DeGroote: The Incredible Life of a Downed US Airman Who Joined the French Underground During WWII by Conrad Kersch

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MWSA Review
DeGroote: The Incredible Life of a Downed US Airman Who Joined the French Underground During WWII was written by Conrad John Kersch prior to his death in 2000. His youngest son Kris Kersch then supplemented the autobiographical part of the book with more details about his father’s life before and after World War II as well as a section about his three sons.

Conrad John Kersch reveals bits of his earlier life through the text in flashbacks as various events and scenes during the war make him think of his time growing up in Chicago, spending a few years with his grandmother in Romania after his parents died, and his 50 missions in the Pacific prior to being shot down in France on what was supposed to be an easy mission with no flak expected. He filled in on missions with various crews as a flight engineer and a bombardier. He was always willing to risk his life in combat.

After being the only member of the crew to escape capture by the Germans, Kersch found refuge with various French families associated with the French Underground group that worked for Charles DeGaulle. He was eventually accepted in this underground group. He spoke no French but was fluent in German, being raised by German parents. When he was active in Belgium, he was able to communicate with the Belgians who spoke Flemish, which has many words similar to German words. The title of the book refers to the name Kersch was given when he was accepted in the underground: Albert DeGroote.
While underground members often had to wait for orders, living in areas occupied by Germans was very stressful. Days were excessively boring, and Kersch was willing to do any work to keep busy, including cutting grass to feed the farm’s goats. He was also very aware that many of the young German soldiers were simply fighting for their country and were not Nazis. In one case he befriended two young German soldiers who were hiding from strafing by Allied planes.

Kersch joined the Army Air Forces in 1935 and flew his first mission as a bombardier on March 22, 1944. It’s unclear how long he was in France, but he was out of the service and working for a grain company in Texas in December 1944. One of the reasons he left the service was because they would not let him return to combat or even to Germany to utilize his ability to speak German. However, he did reenlist in 1948 to help pay for medical bills associated with the birth of his youngest son Kris. Since he spoke six languages, he was assigned to the OSS, the precursor of the CIA, and was sent to Germany. He retired as a master sergeant in 1959. This 378-page text tells Kersch’s story, shedding light on how difficult it was to live under German occupation.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (March 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
The true story of Albert DeGroote who is an orphan, immigrant, airmen, a soldier in the French Underground, and his real name is SSG Conrad John Kersch. As a bombardier aboard B-17G Tennessee Hillbilly for the 303rd Bomber Group on mission 128 March 26, 1944 was to drop payload and get back to base safely. On this particular mission the payload was dropped but the journey home took a drastic turn. This is the story of SSG Kersch bailing out, evading capture, living with the French, and ending up fighting in the French Underground {FFI}, reprieved from a firing squad. His journey from childhood to joining the Army in 1935 is nothing but ordinary.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-943267-77-4, 978-1-943267-76-7, 978-1-943267-78-1

Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 416

Chaos Above the Sand by Bruce Thomas

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Author's Synopsis
Iran 2010. The Iranian High Council has decided that today is the day that their fighter pilots will attack. With a large group of fighter aircraft poised to cross the border into Iraq, the only thing standing in the Iranians' way is Wild Bill Eddy's four F-15C aircraft. With lighting speed, the battle rages in the sky above Iraq. Iran's desire to control the Middle East sets this fast-paced, multi-layer story in motion.

Germany, May 1944. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel has sent his most trusted representatives to steal a vast treasure from Hitler's hidden storage location. They intend to use the horde to fund their escape from the war that has devastated Germany and made them lose faith in the Fϋhrer. A mix of attacks, setbacks, and terrible timing cause the treasure to be lost when the Allies attacked Normandy on June 6th, 1944.

From the beginning, the Special Projects Unit is thrown into this thriller with traitors, spies, and patriotic soldiers. The SPU director, William "Wild Bill" Eddy, and his best friend, Assistant Director Mark "Vector" Jones, race to solve the clues to who is supplying Top Secret information to the Iranians. With Villains and traitors on every page, the SPU must decipher the clues and save the USA from a fast-approaching military defeat. Clues to the lost WW II treasure become mixed into the story of the Special Projects Unit's building and hiding. This yarn is the tale of the development and birth of the Special Projects Unit.

As Air Force Academy graduates, Wild Bill and Vector have a bond that transcends work. But will they be able to solve all of the clues to stop the Iranians from taking over the Middle East? Chaos Above the Sand is a prequel to Bruce Thomas's first book, The Hope of the South.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-64952-185-9, 978-1-64952-186-6

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 485

The Wolves of Helmand by Frank Biggio

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MWSA Review
Frank Biggio's The Wolves of Helmand is an absolutely outstanding personal memoir of one Marine's time as part of a civil affairs group (CAG) in Afghanistan. As a civil affairs Marine, Biggio's job was about winning hearts and minds as much as taking the lives of the enemy. As such, this separates his experiences from many other combat memoirs, and the author does a wonderful job of telling his story.

Deployed with "1/5" into Nawa in Helmand province, Biggio explains the background behind why his job was important, the struggles he dealt with, the action he was part of, and most importantly the lessons he learned and the growth he experienced. He does so in a realistic, salty style that makes the unexperienced know what it is like to be on the ground with Marines.

