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

Spirit Warrior/ Charlie Hunt One by Harvey E Baker

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Author's Synopsis

Recon Scout Sniper, Blackfoot Indian Marine, named Two Feathers, is tasked with locating the 419th NVA Battalion suspected of being on Charlie Ridge in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam. Along the way, he rescues a German shepherd named Rommel from the Viet Cong. It is a was story about survival against impossible odds and the bond between a man and a dog.

Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction, History
Format(s): Soft cover, ePub/iBook
ISBN/ASIN: ASIN# BOOFJOOEXU-, ISBN-10 # 1521468435-, ISBN-13 # 978-1521458432

About the author:

Harvey E. Baker was born and raised in the Finger Lakes region of up-state, New York. After graduating high school in 1965, Harvey enlisted in the Marine Corps. Along the way, Harvey volunteered to serve in Marine Scout Dogs and eventually did two tours in Vietnam, in 1966-67 and 1968. Harvey joined the Washington, D.C. Police Department in 1968, and served in the Fifth Precinct and later in the 1st District in a variety of jobs as a patrolman, and as a plainclothesman before retiring from an injury. Harvey is a father of two and a grandfather of three, and now lives in up-state New York with his supportive, understanding and loving significant other, Shelly. Harvey is also a life member of DAV, VFW and Vietnam Veterans of America, and is a staunch police and veterans advocate. Although Harvey has written for newsletters and published short stories here and there over the years, retirement gave him the time and opportunity to write and publish his first novels. All seven of his other novels are available on Amazon.

Red Sky by Chris Goff

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MWSA Review

Chris Goff begins Red Sky at a fast pace and doesn’t slow down until the last page is turned. A passenger plane from China goes down in Ukraine, carrying a U.S. diplomatic agent with a top-secret letter and a prisoner masquerading as someone else to their deaths. Raisa Jordan, a Diplomatic Security Service agent, is deviated from routine escort duty to retrieve the American agent’s body. Thus begins the story of a terrifying new weapon sold by a Chinese criminal gang to Russian terrorists. It is a novel of betrayal, ambushes, gunfights, and edge-of-your-seat chases. Once you get into it, you will not want to put the book down. It twists and turns with unexpected intrigue and excitement.

Along the way, Jordan picks up an American journalist and a Chinese computer whiz teenager. The kid was supposed to be on the plane, but a switch was made with his cousin at the last minute. A love-hate relationship with both men evolves as they work to infiltrate the Guangdong Triad—one of the largest criminal gangs in China—and a major steel manufacturing plant that produced the secret weapon. It continues when they return to Ukraine and then Poland where, with the help of Polish Special Forces, they track the gun and its Russian handlers, bent on using the weapon to destroy a meeting of top European leaders.

For an enjoyable read with great characters, strong research that doesn’t become tedious, location, and action, I recommend Chris Goff’s Red Sky.

Review by Joe Epley (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 When People’s Republic Flight 91 crashes in northeastern Ukraine with a U.S. diplomatic agent onboard, U.S. Diplomatic Security Service Agent Raisa Jordan is sent to investigate. The agent was escorting a prisoner home from Guangzhou, China, along with sensitive documents, and it quickly becomes apparent that the plane was intentionally downed. Was it to silence the two Americans onboard? To avoid a diplomatic incident, Jordan must discover what the Americans knew that was worth killing hundreds to cover up. With Russia deeply entangled in the Ukraine and the possibility that China could be hiding reasons to bring down its own plane, tensions are high. As international relations and even more lives hang in the balance, Jordan races to stop a new Cold War. Red Sky, Chris Goff's pulse-pounding follow-up to Dark Waters, is yet another white-knuckle joyride for fans of Gayle Lynds.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 978-1683311263 HC, ASIN: B01NCNJB8S
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 320

Dark Waters by Chris Goff

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MWSA Review

Dark Waters by Chris Goff is an intricate thriller which keeps the reader guessing to the very end. Set in Israel and the West Bank, the action keeps us moving as Diplomatic Security Services Agent Raisa Jordan works to protect her American charges while unraveling a terrorist plot scheduled to coincide with peace talks in the region. Arrayed against her are a boss concerned mainly with his own career, a coworker who despises her, Israeli Shin Bet agents, Palestinians, ultra-conservative Jews, and terrorists bent on disrupting the region. Add a Russian spy, a traitor among the Israeli police, and the U.S. Marines and we have the makings of a read that will keep you turning pages.

