Too Young to Die: Memories of Tommy and the Vietnam War by LTC Mark Mayerstein

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MWSA Review

LTC Mark Mayerstein gives the reader a realistic and historical look back at his unit and his own personal experiences during the Vietnam War. His memoir is written in a comfortable style which allows the reader to become a virtual participant in what he faced when he was much younger.

Lots of emotions are shared as he reflects on friends he lost and battles he was a participant in. This is definitely a personal journey through some very turbulent times in our nation's military history. The book is well worth reading and sharing with military veterans so they can grasp what others have done and what sacrifices were made.

I enjoyed and felt it has something special to offer those who love to read the military genre. History and emotion told from the heart!

Review by Bill McDonald (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Too Young to Die is a true personal story about a very close friendship that developed in the midst of the love, loyalty, sacrifice, horror, deceit, greed, and governmental excess that was the Vietnam War. It is an autobiographical sketch of one very unlikely young Jewish man, bonded to a man who was 10 years his senior by their partnership as a sniper team. In a very introspective, transparent, and often humorous way, the author recounts their harrowing experiences on dangerous missions throughout the theater of war in Vietnam and Laos. They were essentially outsiders in the 5th Special Forces unit to which they were assigned. Nonetheless they tried to honor themselves and their country by doing their duty despite the dangerous and uncomfortable wartime jungle environment with which they coped. This difficulty was eclipsed only by the military administrative incompetence that seemed to work to facilitate their demise before they even started. But more importantly, it is also the story about the author’s survivor’s grief and the guilt he bore in the aftermath of that ill-fated war that cost the lives of millions of people; his cherished partner being one of them. It was a war, like any other war, that produced yet another generation of military men and women who will forever be haunted and tormented by the very horrors they so courageously survived.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781728923833
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 295

Raven's Run: A Cybertech Thriller by John Trudel

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Author's Synopsis

Creative story telling at its best

In "Raven's Run," John Trudel weaves an global story of intrigue, murder, and paranormal spying into a fast hard-hitting, action thriller. The novel opens with parallel stories - one in present time that includes the murder of an Iranian harbor master and the other covers early exploration in Antarctica and the 1963 murder of an aviation pioneer with ties to President's Kennedy and Johnson.

The two main characters are Raven — a veteran but ousted CIA counter-terrorist operative — and Josie — a paranormal gifted with an exceptional talent for out-of-body viewing anywhere in the world and at different times now or in the past. The two personalities and backgrounds make an unlikely team for a highly secretive government agency tasked with tracking down where Iran is getting an untraceable supply of uranium.

Using characters well defined and back stories well researched, Trudel logically meshes together the many elements of "Raven's Run." Josie and Raven must solve a 55-year-old murder before solving the current time mystery of Iran's super-secret adventure in the frozen continent. Raven's skills with weapons and espionage run contrary to Josie's strong abhorrence to violence. But when she is on an out-of-body mission, Raven becomes frustrated because he can't protect her when she is on a viewing session. Her ventures often cause her to become emotionally drained and physically disabled after witnessing extreme violence, thereby creating emotional conflicts between her and Raven.

The story picks up speed as it progresses and multifaceted situations converge, putting Raven and Josie's lives in jeopardy during a nail-biting conclusion. 

"Raven's Run" is a well-written and entertaining read.

Reviewed by Joe Epley, MWSA Reviewer

Audiobook Information 

Flamingo Audiobooks, a division of Flamingo Road Studios, LLC, presents John D. Trudel's award-winning "Raven's Run: A Cybertech Thriller."

“A 'cowboy' CIA agent is kicked out with extreme prejudice but immediately finds himself sheep-dipped into a deep-black-op and running the nation’s most unusual, prized and sexy asset. Before the two can attack their objective, they must unravel a historical mystery that reveals an ugly part of American history.”

The leader of the spy-thriller genre, Brad Thor, says of narrator Victoria Taft, "Victoria is an incredibly skilled, captivating narrator who keeps you hanging on every word. Give her two minutes and you will become a fan for life!"

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-7337437-0-9
Review Genre:  Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Book Format(s): Audiobook

The Freedom Broker by K.J. Howe

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MWSA Review

The Freedom Broker is a ripping good story that injects the reader into the fast-paced intrigue of international kidnap negotiator Thea Paris and never lets up. Though not a big fan of the thriller genre, this one held me hostage from the first page.

 Paris is a compelling heroine, more than holding her own through a mind-numbing series of dangerous hostage rescue operations that eventually target her father. Her blind spot (brother Nikos) and her Achilles heel (type 1 diabetes) do little to diminish the dazzling capabilities of this tactical dynamo—heck, she slays one deadly attacker in a dark alley with a single swing of her stylish stiletto.

