True Feathers by Carolyn Patrick

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

Author's Synopsis

True Feathers recounts the author's strides and strifes as a warrior in the US Air Force approaching the end of her career. Told through the allegorical lens of Coo, a dove who finds herself born seemingly out of place, we watch as she leaves behind the only life she has ever known in search of her true self. After befriending a wise old beach mouse, Coo begins to make peace with her past and finds she has the ability to create a much brighter future. Coo's realization echoes that of the author as she reflects on her past using insights from yoga philosophy and the healing powers of storytelling. True Feathers is a lyrical fable of authenticity, connection, and peace.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781087953281

Formats: Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook

Genre: Literary Fiction

Pages: 178

Volunteer: A Vietnam War Odyssey by Bob Stockton

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
Bob Stockton fell back on his extensive career in the Navy to publish Volunteer: A Vietnam Odyssey. A compilation of his three previously published (and successful) novellas, the story follows a Navy sailor through his deployments during the Vietnam War. It is a work of fiction, but it is based on historical accounts and also the author's own experience.

The book has action, humor, and plenty of "liberty incidents" to make any vet reminisce fondly. I particularly liked the way the main character was very unassuming; he did some very important work, but to him he was just doing his job for his country, a sentiment to which many veterans can relate. It is an easy read that will spark many different memories for the intended audience.

Vietnam veterans, especially those from the Navy, will enjoy this book, as will any "tin can" sailor of the last fifty years or so. 

Review by Rob Ballister (May 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
Eighteen-year old Zack Martin is determined to leave his Lubbock home where he has endured ridicule and scorn from his abusive father. His mother’s recent death has given Zack the push to join the Navy where he is certain that he will find adventure – and test his courage by volunteering to serve in ships that will be sent into harm’s way in the emerging Vietnam conflict.

Author Bob Stockton has revised and consolidated his three earlier Vietnam War novellas – Mediterranean Suicide, Friendly Fire and The Third Tour into “Volunteer,” a re-written and re-formatted hard-hitting, fast-paced novel that places the reader directly in the heart of the action.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781662901560, B089PT1C9N

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 439

Heirloom (A Kate Tyler Novel) by Nancy Wakeley

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
How do you continue to live after you experience the perfect storm of job loss, relationship betrayal, and the death of your twin? Any one of those occurrences can lead to heartbreak and confusion, but if all three happen in close proximity, you must learn to adapt to your new circumstances—if you want to survive.

Kate, who always considered herself the weaker twin after their adoptive parents died, is truly alone now and feels ill-equipped to experience life without the support her sister always seemed to provide. Inheriting property she didn’t know her twin had recently purchased, Kate decides to honor her sister’s memory by at least looking at the house before selling it. She struggles to overcome the debilitating inertia of grief and makes her way to Eden Springs, a small town in North Carolina, only to discover that the house and land have fallen into complete disrepair.

Kate’s journey of personal growth begins as she entertains the notion that she might not be as weak as she had always assumed. She leans into her grief, accepts life as it is, and grows stronger, while still allowing others to come alongside to support her.

Beautiful descriptions and emotional scenes are interspersed with action scenes. Quirky characters are added for comic relief, while sinister individuals provide additional conflict to keep the plot moving swiftly to its conclusion.

I hope the author has more stories to tell. I look forward to her next book.

Review by Betsy Beard (March 2021) 

 

Author's Synopsis
Kate Tyler is already in a life crisis when she inherits Howard's Walk in Eden Springs, North Carolina, after the sudden death of her twin sister, Rebecca. The last thing she wants is to be tied down to an abandoned estate and its neglected once-famous gardens. She vows to sell it as quickly as possible.

But on her first visit to Howard's Walk, Kate finds a family heirloom, an embroidered tablecloth, that Rebecca has left behind. That connection, and the deepening sense of loss she is feeling, convince her to stay--at least for a little while. As Kate struggles alone in her grief, healing appears in the form of new friends and neighbors.