In addition to the outstanding memoir, the author gave us a bonus. The last chapter is quotes from Marines during the deployment. Some are simple, some are fatalistic, and some are downright funny, as perhaps only a Marine with sand in their boots could say it.

Overall, this is an excellent work that will appeal to any combat vet, especially of either Iraq or Afghanistan in our country's most recent conflicts.

Review by Rob Ballister
 

Author's Synopsis
At turns poignant, funny, philosophical, and raw—but always real—The Wolves of Helmand is both a heartfelt homage to the Marine brotherhood with whom Biggio served and an expression of respect and love for the people of Afghanistan who ultimately trusted, shared, and appreciated their purpose.

Ten years after serving his country as a U.S. Marine, Captain Frank “Gus” Biggio signed up once again because he missed the brotherhood of the military. Leaving behind his budding law career, his young wife, and newborn son, he was deployed to Helmand Province—the most violent region in war-torn Afghanistan—for reasons few would likely understand before reading this book.

Riven by conflict and occupation for centuries because of its strategic location, the region he landed in was, at that time, a hotbed of Taliban insurgency. As a participant in the landmark U.S.-led Operation Khanjar, Biggio and his fellow Marines were executing a new-era military strategy. Focused largely on empowerment of the local population, the offensive began with a troop surge designed to thwart the Taliban, but was more importantly followed by the restoration of the local government and real-time capacity building among the withdrawn and destitute Afghan people.

The Wolves of Helmand is unlike other war memoirs. It takes us less into the action—though there is that too—and more into the quiet places of today’s war zones. Yes, you’ll read of our Marines’ stealth arrival in a single night, our advanced weaponry, and our pop-up industrial village command centers. You’ll read, as well, about the ambushed patrols and the carnage of IEDs. But you will also read of the persistence, humility, ruggedness, loneliness, tedium, diplomacy, and humanity of our Marines’ jobs there, which more than anything else reveals the magnitude of even the smallest victories.

Completed years after the author’s return from his mission, The Wolves of Helmand is most of all a decade-long self-examination of a warrior’s heart, conscience, and memory. Whether intended or not, Biggio’s deep reflections and innate honesty answer every question you’ve ever wanted to ask about life and death in war—and even questions you probably never thought to ask.

What calls a warrior to duty?

What makes, sustains, plagues, and even breaks a warrior?

These are bigger questions than the ones impolite society pokes around when a veteran returns home—Did you kill anyone? Did you have to go? Why would you fight for another country? Why were we even there?

Yet the answers to those queries are here, too, in this thoughtful memoir that will make you think about war, family, love, and loss.

ISBN/ASIN: 1948677644, 978-1948677646

Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 288

Tomcat Fury: A Combat History of the F-14 by Mike Guardia

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MWSA Review
Grumman’s F-14 Tomcat prowled above war-torn lands and patrolled the troubled skies above conflicted seas worldwide for 33 years, operating mostly from aircraft carriers. The Tomcat’s electronic and human eyes spied on regional battles and at times pounced with deadly accuracy, making a positive difference. Though, according to the author, the leashed cat, never experienced its potential. The book, Tomcat Fury, by Mike Guardia is far more than just a book about a fighter plane. The masterfully crafted story is about a Navy fighter aircraft built to replace the Vietnam battle-worn and earlier generation fighters. The author, however, expands his narrative beyond just describing a formidable fighter by adding in-depth descriptive geopolitical history as seen through the prowling cats’ eyes.

This book is an excellent, detailed, American military history lesson covering a period leading up to 1973 and the F-14’s first operational flights to the cat’s sudden retirement seven months following its final aerial kill during Desert Storm in 2006. Iran, the only other nation to purchase F-14s, might have caused this aircraft to compete against itself. Details are revealed. One hundred and eleven carefully selected, mostly full-color photos, in high resolution, are properly located in the text accompanied with ample captions. Combat engagements are described in detail, which in some cases places the reader in the cockpit or, in one revealing episode, on the ground as two F-14 crewmembers scramble to avoid capture following being shot down behind enemy lines. Crewmember names and combat engagement details are fully revealed from the author’s in-depth research. With a slightly larger format and hardcover, this book, pridefully, would grace any coffee table.

Review by Tom Beard (March 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
For more than three decades, the Grumman F-14 Tomcat was the US Navy’s premier carrier-based, multi-role fighter jet. From its harrowing combat missions over Libya to its appearance on the silver screen in movies like "Top Gun" and "Executive Decision," the F-14 has become an icon of American air power.

Now, for the first time in a single volume, "Tomcat Fury" explores the illustrious combat history of the F-14: from the Gulf of Sidra…to the Iran-Iraq War…to the skies over Afghanistan in the Global War on Terror.

ISBN/ASIN: B07XQJQ6XX, 0999644335

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Reference

Number of Pages: 154

Where the High Winds Sing by Donald Purdy

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MWSA Review
This book offers a stirring glimpse into the soul of a warrior. Don Purdy’s poetry poignantly expresses the sentiments of a fighter, a survivor, and a veteran mourning the loss of his brothers-in-arms. The author, a naval aviator during the Vietnam War, vividly brings to life the experience of aerial combat as well as themes universal to the experience of war. The poems are written and arranged with great creativity and skill, and include not only depictions of battle and action, but also reflections on courage, loss, and the larger legacy of military conflict. Purdy’s writing is beautifully complemented by artwork, photos, and annotations. Where the High Winds Sing is not merely a book, but a masterful work of art.