Goff’s setting in Israel provides the reader with fresh vistas and colorful descriptions as the characters race from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem to Bethlehem to Tiberias and finally to the Sea of Galilee. The complex plot is woven around a wealth of information regarding the political, cultural, and religious turmoil that seems to constantly fester in the region. A strong, smart, and capable female cast add to the fun of the twisty plot and evolving relationships as Raisa finds support in unexpected places.

Review by Betsy Beard (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Raisa “Rae” Jordan, an agent for the U.S. Diplomatic Security Service, isn't in Israel for more than a day before her predecessor is killed in a Tel Aviv square. Assigned to investigate the assassination of one of her own, she must also protect Judge Ben Taylor and his teenage daughter. They may be the sniper's next target and are most certainly being threatened by a desperate cadre of terrorists with their sights set on the Secretary of State's upcoming visit. But is an attack on the Secretary of State all that they have planned or is that just the beginning? There are no protocols for this kind of a situation, and following the rules is exactly the kind of thing that could get the Taylors killed. To subvert an attack that could crush the fledgling peace in the Middle East, Jordan must trust her instincts and bring together a contentious team of agents from Israel, the U.S., and the Palestinian territories to uncover a conspiracy years in the making. With millions of lives hanging in the balance, Dark Waters, Chris Goff's explosive new thriller, is a series debut that mirrors global headlines and will have you frantically turning pages.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 978-1629531922 HC, ISBN-13: 978-1629533728 TP, ASIN: B011IZPUTQ, ISBN-13: 978-1504644655 Audio
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 352

The Ground You Stand Upon: Life of a Skytrooper in Vietnam by Joshua and Wilbur Bowe

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MWSA Review

The father/son energy of the co-authors works very well within the pages of this book. Joshua and Wilbur Bowe take the reader on a journey with visual words and muted emotions through a tour of duty during the war in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967. The reader can well picture what had happened there. Shared with a well written narrative, historic background notes, and commentary aided by the addition of old letters sent home from that war. The personal letters add a very human element to the retelling of that life experience. Emotionally well done! The authors hit the target! 

As a Vietnam veteran myself during the same time frame of the war, I found the book both credible and historically factual. I enjoyed it. I think there is a more broad appeal beyond just readers of war genre—a good history book told from the point of view of those who were there and well worth having on my book shelf.

Review by Bill McDonald (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Sent into the deadly Central Highlands of Vietnam, a true story of my dad and the men he served with. My father is Wilbur E. Bowe. He was living on his family’s farm when he was drafted in 1965 and assigned to Alpha Company, 5th Battalion, 7th Calvary. The 5/7th Cavalry was formed as a brand-new battalion in order to fill out the 1st Air Cavalry Division’s 3rd Brigade. The young men of the battalion were largely drafted together in 1965 as the build-up of regular Army forces in Vietnam had just begun. Together, these impossibly young men would be trained in airmobile infantry tactics and become what were known as “skytroopers”. They would then be sent deep into the Central Highlands of Vietnam, where together they would learn what “search and destroy” meant and face the reality of this new war. The story features many of the letters and photographs my dad sent home from the war zone. His dispatches were sent from some of the most remote valleys and outposts in Vietnam, written under the most austere of conditions, often scribbled in haste before another mission, or by flashlight, under a poncho in the rain. They would travel over 8,000 miles across the ocean, to be placed in a mailbox that stood across from a farmhouse, along a rural county road in Wisconsin. Many former skytroopers of Alpha Company were interviewed for this story, and their personal accounts recall much of the humor and friendship they shared, along with the sadness and tragedy that would accompany a year spent in the jungles of Vietnam. The story also draws upon the 5/7th Cavalry’s daily staff journals and situation reports for every day of the battalion’s first year in Vietnam. This is their story, told in great detail from their time spent training together at Fort Carson – through their historic journey across the ocean aboard the USNS Gaffey, where they would encounter a massive typhoon – through their many battles fought together in Vietnam – and eventually, their final patrol.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0692141397, 978-1717994370, B07DCJNN8X, B07KFQ5W25
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 286