When secrets begin to surface within the old house, she questions the connection she feels with a mentally challenged young man from the farm next door. When she meets the owner of a local garden center, she begins to open her heart again to the possibility of love. When she learns that a powerful and vengeful man who was denied ownership of Howard's Walk in the past is determined to finally own it at any cost, Kate must decide what Howard's Walk means to her and whether she has the strength to battle for its survival as well as her own.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-61153-373-6, 978-1-61153-374-3

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction

Number of Pages: 267

The Flying Cutterbucks by Kathleen M. Rodgers

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
Kathleen M. Rodgers writes about a close-knit family of women bonded together by loss and grief, an act of violence from years past, and a code of silence to protect one of their own. The Flying Cutterbucks is a tapestry masterfully woven with colorful, quirky characters and a riveting plot.

The eldest daughter, Trudy returns to Pardon, New Mexico, in 2016 after a failed marriage and career as a flight attendant. As she sifts through her mother’s cluttered home, Trudy relives the events of her fighter pilot father who is MIA from Vietnam, her little brother who did not survive cancer, the stillbirth of a precious daughter, and the escape from an abusive relationship. It is the 2016 election and one candidate brings back old family secrets of violence haunting three women. The media records a candidate outrageously admitting to grabbing women’s private parts which remind Aunt Star, Trudy, and Georgia of a nightmarish encounter with cousin Dub, a pervert of the worse kind. Until now, the horrible event is a hazy memory for Trudy but she seeks to find the truth.

Throughout the novel, Trudy hears her father’s voice in the form of pilot radio calls during times of stressful indecision. Rogers integrates memories of military family life throughout the story honoring the MIA fighter pilot’s wife and daughters.

As they stand together, the Cutterbuck women unearth the truth of what happened one night many years ago. We read about the burden they carry and the strength it takes to face it. Together the loving daughters help their mother sift through the memories and mementos of a father missing in action somewhere over Vietnam. One day a phone call from the government results in his return home and the closing of a chapter in their lives.

Kathleen M. Rodgers is a gifted writer who ties up all the loose ends in an entertaining, complicated novel.

Review by Nancy Panko (March 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
Decades ago, Trudy, Georgia, and Aunt Star formed a code of silence to protect each other from an abusive man who terrorized their family. One act of solidarity long ago lives with them still. With the election of a president who brags about groping women without their consent, old wounds and deep secrets come alive again, forcing hard truths to be told and even harder truths to be left to the dead.

On the outskirts of Pardon, New Mexico, Trudy returns to her mother, Jewel, to navigate an old house filled with haunting mementos of her father who went missing in action over North Vietnam. As she helps her mother sift through the memories and finally lay her father to rest, Trudy will do her own soul searching to say goodbye to the dead, and find her way along with the other women in her family, and through the next election.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1948018784, B087JBHD4Q

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

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 296

A Few Days in the Navy by A. T. Roberts

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
Lieutenant Anthony Doinel has never been very brave. That’s why he joined the Navy, actually. If there was one job where he could address and overcome his personal cowardice, it would have to be flying jets for the US Navy. Or so he thought. After flight school (but no jets), training, deployments, and a shore tour, Doinel is left wondering whether or not he will ever accept who he is and what is in store for him in life. Now what?

Most books about Navy aviators are action packed, both in the air and on the ground. This book is different. It’s not about the training or the job or the girls (though all of those play a part), it’s about one young man’s journey to find himself and conquer his demons. The author does a great job of portraying a junior officer’s life in the Navy, from OCS to flight training to deployment, and along the way develops a character that through experience and introspection grows and learns more of what he is about. I particularly liked Anthony’s inner conversations after some particular event or happening; they reminded me of dealing with some of my own demons when I was a junior officer.

Written from the point of view of someone who knows, this book will be interesting to anyone who wears Navy gold wings (pilot or NFO), and also anyone who “grew up” and learned about themselves in the Navy.