Review by Zita Ballinger Fletcher (March 2021)

 

Author's Synopsis
Where the High Winds Sing weaves a vivid tapestry of flight from the experiences of a Naval Aviator who lived through the bloody brawl that was the air war over North Vietnam. Its compelling verse soars beyond the limits of prose to draw the reader into a visceral appreciation of the sights, sounds, and passions of aerial combat. The poetry ranges from the pure celebration of flight to the always demanding, sometimes humorous, often tragic drama of wartime carrier operations. But it also presents evocative images of transformative interludes at sea and reflections on the effects of combat, especially the loss of close friends. Don Purdy's accessible poetry is reminiscent of an earlier era when such poets as Wilfred Owen, John Gillespie Magee Jr., and Rudyard Kipling elevated "war poetry" to a unique literary genre. Many of the poems are illustrated with the author's own artwork.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13 : 979-8678032935, ASIN : B08HSTRLXQ

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Poetry—Poetry Book

Number of Pages: 76

Full Mag: Veteran Stories Illustrated, Vol. 3 by August Uhl

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MWSA Review
Full Mag: Veteran Stories Illustrated, Vol. 3 is filled with true veteran stories, written and illustrated by other veterans, allowing the storyteller, the editors and writers, and the graphic artists to all participate and heal together.

Some of the stories have never been told to anyone, and are obviously deeply personal to the veterans relaying the tale. I specifically like how stories from World War II, Korea, Vietnam and the Gulf War all appear in the same issue, with consistent artwork and quality. This sends a subliminal message that while parts of war may be different, much of it as perceived by the combatants may be very similar.

Hats off and a Bravo Zulu to the Full Mag team; I look forward to Volume Four.

Review by Rob Ballister (March 2021)

 

Author's Synopsis
Full Mag: Veteran Stories Illustrated, Vol. 3 is a unique veteran history and art project in graphic novel form. Full Mag presents the stories of our veterans in their own words with illustrations in sequential graphic art. Every story presented is the result of an interview by our team or the written contribution of the veteran. This ground breaking third volume includes the following first-person accounts

WW II Combat Engineer, crossing the Rhine- by Harold Vachal, art by J.W. Erwin

WW II Soldiers overrun during the Battle of the Bulge- by Bob Buntin, art by Gary Martin

WW II Airman shot down over Italy- by Eldon Dahl, art by Nossretep

WW II and just after, B-29 crew over the Pacific-by Norm Meuller, art by Thomas Muzzell

A Marine's Story: from childhood during the Depression to Pacific island battles to Korea, presented in four chapters plus Q&A, by Marvin Strombo, art by Gary Martin, Fernando Ruiz, Kim DeMulder, and Max Davenport

WW II, Nisei 100th Battalion, Go for Broke- by Stan Izumigawa, art by Lou Manna

Baghdad ER, 86th Combat Support Hospital-by Dacia M Arnold, art by Cassandra Dale

Afghanistan, bird's eye view over 10 years-by Darin Gaub, art by Thomas Muzzell

Operation in Cambodia-by Mark Potes, art by Lou Manna and Bill Anderson

Replacement at Inchon and rodeo rider-by James Aplan, art by Thomas Muzzell

These are stories that can only be told by those who experienced the events themselves. Full Mag provides a unique platform for veterans to tell their stories while simultaneously allowing artists to honor these warriors through the application of their skills, as cultures have done since the dawn of mankind. This 88-page perfect bound, magazine sized, graphic novel is a publication unlike any other. Printed in the USA on 80# high quality paper.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 978-0-578-77216-5

Book Format(s): Soft cover

Review Genre: Artistic—Graphical Novel/Comic Book

Number of Pages: 88

Tales from the Blue by J. B. King

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MWSA Review
Tales from the Blue: Adventures in Law Enforcement by J. B. King tells mostly humous incidents from the 1970s and 1980s in a small county in Missouri from the point of view of a retired State Highway Patrolman. This was a county located near an Army base and an interstate that bisected the county, which brought them far more crime than otherwise might be expected.

In addition to stories that range from fishing with a tow truck to working with the U.S. Army to return AWOL soldiers to a low-speed pursuit (38 mile an hour tops), King also shows the serious side of law enforcement and the importance of listening and observing rather than just charging into a situation. All of the tales are fairly short and told in a folksy manner. This is a book that will entertain you.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (March2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
Pimps, drugs, and craziness? Just another day on the job for a cop in Pulaski County, Missouri, the home of the U. S. Army base of Fort Leonard Wood during the 1970s and 1980s. A time when houses of ill repute dotted the landscape and the great AWOL hunt was on every day for wayward GI's who did not like basic training and departed from the Army without permission. Add alcohol and I-44 vehicle traffic to the mix for non-stop action around the clock. Tales from the Blue is a collection of stories about the crazy world that was Pulaski County during that time told with humor.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781725758100

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Collections—Humor

Number of Pages: 157

Spycraft: Essentials by Bayard and Holmes

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MWSA Review

For nearly six decades Mad Magazine featured “Spy V. Spy” as a popular feature. Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes bring these fictional antics into real life. As a source for spy novel writers, Spycraft: Essentials, reveals the not so humorous, but “real stuff” antics of spying. Backgrounds on various intelligence agencies and their interactions, along with insider-revealed unknowns are divulged. Knowledge from an experienced operative with over forty years inside is shared (but not the spy-writer’s real name) in this 276-page book. Revealed are tradecraft techniques; information about who spies and spooks are as people; the life they may lead depending on their roles and tools of the trade; and how they live (or die) in some incredibly special circumstances.