 The Paris family saga never runs short on thrill, suspense, action, and intrigue. Pitting Thea’s oil tycoon father against his hostage-turned-psychopath son, the tension and sometimes unnerving dynamics among Howe’s cast of well-drawn characters is captivating.

 From the jungles of Columbia to the Aegean isle of Santorini, from Quantum Security headquarters in London to the oil-rich desert outpost of Kanzi, Africa, Howe keeps an unrelenting pace, using brilliant chapter segues to build momentum throughout. This author really knows how to create tension between characters and suspense in the storyline that will keep you pinned to the edge of your seat.

 One weak link in this otherwise compelling narrative is the off-kilter sub-plot of Nikos’s early kidnapping at the age of twelve—nine months as a hostage turn him from a loving protective brother and son into a cold-blooded sociopath. Living a double life as a charitable entrepreneur under one name and notorious arms dealer under another, with a nasty habit of slashing people’s throats before they know what’s hit them, renders Nikos a less than plausible character in this reader’s opinion, yet one who savvy Thea is unwilling to see as he really is.

 Howe’s exquisite attention to detail, nuance, layered plot lines, and complex characters make for an endlessly fascinating story that never stalls out. I highly recommend The Freedom Broker as an exhilarating read and enthusiastically look forward to the sequel.

 Review by Dana Tibbetts (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

There are 25 elite kidnap negotiators who travel the world's hotspots to bring hostages home. Only one is a woman, and she is the best in the business. Thea Paris faces the most challenging case of her career--for a very special client. Her father.

ISBN/ASIN: 1543601286, 1681443104,
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 377

Raven's Resurrection: A Cybertech Thriller by John Trudel

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MWSA Review

In Raven's Resurrection, author John D. Trudel once again brings us into the thrilling world of his characters Raven and Josie. In a fictional setting where the United States is more divided than ever, and with Middle East terrorists active and based in the United States,  the world is in need of Josie's special, psychic skills now more than ever. Raven is allowed to take the gloves off, and the result is an action-packed thriller. The book makes full use of a variety of military weaponry. Any reader who enjoys para military thrillers would enjoy this book.

Review by Bob Doerr (April 2019)

Author's Synopsis

"Raven slung his rifle. He walked over and stood behind them, his Sig leveled, finger on the trigger."

In the author’s latest thriller, America is not as secure as its average citizen might think. Radical Islam poses a serious threat to the nation, but only a few understand just how extensive the reach is of its practitioners. Raven has experienced firsthand how dangerous the nation’s enemies can be, but many of them, in turn, will learn what a deadly adversary he can be.

Raven’s primary task—a job that is both professional and personal to him—is to protect someone who is, quite possibly, America’s greatest defensive asset: a remote viewer named Josie. She is able to see future events—such as coming attacks or the movements of dangerous individuals—and pass this information on to those who can make a difference. Keeping Josie safe will propel Raven into both defensive and offensive roles. With Iranian Quds secretly on American soil and high-profile players calling the shots, he will need to strengthen his existing network of allies and even use the Russians to eliminate a mutual enemy. But will his efforts be enough?

Trudel deftly mixes politics, espionage, and violence with a sprinkling of the paranormal in this new addition to his riveting series. His choice to set his novel slightly in the future allows him to comment on current affairs and contemporary politicians while giving him the freedom to populate his narrative with fictional leaders, as well. And comment he does, pointing out perceived flaws in liberal policies while championing the more conservative stances. Yet his novel should not be seen as simply a voice for the Right. Rather, it is an entertaining and gripping story of patriots operating in the shadows who are desperately trying to protect the nation from those who would destroy it.

Chief among these heroes is Raven, a complicated character who becomes more likable with each new novel. Clever, resourceful, and highly trained, he has no qualms about taking extreme measures to achieve his objectives—even if this means stalking and killing his enemy in cold blood. Josie, on the other hand, struggles with the need for violence. Psychically fragile, she has even gone catatonic in the past when things have gotten too rough. The Beauty-and-the-Beast relationship between these two principal protagonists is part of what makes the series so appealing. A hero of a different stripe is the aging Doctor Goldfarb. As a new Ad-hoc member to the President’s National Security Council, he fights on the political front while coordinating with Raven in the shadows. Former Marine General Mike Mickelson is a new ally for Raven but a familiar figure to those who have read Trudel’s Soft Target. He adds some strong, no-nonsense accountability to Raven’s expanding team. The author does an excellent job in developing all of these characters, revealing new layers to their personalities as the book progresses.

