The Forest of Assassins


David Forsmark - 2013
    It is must-read on every page.” ----THOMAS FLEMING: Author of A Disease in the Public Mind: A New Understanding of the Civil War“The Forest of Assassins is a great read, a novel as good as the best journalism, with vivid and accurate details driving a tale of danger and deception and betrayal during the Vietnam War. This book doesn't just feel researched, it feels lived. Whether tightening the suspense – our protagonist, Navy Lieutenant Hank Dillon eyeball to eyeball with a VC soldier and watching for the skin to whiten on the man’s finger curled around the trigger of his AK-47 – or describing the oppressive heat of an innocent afternoon on the Mekong Delta, David Forsmark and Timothy Imholt make you believe every word of it. I couldn't recommend it more highly.-ROBERT FERRIGNO, NY Times best-selling novelist, Prayers for the AssassinAs real as fiction gets. A non-stop ride into combat told with perfection.-BOB HAMER, veteran FBI undercover agent and the author of The Last UndercoverThe Forest of Assassins is a historic thriller set in the earliest days of the American involvement in the Vietnam War. It involved the earliest of Navy SEAL teams. It is set in a time when the NAVY still did not admit these men existed, much less had they determined if those units would survive until the next conflict, or if the experiment would be abandoned. The Forest of Assassins tells the story of Navy SEAL Lieutenant Hank Dillon, a squad commander, deep in the jungles of South Vietnam when America’s involvement in the war was still in the “advisor” stage. Dillon’s mission is to wreak havoc among the Viet Cong guerillas who are terrorizing the countryside.Their mission—and even their presence in the region—is top secret. But Hank has a problem even bigger than a deadly and determined enemy; he has a traitor in the ranks.Meanwhile, a suspicious NCIS cop is nosing around Hank’s mysterious operation, certain that it is a front for drug running and other illegal activities.Things are tense for the young Lieutenant who just wants to go home to his wife…intact.

Governor's Road: A Novel of Southern Proportions


Laurie Byrne Smith - 2012
    This beautifully written book will keep you up all night. There are plenty of clues and there are a lot of hints, but even when you put them all together, it will be close to impossible to puzzle your way to the ending. If you are looking for a book, you can't put down, then Governor's Road is just right for you. Excitement, frisky loving, a mystery of epic proportions and traditional southern pathos make this book a fun and rewarding read. The terrorized children of Governor’s Road grew up without resolution or closure to the most devastating event of their young lives. Their friend, a child their age, disappeared one afternoon and somehow, they never seem to learn what happened. Saddened parents decide to protect their children and the obvious fear recedes in the face of the calm that settles back over the neighborhood. But, fear never really disappears until it's confronted. As adults, JoBeth and Billy set out to discover what happened to little Petey Shiner. The answer brings them to conclusion that there is no perfect childhood, even in a perfect town in a perfect decade. Every town hides its secrets and puts on a good face, even at the expense of its residents. Along the way, JoBeth and Billy discover love and romance. Their kindling of love takes you to places you can only want to return to…and their future makes you happy. It’s their past that is so hard to reconcile. As well as a lot of fun, a dark mystery and hot southern romance, JoBeth and her friends also encounter the harsh reality of Alzheimer’s and aging. Sometimes, a loved one can be lost more than once. The malevolent specter of mental illness surfaces when the reader meets Lucius Sifer and begins to understand the unusual existence the boy leads. The ending is grim but satisfies that need everyone has for justice. The most humble people can achieve heroism without fanfare or acknowledgment. As always, enjoy your adventure into the south...and remember, thoughtful book reviews are welcomed with open arms. Please see Observations of a Transplanted Southern Belle for more of Laurie Byrne Smith's work.

The Hill


Leonard B. Scott - 1989
    Point man for his platoon. Jason is the favored one: a football hero picked for officer training school who leads his men into a slaughter ground from which most of them will never return. Ty and Jason -- Oklahoma brothers different in character, yet close in soul -- are about to meet in the Battle of Dak To, upon the blood-drenched sides of Hill 875.

Reluctant Warrior


Michael Hodgins - 1997
    It's almost something out of a Clancy novel, yet it's true. The best thing I can say about it is I didn't want it to end."--Col. David Hackworth, New York Times bestselling author of About FaceBy the spring of 1970, American troops were ordered to pull out of Vietnam. The Marines of 1st Reconnaissance Battalion, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel "Wild Bill" Drumright, were assigned to cover the withdrawal of 1st Marine Division. The Marines of 1st RECON Bn operated in teams of six or seven men. Heavily armed, the teams fought a multitude of  bitter engagements with a numerically superior and increasingly aggressive enemy.Michael C. Hodgins served in Company C, 1st RECON Bn (Rein), as a platoon leader. In powerful, graphic prose, he chronicles his experience as a patrol leader in myriad combat situations--from hasty ambush to emergency extraction to prisoner snatch to combined-arms ambush. . . ."THIS MEMOIR IS GRIPPING."--American WayFrom the Paperback edition.

Phantom Warrior: The Heroic True Story of Private John McKinney's One-Man Stand Against the Japanese in World War II


Forrest Bryant Johnson - 2007
    On May 11, 1945, McKinney returned fire on the Japanese attacking his unit, using every available weapon-even his fists-standing alone against wave after wave of dedicated Japanese soldiers. At the end, John McKinney was alive-with over forty Japanese bodies before him. This is the story of an extraordinary man whose courage and fortitude in battle saved many American lives, and whose legacy has been sadly forgotten by all but a few. Here, the proud legacy of John McKinney lives on.

