Despite unspectacular writing, a worthwhile peek into the horrors of war.
A helicopter pilot serving in the Vietnam War struggles to survive a major offensive.
Capt. Taylor St. James, known among his fellow soldiers as TJ, is a helicopter pilot in the Army deployed to Vietnam in 1971. He belongs to a Huey Assault Helicopter Company—part of the 101st Airborne Division—a group deeply involved in Lam Son 719, one of the key combat operations of the war and one in which helicopter pilots contributed heroically and suffered tremendous losses. Freeland chronicles these perilous missions with impressive historical accuracy, capturing not only the danger of the missions, but the ethos of the helicopter pilot and the creed, or “Helicopter Wisdom,” that guided them through the terrors of war. TJ’s company commander, Maj. Hutchins, is killed and replaced by Maj. Parker Stewart, a weak leader obsessed with promotion at the expense of the pilots for whom he is responsible. TJ voices his concerns about Parker’s recklessness, a defiance that puts him in Parker’s crosshairs—Parker tries to force him out of the company. The author focuses on the Lam Son 719 campaign, billed as a triumph against the North Vietnamese though it exposed the woeful inadequacy of South Vietnamese forces. Freeland’s debut novel is impeccably faithful to historical events, not surprising since he served as a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War as part of the division referenced in his novel. He furnishes a detailed look not only into combat operations, but also their political context as well as providing a moving depiction of the soldiers’ loneliness. TJ constantly sends communications to his wife, Sandy, doing his best to conceal the extent of the danger he faces daily. Freeland’s wooden prose style relies on stale formulas and shopworn clichés. TJ often thinks to himself in these earnest terms: “It has been another long and terrifying day, in which several men lost their lives. I came too damn close to being one of them!”
Despite unspectacular writing, a worthwhile peek into the horrors of war.Pub Date: April 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-954000-05-6
Page Count: 338
Publisher: Publish Authority
Review Posted Online: April 23, 2021
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
A gripping depiction of America at a turning point.
Can a former double agent escape the dark shadow of “the Good War”?
The prolific Downing’s World War II spy thriller series continues with a complex portrait of 1953 America and Germany. British journalist and former double agent John Russell, now living in Los Angeles with his actress wife, Effi Koenen, and teenage daughter, Rosa, is doing research for a potentially controversial book about American corporate ties to Nazi Germany. Effi has landed a role on the hit sitcom Please, Dad, and Rosa plans to attend art school. Meanwhile, Russell’s friend Gerhard Ströhm is in Moscow with other German delegates attending the funeral of Joseph Stalin. The political situation in Europe is arguably even dicier than usual, with the future of the Soviet Union in question and German allegiance unclear. Stateside, the aftermath of the war is on display in racial prejudice and the McCarthy witch hunts. Turmoil disturbs the happy Please, Dad family when cast member Laura Fullagar is investigated for a possible communist past. Closer to home, Russell comes to the slow and unsettling realization that he’s being followed. The trip he and Effi take to Germany thickens the plot further. Downing’s focus is broad, with passing references to the recently ended Korean War, the Rosenbergs, and the burgeoning L.A. smog problem—potent reminders that many events around the world are interrelated. While grounded in deep research, the story is told through the journeys of a handful of fully fleshed-out characters.
A gripping depiction of America at a turning point.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781641293570
Page Count: 408
Publisher: Soho Crime
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
Thrills aplenty as readers await the next installment of this well-researched series.
In this follow-up to The Burning Chambers, (2019) Mosse’s characters endure the horrors of the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre, in which the Huguenots—members of the French Protestant minority—were attacked by Catholics.
Minou Reydon, the Huguenot protagonist of Chambers, and her husband, Piet, are now, in 1572, the nobility in residence at Château de Puivert in Languedoc after having wrested it from a usurper. Minou’s entire extended family lives in the castle, including her brother, Aimeric, sister, Alis, and her Aunt Salvadora. Minou and Piet have two children, precocious 7-year-old Marta and toddler Jean-Jacques. The family’s idyll is about to be interrupted, though. Piet’s former friend Vidal, now a Catholic cardinal, is scheming to carry out grudges against both Minou and Piet, one long-standing and one very recent: Vidal has suspicions about Piet’s lineage that he is determined to both confirm and conceal. The Reydons’ troubles begin when they leave Puivert to attend a royal wedding in Paris. Marguerite, the Catholic daughter of Catherine de’ Medici, is to marry Henri, the Huguenot king of Navarre, who will one day accede to the throne of France. Many hope that the match will signal a truce in the religious strife that has rocked France for decades. However, certain renegade Catholics, led by the Duke of Guise and abetted by Vidal, plan a limited strike on key Huguenots in town for the wedding. But the violence spreads until a mob has murdered thousands. Minou, Piet, their son, and Salvadora manage to escape but, through a profoundly unlucky turn of events, leave Marta behind. This act will test Minou and Piet’s marital bond as, in exile from France, they establish a new life in Amsterdam. Mosse keeps a firm grip on the extremely complex Reformation history in which her characters are enmeshed. The role of Vidal in the plot is less successfully executed. The aging and ailing prelate appears too overtly crazy to fulfill his intended role as mastermind and nemesis. And there may be too many minutely described stabbings for some tastes.
Thrills aplenty as readers await the next installment of this well-researched series.Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-20218-5
Page Count: 560
Publisher: Minotaur
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2020
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