Stylistically, Trudel’s use of point of view is intriguing. The switch from the third person into the first and then back again is initially a bit disconcerting, bouncing the reader’s attention momentarily away from the action like a literary speed bump. Once you get used to these changes, the story rolls along smoothly, building in tension as the author pulls you deeper into the plot. Carefully crafted yet more cerebral in some ways than similar thrillers, Trudel’s continuation of Raven’s adventures is not to be missed.

RECOMMENDED by the US Review

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0997805291, 978-0999630501, 978-0-9978052-8-4, B0798XFYPH
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 348

War Animals: The Unsung Heroes of World War II by Robin Hutton

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MWSA Review

War Animals: The Unsung Heroes of World War II tells the story of American and Allied dogs, horses, mules, birds, and a cat that assisted the war effort as part of the Greatest Generation. Bestselling author Robin Hutton brings these stories to readers in an entertaining manner while interspersing historical facts important and necessary in this kind of work. This is not just another animal book; it’s a book of war hero animals’ contributions to winning World War II.

Hutton captures the animal personalities, and particularly in the cases of the dogs, shows the tremendous power of the human and animal bond. She educates readers on how countries initiated the animal recruitment and training programs, and includes quotes and research from animal organizations and war departments demonstrating a truly combined effort to use every available asset to achieve the impossible goals.

The author recognizes the sacrifices ordinary citizens made in giving up their beloved pets for duty and follows the pets through their time in service. She does a phenomenal job in painstakingly documenting the recognition these heroes earned and includes photographs of many receiving their respected Dickins Medals. The collection of photographs complimented the work tremendously and leaves a lasting impression on readers.

Extremely well-researched and documented, War Animals is an important and one-of-a-kind compilation of World War II history. The fact that it is also written like a series of movie scenes makes this work that much more enjoyable. The reader gets to know the animals, their owners, their handlers, and their fans, and their many varied exploits. The author does not gloss over the realities of war but manages to bring light and much-deserved recognition to heroic war animals and those who cared for them.

Review by Valerie Ormond (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

War Dogs * War Birds * War Horses & Mules * And a War ... Cat!

Millions rallied to the cause of freedom against Nazism and the menace of Imperial Japan. But did you know that some of those heroes had fur, or feathers? War animals guarded American coasts against submarine attack, dug out Londoners trapped in bomb wreckage, and carried vital messages under heavy fire on Pacific islands. They kept up morale, rushed machine gun nests, and even sacrificed themselves picking up live grenades.

This book tells the heart-warming stories of the dogs, horses, mules, pigeons—and even one cat—who did their bit for the war effort. American and British families volunteered beloved family pets and farm dogs when rationing made it difficult to feed them; President Roosevelt, bought honorary commissions in the reserves for lapdogs and other pets not suitable for military duties to “exempt” them from war service and raise money to defeat Hitler and Tojo. Many of these gallant animals are recipients of the prestigious PDSA Dickin Medal, the “Animals’ Victoria Cross.”

ISBN/ASIN: hardcover 1621576582, paperback 1621579867, kindle B07BTKYGCC, Audio 1538586020
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 466

In War Animals: The Unsung Heroes of World War II you’ll meet:

• Judy, the POW dog who helped her beloved human survive brutal Japanese prison camps

• GI Joe, the pigeon who flew 20 miles in 20 minutes and stopped the planes on the tarmac from bombing a town that had been taken over by the British, saving over 100 British soldiers’ lives

• Beauty, the “digging dog” who sniffed out Londoners buried in the wreckage of the Blitz—along with pets, including one goldfish still in its bowl!

• Olga, the horse who braved shattering glass to do her duty in London bombings

• Smoky, the Yorkshire terrier who did parachute jumps, laid communications wire through a pipe so small only she could navigate it, became the first therapy dog—and starred on a weekly TV show after the War

• Simon, the war cat whose campaign against the “Mao Tse Tung” of the rat world saved food supplies and his ship’s crew

• Chips, who guarded Roosevelt and Churchill during the Casablanca Conference, and the only dog to earn a Silver Star for his heroics

These are just a handful of stories you will discover! The shining loyalty and courage of these heroes is a testimony to the enduring bond between us and the animals we love.

Space Pioneers: In Their Own Words by Loretta Hall

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MWSA Review

The monumental 607-page book symbolizes the monumental work that author Loretta Hall must have done in order to write this book. By her own admission in a note to the reader, she has had more of a developmental editor role than author, although that does not undermine by any means the importance and magnitude of what she has had to do in order to bring Space Pioneers: In Their Own Words to the public. Quite the opposite, in fact.