Writers wanting help with their characters and actions—even including details on weapons and their use—may want to refer to this book. Sidebars include: Conflict Alert, Side Notes, Bottom Line, Writing Tips, Pro Tips, and astute quotes by co-author, Jay Holmes. One of the two Mad Magazine cartoon characters, according to the authors’ definition, would appropriately be called a “spook.” The spook, of course, being on the good side. Spycraft: Essentials is an interesting read, churning ideas in the espionage-genre writer’s mind for their next (or first) spy story.

Review by Tom Beard (May 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

What do the main intelligence agencies do and where do they operate? How do they recruit personnel? What are real life honey pots and sleeper agents? What about truth serums and enhanced interrogations? And what are the most common foibles of popular spy fiction?

With the voice of over forty years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes answer these questions and share information on espionage history, firearms of spycraft, tradecraft techniques, and the personalities and personal challenges of the men and women behind the myths.

Though crafted with advice and specific tips for writers, Spycraft: Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn more about the inner workings of the Shadow World.

“Bayard & Holmes have done readers and writers of the espionage genre a great service. . . . From novices to experts, I suspect everyone will find something in this book that they did not know before.”

~ Doug Patteson
Film Technical Advisor and Former CIA Operations Officer

"Bayard and Holmes have done the unprecedented: crafted a fully informative, while wholly unclassified, overview on American spycraft with a special focus on preparing novelists for realistic scene writing. Spycraft: Essentials delivers solid, valuable information as a comprehensive primer on how the Intelligence Community really operates. It is a must-read for all involved Americans."

~ Rob DuBois
Retired US Navy SEAL and NSA Collector

“As a writer, I’m always looking for those books that open my eyes to the shadowy ways the world truly works. I found just such a resource in the insightful, well-researched, and oftentimes humorous book by Bayard and Holmes, Spycraft: Essentials. For any author, this is the new bible for crafting stories of espionage. It’s also perfect for anyone who wants to know the lengths nations will go to keep or steal secrets and the methods they will use to do so. This is a bombshell of a book.”

~ James Rollins
New York Times Bestselling Author of The Last Odyssey

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0991569212, 978-0991569250
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Reference
Number of Pages: 300

Obsessed by Joseph Badal

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MWSA Review

Obsessed by Joe Badal is an apt title for this rip-roaring second book in the Curtis Chronicles series. It is a perfect one-word adjective for the main “bad guy” who was introduced in book one of the Curtis Chronicles. But the adjective might also apply to more than one of the other fascinating characters you’ll meet in this book.

Taking up where we left off in The Motive, we are reacquainted with Lonnie Jackson, a truly evil person, who will stop at nothing to get his revenge. However, in Obsessed, there is more than one person obsessed to some degree about killing one or more of the other characters.  In fact, more than once, killers find themselves waiting in line for their turn to rid themselves of their adversaries. 

Badal carefully crafts an ever-increasing level of suspense leading up to an abrupt surprise ending. There are plenty of bodies strewn across the pages of Badal’s latest thriller, but they probably won’t end up being the bodies the reader or the book’s players might have expected. To find out what it all means, you’ll have to pick up your own copy of Obsessed and see how obsessively you’ll flip the pages and then anxiously wait for the next installment.

Review by John Cathcart (May 2020) 

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Author's Synopsis

A world-class thriller with non-stop, heart-pounding tension and action, “Obsessed” brings back Matt Curtis and Renee Drummond and their villainous nemesis, Lonnie Jackson. This second installment in Joseph Badal’s The Curtis Chronicles takes the reader from Rio de Janeiro to the mountains of New Mexico to the Mexico/United States border, following a crazed Jackson on his single-minded quest for revenge against the two people he blames for the deaths of his mother and brother and for the destruction of his criminal empire in Hawaii.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 978-1987559354, ASIN B07BRFQ9QT
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 373

Dark Angel by Joseph Badal

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MWSA Review

The dynamic duo returns in Dark Angel, Joseph Badal’s latest book in his Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series, and they do not disappoint.

Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez, having been promoted to detective sergeant rank in the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department of Violent Crimes/Homicide Squad, are handed a mysterious murder case. A child killer with a long record, released because of a corrupted chain of evidence, is discovered dead—stripped naked with a 14-inch tent peg embedded in his chest. No fingerprints, no body fluids, no hair, no evidence of the assailant are found at the crime scene, and to make circumstances more unusual, the cause of death was not the tent peg. And, so it begins.

Lassiter and Martinez follow the breadcrumbs, and the trail leads to similar unsolved cases. Soon, they realize that a vigilante-style serial killer is on the loose—the victims all outsmarted the legal system and avoided punishment. The plot becomes more complicated when they stumble onto an active FBI investigation.