Diary of an Airborne Ranger: A LRRP's Year in the Combat Zone


Frank Johnson - 2001
    Johnson served in I Corps, in northern Vietnam, where combat was furious and the events he recounts emerge, stark and compelling: walking point in the A Shau Valley, braving enemy fire to rescue a downed comrade, surviving days and nights of relentless tension that suddenly exploded in the blinding fury of an NVA attack.Undimmed and unmuddied by the passing of years, Johnson's account is unique in the annals of Vietnam literature. Moreover, it is a timeless testimony to the sacrifice and heroism of the LRRPs who dared to risk it all.

The Sot-weed Factor: or, A Voyage to Maryland. A Satyr. In which is Describ'd The Laws, Government, Courts and Constitutions of the Country, and also the ... of that Part of America. In Burlesque Verse.


Ebenezer Cook - 1708
    You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

White Water Red Hot Lead: On Board U.S. Navy Swift Boats in Vietnam


Dan Daly - 2015
    The boats patrolled the coast and rivers of South Vietnam, with the average age of the crew being twenty-four. Their days consisted of deadly combat, intense lightning firefights, storms and many hidden dangers.This action-packed story of combat written by Dan Daly, a Vietnam combat veteran who was the Officer in Charge of PCF 76 makes you part of the Swift Boat crew. The six man crew of PCF 76 were volunteers from all over the United States, eager to serve their country in a highly unique type of duty not seen since the PT boats of WWII. This inexperienced and disparate group of men would meld into a combat team - a team that formed an unbreakable, lifelong bond.After training they were plunged into a 12 month tour of duty. Combat took place in the closest confines imaginable, where the enemy were hidden behind a passing sand dune or a single sniper could be concealed in an onshore bunker, mines might be submerged at every fork in the river. The enemy was all around you, hiding, waiting, while your fifty-foot Swift Boat works its way upriver. In many cases the rivers became so narrow there was barely room to maneuver or turn around. The only way out might be into a deadly ambush. Humor and a touch of romance relieve the tension in this thrilling ride with America's finest.

लक्ष्यवेध


रणजित देसाई
    Apart from this, many a times each state of each nation has role models from the past but not forgotten history. Maharashtra has its own idols. The greatest and most loved of them all is shivaji maharaj.

A Life in a Year: The American Infantryman in Vietnam


James R. Ebert - 1993
    More than 60 Army and Marine Corps infantrymen speak of their experiences during their year-long tours of duty.

The Willow Pool


Elizabeth Elgin - 2000
    But before Meg can take her first steps into the unknown alone, she must look to her past. Why, she wonders, did her mother wear a wedding ring but never marry? Why, for instance, does the tallyman never call at No. 3 Tippet's Yard to collect any rent? He does everywhere else. With Ma gone, Meg must go back to her roots to uncover her 'family tree'. However, the process of simplfying her life leads to unforseen complications. But there's always Kip, reliable and loving, to pick up the pieces of her unsolved life and love.

The Things They Carried


Tim O'Brien - 1990
    In this, his second work of fiction about Vietnam, O'Brien's unique artistic vision is again clearly demonstrated. Neither a novel nor a short story collection, it is an arc of fictional episodes, taking place in the childhoods of its characters, in the jungles of Vietnam and back home in America two decades later.

The Road Show


Gary Jennings - 1999
    In The Road Show we meet Zachary Edge, a Confederate soldier, on his way home at the war's close. He stumbles upon a traveling troupe, a chance encounter that is the start of an unforgettable odyssey. Edge hits the road with bawdy showgirls, roguish tricksters, and a host of colorful characters. He soon finds himself in the arms of Autumn Auburn, the lithesome artiste known for her breathtaking sensuality.

The Prussian Captain


Ann Brough - 2017
    But life and love may be found in the most unlikely places—the poverty-stricken streets of Neck End. 1898… Edward turned twenty nine-years-old on the ship. Looking out over the gray water back towards America, his heart ached for both the country he had adopted and loved, and for the woman he had lost there. He was returning to England without having 'made good'. Without any fortune. When Edward meets Gertrude and is captivated by her youth and beauty, his hope for the future is transformed. But this is an era when the rich and poor of England each have their own firmly defined limits. More than any social boundary is a far greater problem—he’s already married. Giving a glimpse into the realities of the very wealthy and the desperately impoverished of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, The Prussian Captain is the story of two opposite lives colliding. One is marked by finery, decorum, servants, and first-class adventures crisscrossing the Atlantic. The other is stuck in a life of abuse, alcoholism, and the depressed state of the working poor of industrialized England. Start reading The Prussian Captain today and discover if Edward and Gertrude risk it all to overcome their stations in life. Will they each find what they are looking for? Find out today!

Red Dragon (Winds of War Book 3)


William Dietz - 2020
    Dietz, the New York Times bestselling author of the America Rising novels, comes RED DRAGON, the third book in the Winds of War series following RED FLOOD. World War III is a few months month old. After attacking, and sinking the Destroyer USS Stacy Heath, the Chinese seize control of Nepal and Bhutan and push into India where the Allies manage to stop them. But for how long? Pakistan is attacking from the north--and China is preparing for the "big push” from the east. Worse yet, China’s Ministry of State Security has orders to assassinate the Dalai Lama, rather than run the risk that he will inspire a Buddhist rebellion in Tibet. As a team of assassins close in on the Dalai Lama, Green Beret Captain Jon Lee and his men are behind Chinese lines in Nepal, battling to rescue a downed fighter pilot before enemy troops can capture him.   The entire subcontinent is at risk if the assassins succeed…  And, if the region falls, hundreds of thousands of people will die--even as millions more are lost to the Axis.  Together with a self-centered army doctor named Wendy Kwan, and a team consisting of both green berets and Gurkhas, it will be Lee's responsibility to navigate treacherous terrain--and prevent Chinese Agent Fan Tong and his special ops team from changing the course of the war.