The Jackson MacKenzie Chronicles: Peace at a Cost by Angel Giacomo

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MWSA Review

 Peace at a Cost is full of action-packed heroes doing the right thing for the right reason. While Jackson MacKenzie and his team are on the run from some parts of the US government, other parts understand their value and continue to call on them when required. See how this brave team overcomes pain, loss, and disadvantages to continually come through for their country.

Review by Dawn Brotherton (March 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

War – What happens to the soldiers who fight them? Do they just go home and ride off into the sunset? Do they return to their families and a normal life? Or do they have an internal war? Trying to come to terms with what happened to them and their buddies in a war that no one wanted. Scars made not only outside but inside. Called baby killer, murderer and so many others vile names. Ignored and sometimes abused by the very system they gave their oath and sometimes their lives to protect. Lt. Colonel Jackson MacKenzie is one of those men. He gave all on many occasions and nearly gave his life to honor his oath and the men with which he served in Korea and Vietnam. Only to be betrayed by those above him. Those who know the truth but refuse to come forward. Honor, Duty, Country, Loyalty aren’t just words to him. They are his life. His problem, does he follow his heart and stand by his duty or disappear into his mind and let his demons take over? His other choice, live the rest of his life as a simple cowboy hiding out on a cattle ranch in Montana? It is a decision both hard and easy. And one he has to make or lose himself entirely.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 285

Word Count: 104,715

The Jackson MacKenzie Chronicles: In the Eye of the Storm by Angel Giacomo

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MWSA Review

In the Eye of the Storm, by author Angel Giacomo, continues the saga of Jackson MacKenzie, a man born in 1934, who fought in the Korean War and subsequently attended West Point, carrying on his family tradition. The time frame for this book is 1972 through 1973. Jackson has moved up through the ranks and is now on his fourth deployment to Vietnam following his capture, torture, and escape from a prisoner of war camp. Sent on a mysterious mission to Hanoi by the Department of Defense and possibly the CIA, his team is arrested upon their successful return to their base camp. Despite severe injuries, they are transported back to the United States and imprisoned in a military prison without the benefit of medical attention or proper legal counsel. Although Jackson is a hero and recipient of the Medal of Honor, he is treated as a traitor. This book is part of a trilogy, so the reader would have to purchase two more books to find out how the situation is resolved.

Review by Betsy Beard (February 2023)

Author's Synopsis

War - It changes everyone and everything it touches. But especially the men who live in the trenches. Who fight the battles. Lt. Colonel Jackson Joseph MacKenzie is one of those men. He grew up in the shadow of a legendary Marine. Part of a family tradition to serve, he joined the United States Army. His first war - Korea -taught him death the hard way, both personal and professional. His second - Vietnam - never-ending pain. And betrayal by those above him. Those he trusted. His superiors. Given a top-secret mission to help end the war, he carried out his orders. Then upon his return, they disavowed any knowledge of it. He found himself in a six-by-eight cell with no way out and no hope. A man broken by the horrors of the Vietnam War and the POW camp that left everlasting scars. Memories - nightmares - that haunted him, even awake, and left him a prisoner in his own mind.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 282

Word Count: 107,909

The Jackson MacKenzie Chronicles: Golden Feather by Angel Giacomo

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MWSA Review

Born into one of the wealthiest families in the county, Dakota is expected to work for his father’s drilling company, the biggest employer in the area. But as a high school senior, he doesn’t know yet what he wants to do. Dakota and his father butt heads over the youngster’s indecision. Dakota graduates and, one day at breakfast, tells his father that he doesn’t want to work on an oil rig; he wants to work on cars.

The two mutually disown each other and Dakota impulsively enlists in the U.S. Army, leaving the mother he adores and his high school sweetheart Julie. Insisting on being called by his high school nickname Chief, the young man leaves Little River and looks forward to serving his country. He is certain that Julie will wait for him, and someday he’ll come home, they’ll get married, and start a family.

It is 1963 and men are sorely needed in Southeast Asia in a remote country called Vietnam. Chief’s ethics and values ingrained by his Osage parents make him the ideal soldier. The ensuing story chronicles Chief’s journey to hell and back with several tours in Vietnam. Author Giacomo vividly depicts what life was life for the infantry in Southeast Asia. On his way to becoming a man, Dakota Blackwater experiences intense struggles for life and death along with unexpected twists, turns, heartbreak, gut-wrenching grief, and the balm of forgiveness.

Review by Nancy Panko (January 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Born into a well-off but strict family, eighteen-year-old Dakota Blackwater doesn’t appreciate his father’s plan for him. He wants to find his path through life and chase his own dreams. Instead of taking the easy road, he rebels, enlists in the US Army, and goes to war in a place foreign to him – Vietnam. He finds this choice may be the more difficult one, learning the pain of death, not only of his friends but his own hands. Will he keep his morality or slide down the rabbit hole of hate?