Badal’s tale has all the essentials: suspense, tension, and excitement. The language is colorful and details vivid. His memorable characters are well developed, sympathetic, complex, and credible.

Dark Angel will keep readers “on the edge of their seats,” devouring page after page until the end.

Review by Sandi Cathcart (June 2020)

 Author's Synopsis

In “Dark Angel,” the second in the Lassiter/Martinez Case Files series, Detectives Barbara Lassiter and Susan Martinez pick up where they left off in “Borderline.” Assigned to a murder case, they discover that their suspect is much more than a one-off killer. In fact, the murderer appears to be a vigilante hell-bent on taking revenge against career criminals who the criminal justice system has failed to punish.

But Lassiter and Martinez are soon caught up in the middle of an FBI investigation of a monstrous home invasion gang that has murdered dozens of innocent victims across the United States. When they discover a link between their vigilante killer and the home invasion crew, they come into conflict with powerful men in the FBI who are motivated more by career self-preservation than by bringing justice to innocent victims.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 978-1542366595, ASIN B01NCQBZ93, Audio B07W6J3CQ3, Audio/CD ISBN-13 978-1094068671
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 340

Grandman Dean goes Big Shopping by Warren Martin, and Star Huddleston - Illustrator, Karen Tucker - Editor

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MWSA Review

Grandman Dean Goes Big Shopping by Warren Martin is a lovely story about a grandfather who loves to spend time shopping with his grandson. The adventures are made special by the names they have for each other and for their adventurous outings. The book is completed with a companion coloring book, a wonderful opportunity for a child to work with pictures, colors, and numbers. The illustrations in both books are charming and appealing to old and young alike.  

Review by Nancy Panko (April 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

Join Pop Pop and his Grandman Dean as they spend the day together and go Big Shopping.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 978-0-9854727-4-0    ASIN: B084DKMB36
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Picture Book
Number of Pages: 34

Enchantment Book 3 in the Maagy Series by Virginia Stringer

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MWSA Review

Author Virginia Burton Stringer has spun a fascinating story for the young adult reader in her book Enchantment, Book 3 of the Maagy Series. This book starts off on Princess Maagy's sixteenth birthday, the day Maagy's father, the king, can finally tell her the truth behind her mother's murder years earlier. On this day, Maagy also learns of her true heritage and the dangerous destiny in front of her. She is bewildered and upset with the knowledge but soon realizes the path she needs to follow. She and friend Mary apply to the Academy to become knights, and the two are the first females to be accepted into it. The Academy tests their strength, knowledge, and determination. In her struggles, she realizes that she is developing into a young woman with emotions and a temper that she will have to better control. No challenge, however, is greater than the one she faces when her father is kidnapped. I recommend this book.

Review by Bob Doerr (June 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

Princess Maagy has had some great adventures and a few harrowing moments in her life, but none compares to what King Henry reveals to her in the forbidden east tower on her sixteenth birthday. The greatest unknown in Maagy’s life has been her mother Queen Melania, but her father’s refusal to talk about his wife has left Maagy with a growing rage. Now, to find out the truth about what really happened to Queen Melania brings that anger to the surface causing a rift in the idyllic father/daughter relationship. Maagy’s rebellion turns her stubborn determination toward becoming a soldier against King Henry’s strong objections. Maagy has always been intrigued by her own striking resemblance to the warrior woman in a portrait at Whitmore Estate, but no one seems to know her identity. However, it is obvious to Maagy that she is an ancestor. Little does Maagy know the significance of the portrait, the woman in it, or how her life will change when she takes hold of the mysterious blue crystal and discovers she is the Chosen One. Once again, Maagy’s life is cast into turmoil, as her path twists and turns in directions neither she nor King Henry could predict. Maagy’s destiny was sealed centuries before her birth with foreboding incantations and curses spoken out of revenge. A sapphire amulet, glowing rubies, and the Sword of Aradin are her inheritance from the past and are the keys to her future.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-4808-4911-2
Book Format(s): Soft cover, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Young Adult (fiction or non-fiction)
Number of Pages: 421

Combat To College by John Davis

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MWSA Review

There are many issues that veterans have when they leave the military and decide to go forward and pursue higher education. Combat to College is the perfect companion to take with you to assist you in that learning journey. I could relate to some of those many issues because I went back to college when I got out of the Army, was married, and had two children. Even though this book is aimed at today's veterans, I still could relate, decades later!

Author John Davis gives many personal examples of how he felt and, more importantly, how he handled it. He shares his feelings about professors/teachers who have a different view of the world and life than veterans may have. I felt that he realistically covered that issue and others with sound intelligent advice.

If one is looking for a guidebook for transitioning to college, then this is your needed how-to-do-it manual. It will prepare you emotionally and aid your college experience. I recommend this book as a great gift to yourself—or others who are going from combat to college! Great reference book!