Seasons Of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers by Amanda Trimillos and Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman

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MWSA Review

Amanda Trimillos and Stacy Allsbrook-Huisman, Air Force wives and experts in the professional development of teachers working with military-connected students, described the Seasons of Transition™ approach to empower parents and teachers to help children face the challenges of military life. Their guidebook, Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers, offers a lens into the world through the military child’s eyes, making sense of what military children say and do, and provides parents and teachers pragmatic and innovative ways to help these children thrive in their ever-changing environment. Their writing breaks down complicated psychological concepts, making them easy to read and comprehend, allowing for easy implementation. The book is comprised of a unique blend of research, evidence-based practices and proven techniques, and personal accounts from parents and educators. It’s a must-have, how-to manual for new parents, caregivers or teachers of military-connected children, and a refresher course with updated, modernized ideas for seasoned parents and teachers who want to bolster their repertoire of strategies and systems to help their children and students achieve success. I think this book should be given out to all new arrivals at every military installation.

Review by Kris Patterson (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Military kids face a constant cycle of challenges, like a parent’s deployment or moving to a new home. Changing schools means more than making new friends again. New curriculum and graduation requirements, lack of history with coaches and teachers, unfamiliar classroom environments, and other changes make it hard for military kids of all ages to stay on track from grade to grade and school to school. Seasons of My Military Student: Practical Ideas for Parents and Teachers is a guidebook to help parents and educators work together to support military-connected students as they experience moves, deployments, and other challenges of military life, from kindergarten to high school graduation. Through research, professional experience, and first-hand perspectives from military families and educators, the authors of Seasons of My Military Student provide insights and strategies to support military-connected students. With these tools, parents and educators can work together to cultivate resilience and continuity for their students in any circumstance of military life. In clear, easy-to-follow steps, this book provides: Tools to help kids through transitions Guidance for parent-teacher communication Tips for keeping up with student records Activities for home and classroom

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-934617-42-7
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Reference
Number of Pages: 111

Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France by E. Thomas Behr

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MWSA Review

E. Thomas Behr has written a fun to read, suspenseful story in Doppelgänger: An American Spy in World War II France. Our protagonist, Walter, is an American citizen living in Paris during the German invasion in early 1940. As a non-combatant, he is allowed to remain in Paris and while there witnesses the Nazi atrocities. He develops a desire to join the U.S. military with the belief that the U.S. will soon enter the war against Germany.

Walter's goal is interrupted when he approached and recruited into the OSS and after training, is sent back into France to collect intelligence and support the French resistance. His achievements are significant enough that the Nazis soon put a price on his head. Bouncing around France, living in different locations, and using a number of false identities, Walter manages to stay one step ahead of his pursuers.

What he can't expect, however, is that in early 1944, his spy masters will initiate steps that include betraying him to the Nazis, all in an effort to further the Allies deception plan regarding the exact location for the D-Day invasion. The cat and mouse game Walter has been playing becomes much more dangerous.

Despite some formatting issues with the eBook I reviewed, I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good suspense-filled read.

