book. You have to watch those southern boys, I thought to myself.  They can't stand to leave a wrong unrighted -- and of course, Ledge and Albert ignored my warning and the dirty deed was done -- in Mexico of all places. I closed the book -- glad the bad guy had been dispatched so efficiently after all the sorrow he'd caused. Good riddance!

Now back to my life. I figured I'd catch up on all the things that I should have been doing the last week -- but no, like that last M&M in the bag, the third novel, inexplicably called Chocolate Soup, awaited. Well now, how in the world is a person supposed to focus on meat and potatoes when candy awaits?  It's impossible, I tell you. So, like the sinner that I am, I sat down and was immediately drawn into Trabue and company's lives in New Orleans -- and you KNOW how much trouble one can get into in New Orleans. It's worse than Vegas and what happens in New Orleans ends up on the Six O'Clock News. So, I go through the laughter and the tears, the horror and the sorrow, the shock and the awe -- and the dad-gummed book ends and I don't have another one in hand. 

As I put the final book on the shelf, I imagined Del Staecker snickering at me with the same grin that Forrest Mars wore the day he invented M&Ms.  

Don't say I didn't warn you.

Reviewed by: Joyce Faulkner (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Del Staecker's awesome literary skills are revealed with our release of The Muted Mermaid. Set in Nashville, the murder mystery introduces recurring characters in the Ledge Trabue Mystery Series while captivating readers with a fast-paced story that's impossible to put down. 

Child Finder: Resurrection by Mike Angley

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Child Finder: Resurrection, award-winning author Mike Angley's second novel, is rich with sensory images and Catholic philosophy. Mixing those two very literary techniques with a bang-bang shoot-em-up tale might seem risky to some--and it is. However, Angley has created a super-hero who transcends comic-bookery while maintaining the genre's idealistic view of good overcoming evil. He created this approach in his first book, Child Finder, but the reader will find a maturation of style and new complexity in plotting in Resurrection. In this story, not only does Major Pat O'Donnell, the psychic protagonist, talk to God and the Saints and Angels, but God and the Saints and Angels communicate back to him. It's a nice touch. 
 
It is a year and a half since the tragedy that sent Pat's secret government unit into early retirement. It's time to resurrect the department with new rules and new goals. Shortly after his return to the task of finding lost children, O'Donnell battles his evil doppelganger--a nameless psychopath who's psychic talents rival his own. It's a private war between two mental giants that leaves a trail of collaterally damaged victims including O'Donnell's friend and colleague Woody Davis. As the story evolves, Angley allows his cast to grow. Pat's young son Sean, who shares his father's gift, steps into the fray with important information at crucial moments. General Swank's cranky persona turns human when his grandson is kidnapped by the villain. Dr. Jasper Jacobsen is a young psychologist fresh from Berkley. His idealism, while different, matches Pat's in intensity. In Jake, Angley creates a character that Pat dislikes but the reader loves. Finally, Pat himself evolves as he recognizes the value of alternative paths. 
 
There's a hint of Hitchcockian suspense -- the reader knows more than the characters. The bad guy is really bad. What Pat can sense and what he can't is a mystery, leaving the audience to scream out warnings about what's behind that closed bathroom door. The mood is ominous and the threat isn't only to Pat himself, but to his family and friends. If it's so easy for Pat and the killer to see into the minds of others, shouldn't we all be erecting brick walls around our own thoughts? Racing through corners and falling through space on the other side of a rickety climb, the novel is a tooth-grinding rollercoaster ride. 
 
Like Child Finder, Resurrection is a general audience thriller which will also appeal to religious audiences and young adults. Fun and thought-provoking, the book can be read as a spiritual allegory or as a fast-paced action piece. Keep your bible and your valium nearby! 

Reviewed by: Joyce Faulkner (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Child Finder Resurrection is the highly-anticipated sequel to Child Finder, which Library Journal placed on its 2009 Summer Reads list, calling it a "compelling debut novel" and "a real find" and recommending it to readers of both mystery/thrillers and Christian fiction.
 
Child Finder also garnered the prestigious Silver Medal Award in the Fiction category of the Military Writers Society of America's 2009 Annual Awards Program!
 
It has been a year and a half since Air Force Special Agent Patrick O'Donnell, a psychic-savant, left the federal TOP SECRET child rescue program after it went horribly off-track, resulting in murder and endangering his own family. And just when he thinks he's comfortably put this painful past behind him, he receives a call from his mentor. The murky, shadowy TOP SECRET community where he once was center-stage has been revised, revamped, resurrected!
 