 Review by Bill McDonald (April 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

Combat To College is the book for veterans who want to win the college battle. Veterans must utilize the unique skills and discipline gained in the military to succeed in higher education. Your experiences make you capable of not only graduating but creating the life you want after military service. When veterans get out of the military, their plan of action often determines whether they live out their dreams or their nightmares. How well you do in college often dictates how well you do in life. Rise up to your potential and navigate college with these straightforward lessons. Maintain your military bearing, confidence and unwavering determination into your next chapter. Make your college success non-negotiable, you earned your GI Bill and it's time to grit your teeth and use it.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0-578-66338-8
Book Format(s): Softcover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Reference
Number of Pages: 149

The Hidden Sphinx: A Tale of World War II Egypt by Zita Steele

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MWSA Review

Author Zita Steele has given us a delightful story of suspense and romance in her book, The Hidden Sphinx, A Tale of World War II Egypt. Steele sets the story in and around Cairo during the early part of the war, and effectively weaves into her book the ancient history and landmarks of the region. The story's two protagonists meet in Cairo: Major Frost, the no-nonsense British Army investigator, and Eve Weathers, an American journalist. The two work together to find the murderer of a British officer. The trail leads them throughout the Egyptian desert, in and out of several ruins, and has them on a hunt, not only for the murderer, but also for a cursed, ancient embalming knife. Their chase takes them into conflict with German soldiers, various tomb raiders, and deserters from both sides of the conflict. With wisps of the supernatural always dancing around the edges of the story, Eve and Frost still find time to fall in love. The question is, will either survive to the end of the story? I recommend this book. 

Review by Bob Doerr (April 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

Egypt, 1942. War rages in the Western Desert. As a series of murders and tomb robberies plague the British Army, ruthless and daring Major Desmond Frost is called to investigate. His path leads him straight into the arms of fiery young American woman Eve, who captures his heart as he unlocks a mystery surrounding tomb raids, an ancient haunted dagger, and a renegade German Afrika Korps ranger. The darkness pits him against a Nazi spree killer and the East London leader of “Commando Group Sphinx,” elite Special Forces troopers gone rogue.

ISBN/ASIN: B07YS2SMCQ, 1941184294, 978-1941184295
Book Format(s): Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 351

Micah by Glenn Starkey

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MWSA Review

Micah, by Glenn Starkey is a novel based on the history of human/ape experiments in the Soviet Union in the early decades of the 1900s. Yuri Grechiko, a member of the state secret police—roughly equivalent to the SS in Nazi Germany—provided his sperm to the scientist who wanted to “mix” it with sperm from a great ape, and then impregnate slave-labor woman with the concoction…all geared to creating a super-race of warriors for Stalin.

After the scientist artificially inseminates women, Yuri has a change of heart and leads them out of bondage. He lives with two of them in the mountains, and each one gives birth to a human/ape hybrid. One female child (Alexsa) and one male (Micah). Yuri is their father, at least in part, though their mothers were different.

Both Alexsa and Micah are half-siblings but maintain a marital relationship. They live in a cave, sequestered from humans. Their father made sure they were educated, and most of the time they behave as humans, although they look like apes. Both Micah and Alexsa struggle with being neither fully ape nor completely human.

The story focuses mostly on the relationship between Micah and his father, Yuri, and reaches a climax when an encroaching secret police patrol with a butchering leader destroys their anonymity. Then, a terrible injustice is committed. Micah decides the only way to avenge the injustice is to allow his animal side to dominate him.

There are some scenes of extreme violence, including rape.

Many chapters alternate between the years the experiments were conducted in the 1920s and the years when Micha and Alexa have grown up in the 1940s. It is a nice way to handle the past as it relates to the present within the story.

It’s an interesting read, with the main character—Micah—struggling to exist in two worlds. The reader will come to love him.

Glenn Starkey writes in an easy-to-read style. Short chapters, with thoughtful or cliff-hanger endings, invite the reader to turn the page.

Review by Patricia Walkow (April 2020)

Author's Synopsis

1926, Russia. Red Terror has reigned for years with secret police, forced labor camps, and executions now a part of everyday life. Dr. Ilya Ivanovich Ivanov is obsessed with creating a human-ape hybrid and it drives him to horrific ends. Stalin's support and desire for inhuman super soldiers provides fuel for Ivanov's shocking experiments. When Yuri Grechiko, a member of the state secret police, falls in love with Sonia, a human experiment from a labor camp, he risks it all by fleeing with her and others to freedom on the Ural Mountains. There a boy and girl are born, neither human nor ape. An experiment that the mad scientist Ivanov never knew had succeeded. But Yuri's past returns to haunt him. As Stalin's secret police climb the mountains Yuri's world is brutally shattered. From the horror of shocking experiments and devastating civil wars comes Micah, a gentle forest giant. The mountains will tremble as he seeks his retribution.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-54399-576-3, 978-1-54399-577-0
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 202

Still Come Home by Katey Schultz

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MWSA Review

Katey Schultz weaves a story of three people's lives using an Afghanistan War thread. The reader finds Aaseya, Nathan, and Rahim not happy with their circumstances. It's easy to understand Aaseya's dismay after all members of her family are murdered. Forced at fourteen years old to marry Rahim, she is unable to have children. She is shamed by Rahim's family and villagers. Prevented from completing her education, her life is at a dead end.

The reader is not told why—after six years in the Army National Guard and completing his fourth deployment—Nathan remains a second lieutenant. He loves leading his men. His men are loyal to him. The mission is paramount. Nathan's unhappiness stems from following orders which he does not fully understand. Lamenting the loss of his men haunts Nathan as he questions his actions in combat. Nathan's battlefield focus is interrupted with thoughts of home and family.