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 173

Word Count: 55,774

Sandusky Burning by Bryan W. Conway

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MWSA Review

Sandusky Burning by Bryan W. Conway is a thriller set in an RV campsite and recreational park an hour away from Cleveland, Ohio. The author creates an interesting plot by having the owner of the campsite spy on and blackmail several of the guest residents in the RV park. A natural tension develops between the main antagonist and his team of thugs and those being blackmailed. Bring in an outsider who sees what is going on and you have a protagonist for whom you start rooting. The tensions rise as the bad guys resort to violence and even attempted murder to control their victims. The point has come where the protagonist knows he must take a stand, and with the help of one of the victims, they plan their move. The concluding confrontation will be deadly.

Review by Bob Doerr (January 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

He’s desperate to come back home. But a sinister crime lord will stop at nothing to keep him wrapped in a corrupt spider’s web…

Brady Sullivan isn’t living at a Lake Erie campground by choice. Temporarily estranged from his family, the dedicated army vet longs to see his kids and be back in his wife’s arms. But a local’s invitation for a friendly drink turns ominous when he wakes from being drugged to discover he was photographed in a compromising position with a prostitute.

Despite blackmail threatening his marriage, he refuses to compromise his security clearance by giving up government secrets. But when the vicious crime lord endangers his family, Brady faces a terrible choice between his loved ones and his honor.

Will this former soldier stand up to evil, no matter the sacrifice?

Sandusky Burning is a rollercoaster ride of a crime thriller novel. If you like complex characters, devious plans, and high-stakes excitement, you’ll love Bryan W. Conway’s gritty tale.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller

Number of Pages: 393

Word Count: 113,000

He Charged Alone: World War I Medal of Honor Recipient Private First Class Frank Gaffney by John R. Strasburg

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MWSA Review

He Charged Alone is the story of World War I Medal of Honor recipient Private First Class Frank Gaffney. Gaffney served with Company G, 108th Infantry Regiment of the U.S. Army’s 27th Division during 1918. His unit assaulted the Saint Quentin Canal tunnel, an extremely fortified portion of the Imperial German’s Army Hindenburg Line, the last line of defense protecting Germany’s occupied areas of Belgium and northeastern France.
The story covers Gaffney’s early life, civilian working life, and his journey from civilian to World War I “doughboy” as well as his combat experiences, including the tremendous acts of heroism that earned him the Medal of Honor. We get a fairly complete picture of Frank Gaffney as a man, both in and out of uniform.

Gaffney was assigned as a Lewis gunner, which was a “light” machine gun carried and employed by one soldier as a part of a three-man team. The team also consisted of an assistant gunner that carried extra ammunition and a soldier equipped with a standard rifle to provide protection for the two men dedicated to the operating the Lewis gun. Gaffney’s exploits, as reported at the time, deemed him second only to Sergeant Alvin York, America’s preeminent Medal of Honor recipient and “war hero” to the American masses in 1918. Both Gaffney and York earned their medals during the same massive Allied campaign that broke the back of the German Army, at a high cost in U.S. casualties, but essentially ending the war.

The author constructs a rich backstory of PFC Gaffney’s time in the hastily constructed basic training camps of the World War I American Expeditionary Force, including training received by both British and French soldiers in the United States. The perilous voyage to France, in which his convoy engaged with a prowling German U-boat submarine, is detailed, and then the extended period of further training and introduction to the front-line trenches in France is covered.

The author does an outstanding job of balancing details with quotes from Gaffney. Where there are no direct references by Gaffney, the author weaves information available from the officers and men of Gaffney’s unit, associate units in his regiment, and his division. The story flows in a smooth and logical manner. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in World War I and U.S. Army combat history or stories of exceptional valor in combat.

Review by Terry Lloyd ( February 2023)

 

Author's Synopsis

Frank Gaffney was a 33-year-old papermaker from Western New York when America entered the Great War in 1917. While his age exempted him from serving in the military, Gaffney ran to the colors anyway. He fought bravely on Belgian and French battlefields as a U.S. Army soldier with the 27th Division's 108th Infantry Regiment. On September 29, 1918, Gaffney singlehandedly breached a section of Germany's Hindenburg Line, coming away with 80 prisoners. Six grateful nations recognized his bravery, including his own. In June 1919, the United States awarded him the Medal of Honor. Years later, the 27th Division's commanding general, Maj. Gen. John F. O'Ryan, wrote of Gaffney, "…no one man had performed more daring exploits and had exercised a bigger influence upon those about him by the gallantry of his conduct." 