The stories, which follow a chronological order, are told by the space pioneers themselves, as the title promises. The author, however, introduces most of the stories, which are told in a way that can interest an average reader who would otherwise be lost with too much technical jargon. Although the chapters are topic- and subject-based, I found that each chapter can potentially stand on its own, meaning one can easily hop from chapter 3 to chapter 9 without feeling as though one has missed much. Given the 90 personal accounts contained in this book, I would imagine readers could find it easy to focus on accounts that interest them more than others. I have, for example, experienced this myself when reading a few stories to my son, who is seven years old, and loves to learn about outer space. As a result of these stories, there is now one more boy who daydreams of, one day, becoming part of a book titled Space Pioneers.

Review by Brunella Costagliola (May 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

Ninety space pioneers describe their experiences while working on space research and exploration from the 1940s through the space shuttle program. Some of these men and women were well known as astronauts or members of Mission Control for Apollo flights to the Moon, and some were minor players in the programs-people like lab technicians, weather forecasters, welders, and helicopter pilots who supported rocket tests. Their stories disclose events and behind-the-scenes details available nowhere else. They reveal the human experiences of an era that extended from the launch of this planet's first "artificial moon" to routine shuttle missions carrying people and supplies between Earth and the International Space Station. Drawn from the archives of the oral history program supported by the International Space Hall of Fame Foundation, the excerpts describe funny, frightening, and fascinating episodes. They paint the hues of human experience on the canvas of technological achievements. In this book, for the first time, extensive portions of the New Mexico Museum of Space History and International Space Hall of Fame's oral history collection are available to the general public. Supplemented with photographs and annotated for historical context, this presentation offers a unique glimpse into humanity's struggles to become a spacefaring race. That perspective forms an important foundation for the new era of commercial spaceflight and interplanetary exploration.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1936744275
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—History
Number of Pages: 618

Karl's Last Flight by Basil Sands

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MWSA Review

Karl’s Last Flight by Basil Sands is a fast-moving book that tells Karl’s current story as a space tourism pilot and accidental infantryman in Iran in addition to his 1985 experience as a Marine Harrier pilot in Burma. Both stories are well told with many believable plot twists and turns. There is both action and intrigue as it reflects history, the present, and the future. Well worth reading.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (June 2019)

MWSA's evaluation of this book found a number of technical problems--including some combination of misspellings, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization errors--which indicate that further editing would lead to a much-improved final product.

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Author's Synopsis

Karl Alexander’s day started with taking the most obnoxious Hollywood star on a low-orbit space tour. By lunchtime, he inadvertently triggered a world war. Then things got really bad. Karl, a former USMC Harrier pilot, NASA astronaut, and Space Tourism pilot had always been an adrenaline junky, but he quickly finds himself in over his head. He’s swept up in an insane secret operation—the work of American CIA and British MI-6 agents—being helped by a family of resistance fighters and led by an Iranian-born deep-cover agent that he doesn't begin to trust. Soon he's trapped in an all-out chase to stop a squad of kamikazes armed with nukes who are rushing to drop their deadly payload onto U.S. troops and Israeli citizens. Throughout the harrowing adventure, Karl is haunted by the memory of his first combat mission as a Marine Harrier pilot. Somehow, he knows what he learned twenty years ago just might save the world today.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1682615270
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 288

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MWSA's evaluation of this book found a number of technical problems--including some combination of misspellings, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization errors--which indicate that further editing would lead to a much-improved final product.

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Author's Synopsis

Karl Alexander’s day started with taking the most obnoxious Hollywood star on a low-orbit space tour. By lunchtime, he inadvertently triggered a world war. Then things got really bad. Karl, a former USMC Harrier pilot, NASA astronaut, and Space Tourism pilot had always been an adrenaline junky, but he quickly finds himself in over his head. He’s swept up in an insane secret operation—the work of American CIA and British MI-6 agents—being helped by a family of resistance fighters and led by an Iranian-born deep-cover agent that he doesn't begin to trust. Soon he's trapped in an all-out chase to stop a squad of kamikazes armed with nukes who are rushing to drop their deadly payload onto U.S. troops and Israeli citizens. Throughout the harrowing adventure, Karl is haunted by the memory of his first combat mission as a Marine Harrier pilot. Somehow, he knows what he learned twenty years ago just might save the world today.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1682615270
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 288

Faithful Warrior by Basil Sands

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MWSA Review

In Faithful Warrior, author Basil Sands has given us a modern-day thriller that finds our protagonist and a team of federal agents trying desperately to prevent another major terrorist attack in the United States heartland. Middle Eastern terrorists with the support of a Russian sleeper agent are planning to set off a nuclear bomb in Ohio. Casualties could be in the millions, and the good guys have little to go on. Suspense builds as the time to detonation decreases with each turn of a page. Sands has mastered the art of writing a thriller and using interesting characters. I recommend this book to anyone looking for an exciting read. 