Rahim presents himself as a brick maker. He is paid by the Taliban warlords for his services. He resents Aaseya's independence and yearns for a family. He does not like the Taliban but enjoys the money working with them brings. There are no other opportunities for Rahim in his village.

Supporting characters bring Schultz's story to life. Rahim's sidekick Badria believes he is a worthy warrior and wants to please the Taliban. Rahim's sister Shanaz is scornful of Aaseya and was instrumental in Aaseya's family being targeted by the Taliban.

Nathan's men, each quirky in their own way, have their own problems to overcome. Nathan's wife Tenley and daughter Cissy move in and out of the story, letting Nathan explore the love of what he does on the battlefield and the love he craves at home.

Ghazel, age six, a mute unkempt street urchin, gives hope to Aaseya. Aaseya sees a way out of her miserable life by adopting Ghazel. Ghazel is the glue that brings Aaseya and Rahim together. This family unit allows Nathan to do something he feels good about in his quest to find meaning on the battlefield. Helping Aaseya's family escape to a better life brings purpose to Nathan's life. Nathan returns home and finds the love that is waiting for him.

 Review by Frank Taylor (May 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

When the odds are stacked against you, doing everything right still might not be enough to protect yourself and the ones you love. The three characters in Katey Schultz’s novel are each searching for the best way to be, the best way to live—all the while fighting cultural, societal, and political forces far beyond their control. As their paths intersect over the span of three days, Still Come Home explores how their decisions will forever alter each other’s lives.

 Aaseya, an ambitious, educated Afghan girl, struggles to walk the line between social disgrace and faith that her hometown of Imar can unharden and heal. Though she cannot bear her older husband, Rahim, a child, and she suspects her sister-in-law played a part in her family’s murder, Aaseya maintains self-reliance and dignity by rebelling against the misogyny and violence surrounding her.

Second Lieutenant Nathan Miller blames himself for the death of a soldier under his command and worries that his constant absence from his North Carolina home has permanently damaged his marriage. 

When Rahim learns that the Taliban, whom he reluctantly works for, are hatching a violent plan, conflicting loyalties to country, to enduring peace, and to his young wife take all three down a road that will change their lives forever.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1627202312
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 250

Under Fire with ARVN Infantry by Bob Worthington

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MWSA Review

Bob Worthington’s Under Fire with ARVN Infantry: Memoir of a Combat Advisor in Vietnam 196 – 1967 is a must-read memoir for those seeking to understand America’s involvement with the Army of the Republic of Vietnam at the tactical level during the early war years. Written with humility, honesty, and keen self-reflection, Worthington’s writing is absent much of the bravado or exaggeration found in many military memoirs. Instead, readers will find an honest assessment of American and South Vietnamese soldiers as Worthington saw them at the company and battalion level. His later life as a psychologist and journalism professor is evident in the writing and analysis present.  

Review by Tim Heck (May 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

From 1945 to 1973, more than 100,000 members of the US military were advisors in Vietnam. Worthington's first tour (1966-67) as a combat advisor began with training at the US Army Special Warfare School and then the Defense Language Institute for Vietnamese. In Vietnam he served as the senior advisor to Vietnamese infantry defense forces securing the city of DaNang and then an Army of the Republic of Vietnam infantry mobile reaction battalion. He worked alongside ARVN forces staging combat operations against Viet Cong and regular North Vietnamese units. He depicts an 8-day battle when his unit of 320 men made a night helicopter assault into a 1200-man NVA regiment. The NVA unit was destroyed but the ARVN suffered 45% casualties. Another night the Viet Cong stopped fighting so Worthington could arrange for a US helicopter medevac for a wounded VC baby. Training and fighting with ARVN Infantry are described as his combat advisors lived and fought with their Vietnamese counterparts.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-4766-7436-0, 978-1-4766-3444-9
Book Format(s): Soft cover, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 232

A Lion's Share by Brad Graft

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MWSA Review

A Lion’s Share, Brotherhood of the Mamluks, Book Two by Brad Graft is a well written story of 13th Century Middle East warriors who are developed from abducted and enslaved nomadic youth into well trained and highly prized military units. The book is set during the 7th Crusade and is told from the perspective of three warriors who operate at different levels of the Egyptian Sultan’s army. Each man’s security is dependent upon the ability and the survival of the Sultan, for when one Sultan dies, his troops must find another home. There is much royal family in-fighting, which complicates the lives of their men. The Mamluks are well trained in the weaponry of their era as well as military tactics. The main characters are well developed and illuminate the world at the top, the middle, and the lower level of leadership. Weak leaders place not only themselves but also their troops in mortal danger. Rewards given by one Sultan may be taken away by a subsequent Sultan. With the death of a Sultan, rivalries between units cause further danger.

The three main characters are Leander, a former French Crusader with unusual linguistic skills; Cenk, a combat veteran who becomes adviser to the Mamluk Sultan who succeeds the beloved Sultan as-Salih; and Ox, a soldier who is often passed over for promotion. Viewing the events through each of the eyes offers a well-developed story.

Book Two includes not only wonderful maps of the region but also a striking cover that clearly shows the uniforms of the Crusaders and the Mamluks and Leander’s two military careers.