In He Charged Alone, John Strasburg chronicles the life of a First World War American soldier whose bravery was once compared to that of the legendary Sergeant Alvin York. The author weaves together Gaffney’s personal correspondence with military/government records, newspaper accounts, and published unit histories. Nearly fifty illustrations--photographs and maps--augment the narrative. 

Much of the book focuses on Gaffney's military service, heroism on the battlefield, and subsequent rehabilitation from a combat injury he received in the war's closing days, but not overlooked are Gaffney's upbringing and how he managed the burden that comes with being a Medal of Honor recipient. At its core, this book memorializes a true American hero from New York State who, in life, was admired by people across the country but, in death, has been nearly forgotten. In He Charged Alone, Frank Gaffney's legacy returns to the fore, where it belongs.

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 249

Word Count: 59,000

Gunny Mac Private Detective: Trouble in Chinatown by Steven Walker

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Author's Synopsis: Four recuperating wounded Guadalcanal veterans fight to stay alive after accidentally finding out about a million-dollar heist! Anybody who is somebody in Chinatown in Honolulu wants them deader than the mackerel Gunny Mac had for lunch. But after the hell of Guadalcanal, it just might be hard to kill them. Gunny Mac Navy Cross recipient, hero of Bloody Ridge, hates what he has been forced to be...a civilian. Gunny Wojohowitz, Mac's best friend needs Mac to help him kill a man that needs killing. Lt. Alan Burke a spoiled, rich Harvard graduate and Naval officer sent to the Marine Corp as punishment needs Mac to help him find redemption. Padre McCaffery, a Navy Cross recipient and Jesuit priest, padre of the 1st Marine Battalion, promises himself to keep Mac alive at all costs. One last battle...for their country and friends...one last victory!

Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction, Mystery/Thriller

Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-7357026-0-5, 978-1-7357026-1-2, 978-1-7357026-2-9

From CO to CEO: A Practical Guide for Transitioning from Military to Industry Leadership by William Toti by

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Author's Synopsis

In From CO to CEO: A Practical Guide for Transitioning from Military to Industry Leadership, William J. Toti, former CO of the nuclear submarine USS Indianapolis and former CEO of Sparton Corporation, offers a seminal manual for service members transitioning to civilian careers and navigating their rise up the corporate ladder.

Genre(s): Nonfiction, Reference

Format(s): Hard cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook, Audiobook

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-63763-063-1, 978-1-63763-064-8x

Number of Pages: 272

These Fought in Any Case: A Collection of Poems and Short Stories by Veterans

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Author's Synopsis

The Military Writers Society of America and The Cuddy Family Foundation for Veterans are honored to present a collection of original poems and short stories from veterans of the armed forces. Hundreds of submissions were received for a contest to send one veteran to the MWSA's Annual Convention set for August 2022 in New Orleans and the finalists are featured in this book. It is our pleasure to publish the creative efforts of the following veterans: Scott Mulvaney (Marine Corps), Kari Sobisky (Marine Corps), Melanie Costa (Marine Corps & Army), Jim Greenwald (Navy), Eric Leja (Marine Corps), Philip Julian (CO Army National Guard), Reed Bonadonna (Marine Corps), Marc Levy (Army), Theresa Ann Boquist (Navy), Mark Voelker (Marine Corps), Michael Lund (Navy), John Cathcart (Air Force), Tanya R. Whitney (Army), Michael Mullane (Navy), Eric Wasileski (Army & Navy), Thomas Mangan (Air Force), Donald Purdy (Navy), Jim Tritten (Navy), Richard K. Cartwright (Air Force), Jon M. Nelson (Army), Jessi Atherton (Army National Guard), George J. Bryjak (Marine Corps), Steven Wade Veatch (Navy), J. Scott Price (VA Army National Guard), Tim Weaver (Air Force), Ken Harbert (Navy & Coast Guard), Everett Cox (Army), R.G. Roberts (Navy), Briana M. Carr (Army), Jennifer K. Yancey (Army), Alexis Casiday (Navy), Robert W. Poirier (Navy), and Elvis Aaron Leighton (MN Army National Guard). This anthology was compiled by G.A. Cuddy and edited by April Leavenworth and I.Z. Fallon. The poem "Spring Thaw" by J. Scott Price of Faber (VA) was selected as the top selection.

Proceeds from the sale of this book will be split evenly between The Military Writers Society of America (mwsadispatches.com) and The Cuddy Family Foundation for Veterans (tcfffv.org). Note: the inspiration for the title of this collection stems from Ezra Pound's "Hugh Selwyn Mauberley," his 1920 poetry book that included a stirring elegy dedicated to those who served, and fought in any case, during The Great War.