Review by Bob Doerr (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 If you do battle with evil, sooner or later you pick up evil’s weapons yourself. Then you risk becoming what you seek to destroy. When the German army overwhelms France in June, 1940, Walter Hirsch’s safe, carefully-ordered intellectual life as a writer in Paris is shattered. A choking cloud of fear—Nacht und Nebel—settles over his beloved City of Light. He is recruited to join Bill Donovan’s fledgling American intelligence service, the OSS. The American-born son of an aristocratic Prussian father, his flawless German and impeccable French—and his innate ability to change cover stories like a chameleon—make him an ideal espionage agent. But his dedication to his country comes at a high price. With each new lie, a little more of his identity fades, like a face in an aging sepia photograph. With each new cold-blooded execution, a little more of his soul shrivels. “Bill Donovan was right,” he realizes. “When you become a spy, the first person you have to kill is your former self.” In April 1944, now with a Gestapo bounty of three million francs on his head, a burned-out Walter is ordered to Calais to scout German beach defenses and troop movement prior to the invasion of France. His new assignment plunges him into a world of treachery and betrayal in which not even his own government can be trusted. Ultimately, his survival depends on the efforts of England’s most lethal SOE assassin, the “Black Widow,” a woman with her own mysterious connection to Walter Hirsch. But even if her daring rescue mission succeeds, what will remain of the man she has come to save? Can the cost of preserving freedom have become too unbearably high?

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 9781731047878 ASIN: B07KDWWBYZ
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 374

Stress is Relative: Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller by Rose Marie Kern

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MWSA Review

Stress is Relative: Memoir of an Air Traffic Controller is an interesting reflection of the author's thirty-four-year air traffic control (ATC) career with made-for-reader views of the processes used in the three divisions of ATC operation. Author Rose Marie Kern describes a woman's experience in a male dominated profession, beginning in 1983, after President Reagan fired 12,000 controllers. By chance, Rose applied and began training with the FAA in Oklahoma City to enter the ATC arena. From there, as a single mother with daughters in tow, Rose developed competencies and assumed leadership controller roles all over America.

The reader will appreciate the ongoing controller training and skill required to exact air safety, the technical advancements introduced across time, and the varying duty locations the author brings into focus. The curious reader will become knowledgeable in the basic operations that transpire in ATC—whether in the tower, in centers, or in flight assistant services—a real education for an audience interested in air traffic control!

Review by Hodge Wood (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 A struggling young single mother of two little girls, Rose Marie heard a report on the late night news about the strike and the government’s ongoing efforts to rebuild. With no background in aviation she took a chance and entered a whole new world. Now one of the best known aviation authors in the U.S., Rose’s experiences as she faced challenges both in the job and in the attitudes of an entrenched mostly male workforce in the 1980’s makes for a story that is inspiring and amusing. . So how did she come to work in this challenging profession? In 1981 President Ronald Reagan fired 11,359 striking Air Traffic Controllers. It took 10 years to rebuild the workforce. The strike affected all levels of aviation and offered employment opportunities to many who had never before considered this as a profession. Rose’s memoir "STRESS is Relative" follows her career in ATC from the time she first heard about this challenging and lucrative job to the day she retired. Along the way readers get insights into the mysterious world of Air Traffic Control, and how attitudes towards women evolved over time.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-0-9985725-1-2
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 250

Bubbleheads: The Med Run by Steven Brock

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MWSA Review

If you’ve always wondered how 126 sailors manage to live together underwater in a 300-foot metal tube for weeks at a time, you are about to find out.  Garrett Daniels is on his first underwater cruise to the Mediterranean, and he has much to discover about life in a submarine. His descriptions of canned food, 90-second showers, triple-stacked bunkbeds, and the fine points of how one “flushes” underwater will make you thank your lucky stars for your everyday conveniences.

If you were a teenager in the late seventies and early eighties, the setting of this novel will make you recall your carefree youth. If Reagan was the first president you remember well, if your favorite television show was “Gilligan’s Island, “and your favorite singer was Hank Williams Jr., you’ll enjoy this trip down memory lane. If you’re older, you’ll be shaking your head at these crazy kids. If you’re a child of the twenty-first century, many of the details will fly right over your head.