Those who have lived through basic training and the rigors of military life will relate to the experiences of these characters. All readers will enjoy a well told story.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (June 2020)

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 Author's Synopsis

A Lion's Share is the second book in the Brotherhood of the Mamluks trilogy. The story is set in the 13th Century Middle East, during the Seventh Crusade. Told from the Egyptian perspective, it is a rare view of life among the Mamluks--elite Muslim warriors largely unheralded in the West--whose ranks ousted the Crusaders and Mongols from the Levant, preserving Islam.

On the eve of a historic battle, Leander, a disenchanted Crusader, surrenders to Muslim amirs with the intent of joining the revered Bahri Mamluks. His move seems fated. The young Frenchman avoids the mass slaughter suffered by the Christian alliance and earns himself a place with the elite cavalry regiment, serving the Sultan of Egypt. Yet once King Louis IX of France seeks vengeance and sets Cairo as the objective of his campaign, Leander is faced with warfare against his native people as he defends his new home, comrades, and religion.

When the Bahri's adored sultan dies and Leander becomes tangled in forbidden love with an Egyptian woman, his world unravels further. As the Mamluks seize rule for themselves, a rivalry between opposing regiments turns bloody and the newly-formed Mamluk Sultanate tumbles into chaos, with Leander and his mates scrambling not only for position within the realigned empire, but also for their lives.

ISBN/ASIN: 13: 978-1-950154-05-0, 10:1-950154-05-x
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 335

The Hope of the South by Bruce Thomas

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Author's Synopsis

Wyoming, 1863: Colonel Augusta Smith has been given a secret mission—to hide an immense treasure for the South that will allow the Confederate government to fund a rebirth after the end of the Civil War. Colonel Smith must pick the men and secure a location to hide the treasure, and he must survive the war.

Colorado, Present Day: The Special Project Unit (SPU)—a clandestine organization that operates outside the normal US government bureaucracy—has been tasked with helping the government determine who is behind a terrorist event that could leave the eastern United States without electrical power…and plunge the entire government into chaos.

From secret offices deep below the Denver International Airport, SPU Director William “Wild Bill” Eddy and Special Project Officer Mark “Vector” Jones race to collect the information needed to stop the next terrorist act. And two eras collide when a chance encounter results in Wild Bill discovering a secret letter that connects his current situation with that of his great-great-grandfather, Colonel Augusta Smith.

As Air Force Academy graduates, Wild Bill and Mark have a bond that transcends work. But will they be able to stop the madman from Europe before all hell breaks loose?

Bruce Thomas is a retired US Air Force fighter pilot and a current captain with a major US airline. A graduate of the US Air Force Academy in 1980, he is the father of five children and nine grandchildren, and lives in Overland Park, Kansas, with his wife, Vivian. The Hope of the South is the first book in the Special Project Unit series.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-9772-0525-4
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 324

Haboob Wind by Tommy Anderson

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MWSA Review

Haboob Wind is a thriller depicting a scenario where terrorist groups come together to destroy the United States of America. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), North Korea, Iran, and even Mexican drug cartels join forces bringing different capabilities to the fight against a common enemy: freedom. The rogue coalition exploits the U.S. dependence on technology and strikes that weakness fast and hard. Employing sleeper agents, domestic terrorism, cyber attacks, U.S. politics, and long-term planning, the terrorists deliver one massive blow known as the “Haboob Wind.”

Author Tommy Anderson’s knowledge of both the military and law enforcement allowed him to create scenes that put the reader at the characters’ sides. Besides describing the tactical details with precision and accurate language, Anderson shows the turf battles often present between Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and military authorities, even under dire circumstances. Anderson shares with readers the camaraderie among National Guard units built through fighting together overseas among fellow neighbors, coworkers, and family, all returning to the same hometowns. He crafted a story of hope of so many Americans coming together when all odds were against them.

After the terrorists take out all U.S. communications and electronic with an Electronic Pulse Weapon (EPW), America is left blind, deaf, and dumb against their unknown enemy. The three main characters, military veterans, come up with a plan to use vintage aircraft that do not rely on modern communications systems to fight back, looking to the past to save the future. An FBI team comprised largely of military veterans joins the task force and all-American ingenuity and military planning finds a way to save the country. But will they win? Has the global dependence on technology created a weakness for the enemy too powerful to overcome? You will have to read the book to find the answer to that question.

This book is an excellent choice for those who enjoy police, crime, and military novels and who like to sit on the edge of their seats wondering what might happen if such a scenario did take place. The tactical details made the book appear realistic and accurate. MWSA recommends professional editing to improve this important and impactful book.

Review by Valerie Ormond (June 2020)

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Author's Synopsis

A day of celebration and dedication to the heroes and survivors of 9/11 is suddenly disrupted by a long-planned terrorist attack. From the tumultuous battlefields of Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi deserts to the unsuspecting shores of the United States, Tommy Anderson brings to life an unsettling account of what could actually happen when thousands of sleeper warriors infiltrate the very fabric of American military and public safety agencies. Fueled by increasing acts of seemingly unrelated terrorism by ISIS militants, and unfettered over a couple decades of political unpreparedness, the Haboob Wind furiously builds to a suspenseful, violent climax. Don’t miss the page-turning, twist of events as three retired war buddies join forces to battle the storm.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1513634234
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 98