The Hidden Lives of Dick & Mary: Two Novellas of Supernatural Suspense by Xavier Poe Kane

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Author's Synopsis: From debut author Xavier Poe Kane comes a paranormal pair of tales surrounding the unusual lives and acquaintances of Dick Fischer and Mary Deacon.

Dick Fisher is a medium, and he and his rookie reality show team of ghost hunters find themselves entrenched in the military history of Jefferson Barracks. "Haunted Houses: Gateway to the West and the Beyond" follows the team in St. Louis, Missouri, as they discover spirits both friend and foe and learn what exactly it took to terrify the soldiers who claimed they weren't afraid of anything.

Mary just wants someone to listen to her and not go running like they've just seen a ghost. In "The Tale of Mary Deacon", a young girl who wishes to go to space begins to get more than she bargained for. As she gets older and the abductions more invasive, she must learn who to trust and how.

Both haunting and emotional, The Hidden Lives of Dick and Mary explores what can happen if you open your mind to the existence of things--and people--that go bump in the night.

Genre(s): Fiction, Historical Fiction, Fantasy/Sci-Fi

Format(s): Softcover

ISBN/ASIN: 9781087945149

Blue Rhapsodies: Poems of a Navy Life by Nancy Arbuthnot

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MWSA Review

Nancy Arbuthnot has penned a moving collection of poems about her life as a “Navy Junior.” Blue Rhapsodies: Poems of a Navy Life will strike a chord on many levels. Arbuthnot, one of seven siblings writes stirring passages:

“I pretend sleep on the car ride home so my father will lift me one last time in his arms” showing how she yearns for closeness from her often-absent father, a Navy pilot.

As with many military families who are asked to relocate every few years, the author writes of her always flexible mother:

“…our perfumed mother in flowered sundress, pearls and red lipstick, baby nestled beside her as she checks off boxes the movers carry inside”

Blue Rhapsodies is based on recollections of the author’s life, true to her experience but common to so many. From childhood through college years, she was always a Navy daughter. After college, Arbuthnot took on a new Navy identity, a professor at the Naval Academy. Her poems take on a new point of view “Under blue Annapolis skies.”

Blue Rhapsodies reveals the author’s innermost thoughts over many years. Now a professor at the academy but also a Navy daughter - with aging parents. Poignant lines evoking emotion about the dedicated caregivers for both her mother and father convey what many of us with aging parents have experienced. Arbuthnot writes of her beloved parents’ decline while giving tribute to the life they lived and the experiences they had.

Review by Nancy Panko (May 2022)

Author's Synopsis

In compelling poetic vignettes, Nancy Arbuthnot presents the story of her life that spans a "Navy junior" childhood of constant moves and an often-absent father; a career teaching poetry and composition to midshipmen at the Naval Academy; and her recent years caring for her father, "the Captain," debilitated by a major stroke but still "master and commander."

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Poetry—Poetry Book

Number of Pages: 116

Hammers of Voices Silent by Robert Wood

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MWSA Review

This is an interesting compendium of sixty-six poems that reveal the author's diverse vocabulary and ability to cleverly rhyme and alliterate.

While infused with a lot of free-form style that hints at some deep-seated anger and frustration with people and society, some wonderful gems of phrasing make a strong impact and a jarring mental image, like "slivers of broken glass rafting your veins," and "Conspiracies of imbecility," and "As all wars must inevitably be since reason always dies..."

The poem "Had I Again" is a particular standout hinting at opportunities taken (and in some instances, lost) as one flows down the river of life."

Review by Frank Biggio (June 2022)

 

Author's Synopsis

Athens lacked the swarms of gadflies needed to awaken its democracy to the evil of banishing the best, executing scapegoats at will, and denying both merit and reason to squander all that it had achieved and all that it might have achieved. Hammers of Voices Silent suggests the United States would require entire armies of gadflies to make a dent in what has become the silliest and most bizarrely corrupt nation ever to exist. The author considers his work only a token force but acknowledges the obligation.

He had meant to compose some devastatingly wondrous essays but noticed he had not the talent or time deciding rhyme would be quicker off the mark and waste fewer trees in the process. The poems document some eighty years of observation and research into the workings of the human mind which he finds consistently depressing but nevertheless interesting in the way large wrecks on the freeway draw one’s attention even with the best of intentions sought.