The government needs his psychic skills more than ever. A sick, twisted, menacing child killer is on the loose, and no one but Pat can stop him. However, Agent O'Donnell soon discovers this new nemesis is more than he bargained for. Nothing can prepare him for the psychotic genius he must fight...and the life and death cat-and-mouse game that entraps him! Once again, Pat must call upon his faith and strong spiritual connection with God to sustain and guide him, especially during his darkest hours as he battles...pure evil.

Saigon Gold by Hugh Scott

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Saigon Gold is a mystery thriller enhanced by the job well-done regarding the setting.  Authors who do their research to take the readers into the "real world" make their stories seem closer to nonfiction than fiction. Hugh Scott was able to do that, as well as to keep the mystery going right up to the very end.  This book is filled with surprises at every turn.  For those who appreciate a thriller, this is a book not to miss.  Another great addition to the book is the website www.saigongold.com which takes you to Vietnam via photos of locations in the story along with snippets from the book and then gives "bits of history" that relate.  This adds a depth to Saigon Gold that I really appreciate.  This book would make a great addition to anyone's library.
 
Hugh Scott wrote Saigon Gold set in present-day Vietnam with the main character being a U.S. war veteran, Robert Anderson, going back to the country where he served many years earlier, expecting a business venture revolving around a winery consulting job.  However, from the moment he enters the country things just don't seem right.  Just why was he questioned at the airport? And who was the interviewer?
 
Mr. Scott takes us through Vietnam via the experiences of his main character, remembering the country as it had been during the war and noticing changes in this his first return.  The connection Robert Anderson had with a Vietnamese officer, who had saved his life during the war, puts him into a scheme to get recovered gold out of the country, from a fortune that went missing in 1975.  Mr. Anderson went into Vietnam with all good intentions, and even in the gold scheme, he planned to give back to the Vietnamese. 
 
So just who was that man that questioned Anderson at the airport?  Is he just imagining being followed?  Anderson has to get answers to why his name is on enemy documents.  What did the ambush that he survived years ago have to do with this trip to Vietnam? Who can he get to help him that he can trust?  He turns to the American consulate employee Jenny Ngo who knows the language and will help him get to the people he needs to question.  The plot thickens as the people that they question end up dead. The mystery of it all is very intense and takes the reader right along with Robert Anderson who if he wants to remain alive must figure out the person(s) plotting against him.  All the while, China's expansionist navy lurks in the background, planning an operation that threatens America's supremacy in the Western Pacific.
 
Hugh Scott served his country for twenty years as an army officer.  Saigon Gold is his debut novel and I am hoping for many more books to come from this great author.  He is now serving readers worldwide with this great work of historical fiction.  Be sure to read this book and keep your eyes open for more to come from Hugh Scott.

Reviewed by: Joyce Gilmour (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

Saigon Gold won the 2010 Gold Medal award for fiction from the Military Writers Society of America.

Veterans and tourists will be entranced by this fast-paced thriller in which a decorated American officer returns to Vietnam and must face the harsh truths of his military exploits. The daring plot includes China's expansionist navy attempting to seize a key base, thus upsetting the balance of military power in the Western Pacific. 

Robert Anderson is lured into a scheme to help a wartime friend recover a gold fortune. But a vengeful North Vietnamese official is watching. Discovery of cryptic documents about an ambush that only Anderson and a Vietnamese officer survived launches Anderson and companion Jenny Ngo on a wild chase around scenic Vietnam to unravel their secret before every witness is silenced by a mysterious killer.

Breath of the Choson Dragon by Jack L. Wells

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Breath of the Choson Dragon is a high energy, well researched, completely plausible scenario of patient, but fanatic war planning by North Korea.  A gripping tale of their desire to reunite the Korean peninsula, the north is shown, accurately, to be an enemy that is not to be underestimated, or taken lightly. Their quest, against staggering odds, to deal a severe surprise nuclear blow to the United States, and Japan via a plot that spans decades of tedious preparation, at levels so secret as to be almost impossible, is told with meticulous detail by the author, an ex naval officer, who has been there, and done that. So many military books are written without the benefit of firsthand experience that they bog down in the minutia that is second nature to veterans.  This one feeds voraciously on those details that authenticate the book as the real deal.  This author writes, and thinks with the no time for nonsense frame of mind that is necessary in the military when it is faced with clear danger. 
 
