Mark Berent

January 1968. The full fury of the communist Tet Offensive is about to explode, forever chaning the lives of America's bravest warriors: FAC pilot Toby Parker, shot down over the jungles of Vietnam and trapped in the middle of a tank attack. Major "Flak" Apple, a prisoner of the North Vietnamese and about to undergo torture. Special Forces Colonel Wolf Lochert facing criminal charges for murdering an enemy agent, and USAF Major Court Bannister who has the opportunity to become the Air Force's first ace in Vietnam-but at the possible cost of his career.… (mehr)

I didn't even make it to the first 100 pages. It was dull. Boring. Bland. I've read plenty of Vietnam books that were gripping, immediately, engaging, enthralling. This was none of that. There was one short piece of action, but not much else. Additionally, the book opens with two first-year Air Force Academy cadets, Dominguez and Tanaka, who are mercilessly harassed/hazed by an upper classman just cause he's a dick. You think these guys are going to be the primary protagonists when the plot shifts to Vietnam several years later, but it seems to turn out that they're merely secondary characters. So why lead off the book with them? It's confusing. Maybe it's just cause I'm not an Air Force guy. Maybe it's cause I'm more of a grunt on the ground guy, or even a Special Forces guy. The grunts have to survive in hostile territory in fear and terror 24/7 while the Air Force guys fly an hour or so, drop a few bombs, fly back and have cocktails. Big damn deal. I guess I'm jaded because I know the Air Force is important, especially these days, but I find more to enjoy reading an infantryman's book than an Air Force man's book, I guess. Whatever the case, I wasn't impressed with the writing, with the plotting, with the set up, with none of it and, especially as I didn't finish it, I'm afraid I can't recommend it.… (mehr)