The author admits his work may not make the slightest difference in the cultural revolution of idiocy rampant but such phenomena run their course to die with or without gadflies since the utter chaos created must lead to overcompensation in the opposite direction. The patterns within history and individual human beings assure the next stage in the process and it is this stage the author most fears for all too often the new “correct” wastes its new found ascendency to trample all now fallen from grace. He hopes the next victor can lead with honor and reason even with a clear and present mandate of power. If one Epaminondas existed, then the author believes a few more such giants might in time appear though their task the greater with every year wasted in the sound and fury of wrathful indignation and endless hypocrisy. 

The book does hold out hope if only humans can summon the astounding reservoirs of courage, honor and sacrifice some display in moments of peril to maintain in dignity what their sacrifices gained for all rather than allowing such accomplishments to be auctioned off to the highest bidder. The author believes the present cultural revolution and the following counter revolution are the greatest threats ever faced by the United States with the specter of politicians attending the unending funerals of REASON, LOGIC, ETHICS, HONOR and KINDNESS. 

Just as individual humans deny their mortality until their last breath, each nation denies even the possibility of demise until the weight of corruption, incompetence, insouciance, hubris and profligacy crush its foundations and another Ozymandias slips beneath the sand. The poems are intended to mirror the knowledge the author has gained from his life’s extensive library of mistakes with the hope such information may make some small difference for the better in a world needing a lot of difference for the better.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Poetry—Poetry Book

Number of Pages: 133

At First Light A True World War II Story of a Hero, His Bravery, and an Amazing Horse by Walt Larimore and Mike Yorkey

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MWSA Review

Walt Larimore and Mike Yorkey’s At First Light is the saga of his father’s unending bravery in the U.S. Army during WW ll. Despite being the youngest commissioned officer in the war, Phil Larimore immediately develops into the quintessential soldier: just as good at following as leading. Everyone around him recognizes that he is comprised wholly of tenacity.

A play-by-play of Phil’s training and combat exploits brings us to the front lines with its challenges, accomplishments, horror, death, and cold (literally) harsh realities of war. Phil performed his mission of delivering ammunition to the troops through seemingly insurmountable obstacles, earning decoration after decoration, and probably more important to him, the respect of his troops. They would have followed him to the ends of the earth, and they did just that, time after time.

As we see Phil lead his troops through Italy, France, and Germany, we get a history lesson and a reminder of true American heroes. We get to know the characters, complete with photos, including the animals in Phil’s world. He trains mules to get supplies and equipment to the front lines. He was also highly skilled with horses, but his love for them is what gets him through hard times, even after the war. The usually stark WW II story is humanized by this unequivocal expertise, and his romantic joys and heartbreaks.

Through years of research the author discovered that distinct part of life so many of our fathers and grandfathers couldn’t share. Never before has a book moved me to tears, out of pride—for 2nd Lieutenant Phil Larimore’s legacy, and my own humble service in the U.S. Army.

Review by Sue Rushford (June 2022)

 

Author's Synopsis

What makes 2nd Lieutenant Phil Larimore’s story special is what happened in World War II’s closing days and the people—and horses—he interacted with in this Forrest Gump-like tale that is emotional, heartbreaking, and inspiring.

Growing up in the 1930s in Memphis, Tennessee, Phil Larimore is the ultimate Boy Scout—able to read maps, put a compass to good use, and traverse wild swamps and desolate canyons. His other great skill is riding horses.

Phil does poorly in school, however, leading his parents send to him to a military academy. After Pearl Harbor, Phil realizes he is destined for war. Three weeks before his eighteenth birthday, he becomes the youngest candidate to ever graduate from Officer Candidate School (OCS) at Fort Benning, Georgia.

Landing on the Anzio beachhead in February 1944, Phil is put in charge of an Ammunition Pioneer Platoon in the 3rd Infantry Division. Their job: deliver ammunition to the frontline foxholes—a dangerous assignment involving regular forays into No Man’s Land.

As Phil fights his way up the Italian boot, into Southern France and across the Rhine River into Germany, he is caught up in some of the most intense combat ever. But it’s what happens in the final stages of the war and his homecoming that makes Phil’s story incredibly special and heartwarming.

An emotional tale of courage, daring, and heroism, At First Light will remind you of the indomitable human spirit that lives in all of us.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 480

Happenstance Farms A New Home by S. McMichael

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MWSA Review

What will Savannah do when her horse trainer moves out of town and her barn closes? S. McMichael in Happenstance Farms: A New Home has the answer. Find new ones! The prospect of change is scary for the young girl. Will she like her trainer? Will her trainer like her? Will her pony, Coffee, like the new barn? Will Savannah make new friends? So many questions. Will she find the answers?

At Happenstance Farms, Miss Ellen and her pup Eli make Savannah feel at home immediately. All her fears disappear when she mounts Coffee for her skill level evaluation. When she is on Coffee, she feels like nothing in this world matters except for them—soaring around the ring and over the jumps.