As fascinating as the realities of submarine warfare, and nuclear weapons systems are, the story line that weaves in and out of those technical revelations are just as compelling. The tech, and human interest aspects dance in tune, step for step. Neither Clancy, nor Ludlum have written anything better, and the author, Jack Wells, is their equal, at least.  A fast paced story (a movie producer's dream) is fed by the intriguing reality of our nation's military, and intelligence agencies' daily challenges, told with the voices of real human beings that the reader can identify with. The political dilemmas of the main characters, which come hand in hand with their highly secret jobs, give this yarn dimensions that are consternating, frustrating, and agitating, just as they would be in the real world.  The ending is clean, and satisfying. I wanted to cheer. I felt good about it. I choose to believe that if this, or a like scenario ever came to pass in reality, our soldiers, sailors, and airmen, would receive the support they needed from their political masters to affect the same conclusion.  Nowhere in the human experience is teamwork, trust, diligence to detail, and precise behavior as required as it is in the armed forces when lives are at stake.  Thanks to this author, readers who did not serve in such capacities are offered the opportunity to appreciate these men, and women.

Reviewed by: Bob Flournoy (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

The Book: Breath of the Choson Dragon. Awarded a GOLD MEDAL for Mystery/Thriller by the Military Writer's Society of America, Oct. 2010 and a SLIVER MEDAL for fiction, Branson Stars and Flags Book Awards, Nov. 2010. North Korea is always in the news, sometimes front page, sometimes buried in the back. It is a vexing and problematic child that won't be ignored and won't go away. My new book is a created scenario investigating how North Korea could make the front page with a vengeance. It is based on actual history and current events. Remember, there is nothing quite as dangerous as a maniac with a mission. And nothing as concerning as such a maniac with weapons of mass destruction and the means of delivery. "Breath of the Choson Dragon" captures the ideas and emotions of the people caught up in implementing, discovering and precluding a surprise attack; a surprise attack that is very plausible. Summary: The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), surreptitiously, acquires two ex Soviet Juilett class guided missile submarines in 1993, and then missiles, and later thermonuclear warheads and prepares to use them in a preemptory strike against US bases in South Korea, Japan, and Hawaii 18 years later. Their objective: reunification of the Korean peninsula under their flag. The US Defense Intelligence Agency ultimately becomes aware by putting together divergent pieces of the puzzle and finally takes last moment action to covertly stop the threat just prior to the attack. Writing Concept: The story is told through the experiences of individual North Korean, American and allied officers and others and the locations move to various sites around the world. I have personally visited most of these locations. There is a lot of realistic military, business and personal dialog. Characters develop and grow and some ultimately even change their perspective. It is an accurate technological suspense novel told through human interaction. It is not buried in jargon and is written for the layman. Military and strategic terms are explained through dialog and the reader learns capabilities through situations, not just narrative.

Echo of a Distant Planet by Wayne Lutz

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

How do you reconcile aliens and C-130s?  By reading Wayne Lutz' exciting new novel, Echo of a Distant Planet! 

As the reader considers the evocative cover art  of Wayne Lutz' "Echo of a Distant Planet," depicting both C-130 Hercules transport aircraft and a distant galaxy, he/she will wonder how these very different images will be brought together in the novel.  Trust me; the reader will not be disappointed with the answers found in this thoughtfully-crafted book.
 
USAF maintenance officer, Shawna Whitney is haunted by recurring and often frightening images.  Over a period of 33 years, her life is impacted by strange and unexplainable events and by what appear to be glimpses into the future.  Through the years, these intermittent "dreams" lead her to question her sanity and eventually to wonder if her concept of time is being challenged by forces beyond her control.  Through the help of a friend and lover, she slowly begins to accept her fate and unravel the mystery when her future becomes her present.
 
Echo of a Distant Planet succeeds in large part because Lutz' main characters come across as normal human beings, living normal lives--"normal" within the constraints of military rules, culture and customs.  The reader is slowly, but inevitably drawn into Shawna's life--and those around her--by measured narration, thorough character development, and level-headed story-telling.  

This book is recommended for both the Sci-Fi enthusiast as well as anyone wanting to know more about the USAF, its flyers and maintainers and the venerable C-130 Hercules.

Reviewed by: John Cathcart (2010)

---

Author's Synopsis

How would a distant intelligence contact earth? Shawna is an Air Force officer with unearthly remembrances of the future and the C-130 Hercules as her hero. Trapped in a structured military world, her eerie memories persist for nearly three decades, culminating in a message from the stars. Meanwhile, on a distant planet, alien life is struggling with their attempt to communicate with life on earth. Shawna is their target. The author of six books in the series "Coastal British Columbia Stories" ventures into an exciting new genre, military aviation science fiction.