Review by Bob Doerr (April 2019)

MWSA's evaluation of this book found a number of technical problems—including some combination of misspellings, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization errors—which indicate that further editing would lead to a much-improved final product.

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Author's Synopsis

 God forgives when we ask sincerely. Men, not so much. Self, even less. And the Dead....never. Pastor Mike loves his family, and loves his flock. Life is good, but to get there he had to traverse a trail of blood. The faces that haunt his nightmares are no longer just specters, and a long thought dead enemy is about to unleash a very real hell.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1682616970
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 355

Ice Hammer: Insurgent by Basil Sands

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MWSA Review

Basil Sands’ Ice Hammer: Insurgent picks up where Ice Hammer: Invasion leaves off and is full of solid characters, gritty action, and patriots doing their best at the impossible.

Over a year ago, the combined forces of the Chinese and the Russians invaded the United States, including Alaska, home to former Force Recon Marine Brad Stone. The entire world seems turned upside down, and while fleeing to the Alaskan interior, Brad becomes famous when he kills two Chinese soldiers with an ice hammer. When the incident was caught on a drone, his reputation went viral, and now he is the face of the Alaskan resistance, like it or not.

Book two finds Brad bogged down with trying to keep his ever-growing group of refugees safe and not starving, while his sons, on a Boy Scout camping trip the day the war began, have formed their own resistance group and are learning the rigors of combat at a young age. Brad’s wife, thought dead, is actually leading a very prominent life among the enemy, and at all times seems to be a collaborator, an angel of mercy, and a spy.

 That’s a lot of elements for one book, but Sands pulls it off admirably. The action is raw, the dialogue and characters believable, and the twists and turns entertaining. I especially liked how the characters of Karzai and Gunnar get further developed, and also the tie in with Marcus Johnson, another former Marine, from the author’s book 65 Below. If you liked either Ice Hammer: Invasion or 65 Below, then you will love this installment. Sands’ writing, especially when describing combat, is as real as Dale Brown, the great Tom Clancy, or Jeff Edwards.

Review by Rob Ballister (April 2019)

MWSA's evaluation of this book found a number of technical problems—including some combination of misspellings, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization errors—which indicate that further editing would lead to a much-improved final product.

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Author's Synopsis

 Following the invasion of a year earlier Brad Stone has become the figure head of the Alaska resistance movement, and head of the largest militia in the former state, including the Chiknik Rangers, making him enemy number one to the Chinese leadership based in Anchorage. At the same time his sons, Ben and Ian find themselves waging a bloody guerilla operation against Russian troops in the east. Unknown to any of them, Youngmi, whose mangled, dead body haunts Brad’s dreams, has become the mistress of General Zhang, head of the Chinese forces in Alaska…and a major player in the resistance movement, passing on information that could mean her real death if she is caught.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1682616925
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 340

Idol Thoughts by Harvey E. Baker

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MWSA Review

If you enjoy gripping combat fiction in a story that keeps you eagerly turning pages, you'll love Harvey E. Baker's Idol Thoughts. The details of a fictional "undeclared" war in the Laotian jungle, conducted by Khemoi/ Nuoung/ Montagnards and their Special Forces "snake-eating" advisors, are vividly realistic. That's not surprising, because Baker lived and fought in the war he describes. The horrors of life in an NVA prison camp are powerfully depicted as well, giving the lie to the ridiculous slander that the Americans who were captured in the Vietnam war weren't "heroes." The novel's conclusion is a warp-speed-paced version of the movie Three Kings. Besides being a great read, this is also a profoundly honest novel about combat and the men and women who fight for their country.

Review by Tom Behr (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

Set in the Vietnam War, that involves a 1st Reconnaissance Battalion recon team, led by Marine Lieutenant John Casey, tasked with locating a POW camp. The team is shot down in Laos and is rescued from the NVA by a mountain tribe of Laotian Nuongs led by a Special Forces Green Beret Major. This is a story about the team's survival and the survival of the Green Beret Major as a prisoner of war. This novel explores the Annamite Mountain legend and mystery of the "Sun Shine Buddha." and it highlights the warrior creed, "Leave no man behind" even if the government has written the man off as just another casualty of war.

ISBN/ASIN: ASIN# BOOZBGBQC4, ISBN-13# 1521905312
Book Format(s): Soft cover, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 536