Putting Coffee in the barn, she meets Sophia, who warmly welcomes her—a great beginning to her new adventure. This book will appeal to young children with like-minded interests. They will finish the story wanting to learn more about Savannah and Happenstance Farms.

Review by Sandi Cathcart (June 2022)

 

Author's Synopsis

Change can be difficult, especially for Savanna. When she gets a new trainer at a new barn, she can't help thinking about how much she'll miss Colts & Company. More than that...she's a little scared. What will happen when Savanna swallows her fear and takes a chance on Happenstance Farms?

A fun, relatable story about a girl and her pony, your child will love keeping up with the adventures at Happenstance Farms. With charming characters, lots of laughs, and social-emotional learning, this book is the perfect addition to any home or classroom library

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Children & Young Adult—Picture Book

Number of Pages: 32

Vietnam Saga; Exploits of a Combat Helicopter Pilot by Stan Corvin, Jr.

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MWSA Review

Vietnam Saga is an excellent and easy read. It is more than one man's memoir. It has elements of war that are common to all who have served. There is the excitement/terror/emotion of preparing for and ultimately engaging an enemy. There is the frustration of failed plans and the loss of comrades in arms. There is the rapid shift of emotions between the stress in a war zone and the feeling of "escape" during R&R (rest and relaxation/recovery).

The most striking thing I found about the book was the style of writing. I felt as if I were sitting with the author in a small, warm room listening to him recount his stories just for me as a special friend. Throughout the book, the author expresses a deep conflict between his Christian belief and the killing required by the circumstances of war. He has a short-term rationale that sees him through the war years. His ultimate resolution, however, is found in his strong faith in a loving God and forgiveness through grace and faith in his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Review by Jerry L. Burton (June 2022)

 

Author's Synopsis

"Vietnam Saga" is a very personal story of Stan Corvin’s often perilous times in the U.S. Army as a two-tour combat helicopter pilot in Vietnam. It’s a true-life story of soldiers who fought for freedom and often for their very lives. "Vietnam Saga" is also a story about the meaning of life. Standing back from his war experience, Stan reflects on his ever-present faith and how it carried him through this challenging period of his life. Originally written as a legacy to Stan Corvin’s family—something that will be passed down for many generations—"Vietnam Saga" is now an opportunity for you to share in this legacy and the personal recollections, memories, thoughts, fears and shed tears of a decorated and dedicated American soldier.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 332

In the Year of the Rabbit by Terence A. Harkin

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MWSA Review

In his book, In the Year of the Rabbit, author Terence A Harkin has given us his sequel to The Big Buddha Bicycle Race. That story ends with a terrorist attack that kills our protagonist's friends and sends him to the hospital. Brendan's opposition to the Vietnam war and his continued service in the air force grows. He requests a discharge from the air force that is not taken seriously. As a combat photographer, he is assigned a mission on a Spectre aircraft which is shot down in enemy territory. Brendan and a fellow crew member are injured but survive the crash and finally make it back to Thailand. This event makes Brendan even more determined to leave the service. While his request is finally approved, Brendan knows he is carrying a lot of emotional baggage he can't handle. He decides to live at a monastery and train to be a Buddhist monk, hoping the mental discipline can help heal him. He does so, but after his training, he believes he needs to go back to the wreckage site to finally make peace with his guilt. As a monk, he has to make the trip with no possessions, surviving off the gifts of food from the people he meets along the way. This is a story of a young soldier who has seen too much and has lost his way.

Review by Bob Doerr (June 2022)

 

Author's Synopsis

Cameraman Brendan Leary survived the ambush of the Big Buddha Bicycle Race—but Tukada, his star-crossed lover, did not. Leary returns to combat, flying night operations over the mountains of Laos, too numb to notice that Pawnsiri, one of his adult-school students, is courting him. When his gunship is shot down, he survives again, hiking out of the jungle with Harley Baker, the guitar-playing door gunner he loves and hates. Leary is discharged but remains in Thailand, ordaining as a Buddhist monk and embarking on a pilgrimage through the wastelands of Laos, haunted by what Thais call "pii tai hong"—the restless, unhappy ghosts of his doomed crewmates.

In the Year of the Rabbit, a story of healing and redemption, honors three groups missing from accounts of the Vietnam War—the air commandos who risked death flying night after night over the Ho Chi Minh Trail, the active-duty airmen who risked prison by joining the GI antiwar movement, and the people of neutral Laos, whose lives and country were devastated.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 316

The Legend (A Kate Tyler Novel) by Nancy Wakeley

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MWSA Review

Nancy Wakeley’s second book, The Legend, follows up on the everyday heroine Kate Tyler. Now that Kate has moved past the sudden death of her twin, she starts to feel that “travel bug” again. Coupled with some very vivid, repetitive dreams, she is strangely drawn to the small town of Rye, England. While working on her travel blog, she stumbles upon a mysterious book from hundreds of years ago that features a young woman named Arabella.