If you were in the Navy, you know who the bubbleheads are, and if you were ever a submariner, you probably don’t mind being called a bubblehead. If you were once a bubblehead, however, you will either love or hate this book.  For the rest of us landlubbers, the book may offer too much information. Brock shares with his readers all the ugly details—the odors, the rude noises, the cravings, and the hazings that take place aboard ship when men have been under water for too long. Did you know, for instance that people don't get seasick when a submarine is traveling under water? Once the submarine surfaces, its crews are as susceptible to seasickness as the rest of us, and Brock does not spare the reader from all the disgusting details.

MWSA Review by Carolyn Schriber (March 2019)

MWSA's evaluation found a number of technical problems (misspellings, grammar, punctuation, or capitalization) as well as other problems in one or more of the following evaluation areas: content, style, and/or layout and visual.  This normally indicates a need for further editing.

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Author's Synopsis

Irreverent dramedy about a nuclear submarine on a 1980s Mediterranean Run. Visit exotic ports with John and Garret and the rest of the crew as they endure the isolation, challenges, and lost loves navigating the USS Lapon deep beneath the ocean’s waves.

ISBN/ASIN: 9780692166178
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 278

WESSELHOEFT: Traded to the Enemy by Adolf Wesselhoeft and Shirley Anderson Wesselhoeft

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MWSA Review

Wesselhoeft: Traded to the Enemy by Shirley Anderson Wesselhoeft, as told to her by Adolf "Wes" Wesselhoeft, is a dramatic and gripping memoir of a German American’s journey from childhood to adulthood. During World War II, young Wes and his family were forced to live in an internment camp in Texas before being shipped back to his parents’ homeland in Germany. As an adult, Wes returned to America where he proved his allegiance to the United States by serving in the Air Force for more than two decades. This is the story of a boy turned man who refused to let the trials and tribulations of his childhood keep him from pursuing the American dream. It's an inspiration for dreamers and a narrative of a larger, untold story that should be included in modern-day history books.

Review by Kris Patterson (March 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 Wesselhoeft is the story of an innocent six-year-old American boy who was caught up in the events of World War II. No longer playing on the beach in Chicago, going to school and reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, he and his parents were suddenly taken away to a desolate internment camp in Texas. One year later his family and many U.S. citizens like himself were traded for other Americans with our enemy Nazi Germany into an active war zone. Taken to Hamburg, he endured the heavy bombings by the Allies, followed by hunger and deprivation in post-war Germany. In spite of these events he took the first opportunity to return to America and join the Air Force. After twenty-two years of service, including two tours in Vietnam,he retired as a Lieutenant Colonel. Now legally blind from Agent Orange exposure. Wes competes in tandem bicycle races and still lets very little stop him. WESSELHOEFT tells his story of faith in God, American perseverance and love of country.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 13: 978-1725055919 ISBN- 10: 1725055910
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography
Number of Pages: 170

Mysterious Mike and the Hmong: Secrets of the Secret War in Laos by M H Burton

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Author's Synopsis

In June of 1960 Mike Bauer is a naïve idealistic 22-year-old Minnesota farm boy with a freshly-minted Agronomy Degree who wants to do good in the world and have some adventures while doing it.  “Those faraway places with the strange sounding names” are calling him.  He signs on for two years at $75 a month as an agricultural advisor with a missionary society supported by his church and hits the jackpot.  Laos is almost exactly half way around the world from New Germania, Minnesota, can’t get farther away than that.  Xiengkhouang and Naxaithong and Lhat Houang sound exotic enough for you?  Those are just some of the places.  How about the people?  Is Prince-General Phongphasansak Inxixiengmai enough of a mouthful?  Mike gets what he signed up for, and a lot more. Finds himself posted to a mission at Lhat Houang which is in middle of a war his superiors hadn’t told him about-possibly because they didn’t know about it themselves. That’s just beginning of the craziness, danger and adventure.  He soon begins to call Laos “Alice in Wonderland”.  Things just keep getting “curiouser and curiouser”…for sixteen years.