Kate is shocked when she sees that the picture of Arabella looks exactly like Kate. Though unnerved, she continues her studies of Rye and the surrounding countryside, only to be reminded by the locals at every turn how much she looks like the mysterious Arabella. Drawn into the web of a local legend, Kate is at first intrigued. Soon, however, she is in real danger, and only her new friend Miles has any chance to save her.

It is obvious that the author did extensive research on small town England, as the story she weaves is ripe with detail and an atmosphere that could only come from a small European town. The story features a host of interesting characters, from the villain Virginia to the manly but vulnerable Miles. It is well written and easy to read, ensuring that fans of literary fiction will enjoy this book.

Review by Rob Ballister (June 2022)

 

Author's Synopsis

What does it mean to live the life you were meant to live?  Kate Tyler is asking herself this question as she travels to the ancient town of Rye, England on business.  But unsettling dreams of ships and storms, a stolen book of ancient legends, mistaken identity, and the mysterious Corvos Sisterhood all conspire to draw Kate into finding the truth behind the tragic legend of young Arabella Courbain who died in 1766 and who had vowed to return one day to live the life she was meant to live.  

As Kate reads Arabella’s story in the book of ancient legends, she feels a powerful connection to her as if the young woman is reaching out to her from the past, pleading to finally have the truth about her life and death revealed.  

Kate’s unexpected journey of discovery takes her from a peculiar man in a bookstore and the quaint shops and ghostly inns in Rye to the Calloway House and Gardens and its mistress, herbalist Virginia Calloway, whose fervent belief that the prophesy in the legend of Arabella Courbain will come true soon leads Kate down a dangerous path that could change her life forever.  

In spite of warnings from Rye Detective Sergeant Miles Pixley, Kate seeks out the answers to the mystery in the Calloway House.  Will she find the truth before it is too late?  And will she discover for herself if she is living the life she was meant to live?

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 316

Q.Fulvius: A Pirate's Life by M. G. Haynes

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MWSA Review

Q. Fulvius: A Pirate’s Life, book two in the Fulvius Chronicles by M. G. Haynes, describes a few years in the life of an escaped Roman centurion and his mates. Fulvius joins a pirate colony on an island in the Adriatic Sea and improves the lives of the Illyrians with his military knowledge, making them safer and more prosperous. He experiences true family support for the first time in his life and is conflicted between his desire for independence and the pull of the community’s needs. After a year of settling in, outside events threaten the colony as it is caught between the Macedonians in the east who want to take over the Greek coast and part of Italy and the Romans who want to stop them. The Romans also want to capture the escaped centurion and punish him. Life is not easy in the third century, but the centurion and his friends have been trained to fight, and their skills save the lives of many in the village. You’ll find lots of plot twists in this very easy read.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (May 2022)

Author's Synopsis

Book two of The Fulvius Chronicles, this installment continues to follow Fulvius and his disreputable gang after their narrow escape from a legionary death sentence during the Second Punic War. Fleeing across the Adriatic Sea they find new allies and a new vocation, piracy. Taking naturally to littoral banditry, Fulvius and his new charges grow steadily in both power and wealth until the wider politics of the region intrude upon their piratical nirvana in a way none of them expected. Fulvius is forced to deal with the sudden return of an old, vengeful enemy, an opportunity for enrichment simply too good to pass up, and ultimately, betrayal within his own ranks just to survive, much less find any way to prosper. In the end, all his schemes come crashing down around him, and the members of the pirate community--to say nothing of Fulvius himself--must fight for their very lives in a massive and swirling battle royale along the Illyrian coast.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 313

Rare Bird: Hispanic Military Pilots of the USA by Rudolph C. Villarreal

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MWSA Review

As an Air Force veteran, I found this book to be a profound "joy of discovery," and it should be read by all Americans. Of these over 100 Hispanic military pilots, there are no less than eleven flag officers (generals or admirals), three astronauts, and eight aces. Also included is Colonel Cesar Rodriguez, a retired F-15 pilot who is one of three pilots, post-Vietnam, who achieved three aerial victories, where there have been no aces since that war. Because the book is written in a precise biographical style, it is possible to appreciate the great accomplishments of many of these pilots and realize the unspoken tragedy and sacrifice of many others who gave their lives in the defense of the United States. This is a great reference for military and aviation history applications.