But long before those sixteen years are up in 1976 and Mike returns to his native Minnesota he has become “Mysterious Mike”.  A CIA master spy?  An international drug Lord?  The “Lawrence of Laos”?  A bloody-handed war criminal?  An unsung hero?  Or is he just what he says he is, an agricultural advisor to the Hmong mountain people. The brave men and women (and children) who fought so long and hard and skillfully against the Communist takeover of Laos.  They needed much more than advice on how to improve their crops.  They needed help surviving…and in the end they needed help escaping the Communists and finding a new home…in Minnesota.  Mike Bauer did what he could to help them.  With all of that! 

ISBN/ASIN: 9781986124881 Paperback 1986124886 ebook
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 295

The Dragon Soldier's Good Fortune by Robert Goswitz

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MWSA Review

The Dragon Soldier’s Good Fortune by Robert Goswitz centers around a wonderful legend throughout Vietnamese history of dragon tattoos protecting against evil spirits. Upon arrival in Vietnam, American soldier, Private Ed Lansky, is asked if he’s a dragon or its prey by the first soldier he meets. Soon he becomes convinced his dragon spirit has magical powers to protect him. Lansky believes he has seen an actual dragon several times when he and his unit are in trouble. During his last week in Nam, an ambush threatens to destroy his entire platoon, but his dragon comes to the rescue. After they make it home, one of Lansky’s best buddies has questions for Ed about the dragon, leading Ed to finally conclude the dragon wasn’t his imagination; it was real!

As a Vietnam veteran, I was moved by the description of events and the reality of how things were for those who served. In summary, the story is realistic enough and an enjoyable read.

The overall story has great potential because the flow of the story is fast-moving and realistic. Unfortunately, much was lost by the writer’s use of verbiage that distracted from the flow and made the reader feel disconnected. However, those occasions when a dictionary was needed only distracted for a short time.

Reviewed by Tom Criser (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

 An ancient king of Vietnam ordered his subjects to cover their arms and thighs with Dragon Tattoos. It was an accepted belief of the times that Dragon Power protected farmers against evil spirits in their rice paddies. A millennium later, Private Ed Lansky faces a different form of evil in those same paddies. As luck would have it, he meets Sergeant Chen, a GI with Dragon Tattoos on his arms. Chen insists Dragon Power is no myth.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781626949539
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Horror/Fantasy/Sci Fi
Number of Pages: 320

Flying Through the Years: A Trilogy of Short Tours and Collection of Stories by Robert Lanzotti

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MWSA Review

Flying through the Years by Bob Lanzotti is an interesting and informal memoir covering the often-humorous highlights of the author’s military service as an Army aviator. The book is divided into three sections, covering three short-tours during the author’s military service—one in Korea and two in war-torn Vietnam in the late 1960s. Lanzotti’s choice of telling his story via a series of short vignettes makes this a quick, informative, and worthwhile read.

At times irreverent and even whimsical, Lanzotti’s informal writing style easily transports the reader back in time, and into the battle. However, even Lanzotti’s matter-of-fact storytelling cannot hide the fact that Army aviation can be deadly serious or just plain deadly—especially during wartime.

The author suggests that his book would “make interesting reading for [his] children.” A reader interested in a collection of short stories about the life of an Army helicopter pilot will also find the wide-ranging stories contained in this book quite entertaining. A few technical glitches represent only minor distractions from a thoroughly enjoyable memoir. 

Review by John Cathcart (April 2019)

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Author's Synopsis

In Flying through the Years: A Trilogy of Short Tours and a Collection of Short Stories, Bob Lanzotti provides his memoirs as an Army helicopter pilot during three overseas tours, all conducted during the turbulent decade of the sixties. Each tour, one to Korea and two to Vietnam, contains at least a score of short stories. Lanzotti begins with his often humorous reflections as a fledgling new aviator in Korea. As the book progresses, so too does Lanzotti’s aviator experience level and job responsibilities, culminating with his command of the Crimson Tide, a Chinook unit within the 1st Cavalry Airmobile Division. His stories recurrently pay well earned homage to the achievements of the men he served and flew with during what he recalls as his greatest adventure.

ISBN-13: 9781947309456
Publisher: Deeds Publishing
Publication date: 06/25/2018
Pages: 186