Review by Terry Lloyd (June 2022)

 

Author's Synopsis

They may have been Rare but they were There, serving in every Theater of Operations.  In a society that did not always welcome Hispanics, these men persevered.  Becoming a military pilot was not easy.  One had to be a cut above the average person.  College was a must although this requirement had been dropped during wartime.  And then, only those who were able to pass the stringent physical and mental tests were allowed to begin flight school and subsequently endure a year or more of a stressful training process that would eliminate some of the students.  Those who succeeded received their wings and joined a fraternity of aviators that served the country admirably in peacetime and war.

Tempe, Arizona based historian and author Rudy Villarreal has published his new book which features 101 stories of these pilots, from a list of over 300 who have served in the US military since the early days of aviation.  One of these featured is quite famous in the sports world: Ted Williams considered to be one of the greatest players in major league baseball history.

Format(s) for review: Paper Only

Review Genre: Nonfiction—History

A Rock in the Clouds: A Life Revisited by Joseph R. Tedeschi

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MWSA Review

Wars may last for years—or even decades—but they often end in an instant for the individual soldiers who fight them. A Rock in the Clouds tells the story of one such instant, a plane crash in Vietnam that ended the author’s deployment a mere three weeks after it began. It also ended the lives of thirteen fellow service members, and the author never takes his survival for granted as he revisits the entirety of his life before, during, and after that near-death experience.

Any account of a plane crash would be harrowing, but this book’s finest feature is that the author goes beyond a first-person account and provides a painstakingly compiled record that sheds light in a way no single person could. The research also includes interesting nuggets about medical personnel he met during his recovery and, most strikingly, a picture of the airplane’s pilot with three of the sons he left behind after perishing in the crash.

The accident and its aftermath comprise the middle third of the book, with the first portion listing biographical details and the final third largely reprinting correspondence that happened during the book’s creation. Yet the central third reflects an interesting balance of personal narrative and research, with moments that provide welcome texture, sometimes in unexpected ways.

Perhaps the most resonant aspect of A Rock in the Clouds isn’t a particular section but that the book exists at all—that even a survivor whose injuries largely healed, whose military career continued successfully, and whose subsequent life has been nurtured by family, faith, and community still thinks back to a foggy Vietnam hillside in 1966, peering out of a broken fuselage, wondering what had just happened and why his right leg was stubbornly refusing to move.

Review by John McGlothlin (May 2022)

Author's Synopsis

“On 4 October 1966, a C7-A Caribou airplane flying through blinding cloud cover crashed into Hon Cong Mountain near the base camp of the 1st Air Cavalry Division at An Khe. There were thirty-one people aboard the aircraft, an air crew of four along with twenty-seven passengers. Thirteen people died in the crash. I was one of the survivors.”

Joe spends 45 years of his life uncertain of the true details of the crash. And he is always trying to make sense of his survival. In the many years searching for answers he discovers a very human story of faith, compassion, GI grit and humor, and patriotism.

As his journey reveals his faith-based purpose and destiny, he hopes to bring hope and inspiration to other Vietnam-era veterans, their families, and people of faith.

Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle

Review Genre: Nonfiction—Memoir/Biography

Number of Pages: 278

Our Longest Year in Iraq by Douglas Satterfield

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Author's Synopsis

Army Engineers were among the first Soldiers on the Iraq battlefield; some of the last to leave. This book tells the story of those who stood alongside our warfighters in combat. For those who want a glimpse of modern warfare and read about Soldiers in combat, this book is written in an easy-to-read form for a general audience.
The 1st Cavalry Division entered the Iraq War in early 2004 to provide security for Iraqi citizens. What happened was a resurgence of violence and death. Army Engineers were thrown into the battle to build bases, roads, airfields, hunt IEDs, and install barriers to protect and house the warfighters. From Fallujah to Sadr City, the fight was on, and Engineers on the battlefield did their part honorably and courageously.
For those who have the spirit, read about the Soldiers who fought in Iraq. Brigadier General Satterfield, U.S. Army (retired), tells the story of the 353rd Engineer Group (1st Cav) as it led the greatest engineer effort in decades. He discusses how courage and honor overcame that fear. And, he shows us how Engineers played a vital role in winning over the hearts and minds of Iraqi citizens. This is a personal journey from Fort Sill, Oklahoma to Baghdad, Iraq and back.
The 1st Cav motto, "Be Courteous, Be Professional, Be Prepared to Kill," reflected their orders on the battlefield and how they overcame a profound evil perpetuated by enemy Iraqi insurgents and International terrorists. This is a true story from March 2004 through February 2005, one of the most dangerous times of the war.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

Formats: Softcover, Kindle

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-7379155-1-5, 978-1-7379155-0-8