Review by Rob Ballister (March 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
A FEW DAYS IN THE NAVY is a tale of misadventure on land, at sea, and in the air. The story follows Anthony Doinel, a cowardly and insecure young man who desires to be anything but. Deciding to join the cut-throat world of military aviation in the footsteps of his lineage, he desperately seeks the crucible of combat to wash himself of his less than courageous nature. As his naval service grinds forward, themes of cowardice, identity, and belonging are examined as Anthony learns just how far reality can diverge from expectations in the twenty-first century military.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-55571-999-9

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 200

dd 214 by W. Joseph O'Connell

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
A DD 214 is the Department of Defense form one receives upon separation or discharge from the US military. Most recipients also recognize it as a document signifying a significant change in their lives. W. Joseph O’Connell’s dd 214—rendered in lower case in the book’s title—is an entertaining and thought-provoking work of fiction. The book focuses on the very real and daunting challenges faced by someone retiring from the military and contemplating his future as a civilian.

dd 214’s two main characters are long-time friends who share the experience of military service. And as the main character approaches the end of his military career, the two decide to embark on a journey of celebration and discovery. As the story progresses, we learn that they’re clever enough to contemplate life’s oddities and challenges, honest enough to share life events like innocent teenagers, yet bold enough to set out on a series of short and potentially dangerous odysseys. All the while, they’re anesthetized by a near-constant buzz afforded by a never-ending supply of top-grade weed, or as the main character calls it, “the anamorphic filter of marijuana.” Perhaps this helps them remain oblivious to their shortcomings. 

Through his first-person narration, we learn that the main character, whose name we never learn, has quite a resume. He ran a side “business,” allowing his fellow soldiers to cheat on their military drug tests while also selling them narcotics. During his road trip, he is willfully ignorant of his friend transporting drugs across state lines for sale and has few if any qualms about having sex with an under-aged girl. He also seems unconcerned about remaining detached from his children from a long-ago failed marriage. Still, despite the main character and his friend Zeke’s manifest flaws, the reader is captivated by their travails and ruminations—almost as if they were O’Connell’s versions of Butch and Sundance.

The main character is drawn to communist Cuba and upset about Agent Orange. He often voices contempt for a corrupt government typified by the “ATF goons” who intrude “against the rights of individuals and especially the Fourth Amendment” during the siege of the Branch Davidians in Waco.  In response, he toys with becoming a revolutionary or maybe visiting the prison from which Timothy Leary escaped in 1970. At one point, he contemplates his future and imagines three possible outcomes: suicide or being locked up in either a jail or a “looney bin.” In the end, the reader won’t know his name or his fate. However, despite his many foibles, the author allows us to feel his pain and wish him well in his ongoing struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. 

Review by John Cathcart (February 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
A washed up soldier and his buddy take a road trip from California to Texas in a rental car full of guns and drugs. What could go wrong? Along the way, they encounter revolutionaries, survivalists, jailbait, and a bounty hunter. Their karmic journey across the American West is a search for wisdom and an escape from society, so long as they don't get caught.

ISBN/ASIN: ASIN : B08KMHM6Q3, ISBN-13 : 979-8694584029

Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle

Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction

Number of Pages: 246

Sheltering Angels by Nancy Panko

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
In Sheltering Angels, author Nancy Panko has given us a fascinating perspective of the relationship between guardian angels and the people they protect. The book, set primarily on a farm in New York, tells the story of the Emig family whose first child, Betsy, has a unique gift. Betsy is born with the ability to see and talk to her guardian angel. At first, her parents believe Betsy is just talking to a make-believe friend whom she calls Sandy. Over time and after a couple family crises, Betsy tells her parents that Sandy is a guardian angel, and while skeptical at first, her parents soon realize she is telling the truth. The story continues over the decades giving the reader an insight as to how this knowledge and relationship with the guardian angel affects the family. An enjoyable read, I recommend it.

Review by Bob Doerr (February 2021)
 

Author's Synopsis
Most hard-working families living in the shadow of the Lyon Brook Railroad Bridge are oblivious to the angels in their midst. However, Betsy Emig, a child on a nearby farm is born with an unusual gift - she can see and communicate with her guardian angel. Her young parents assume their precocious daughter has an imaginary friend until the three-year-old repeatedly tells them what she sees during incidents of undeniable angelic intervention. Butch and Mary Emig evolve as parents raising five children, one with unique abilities.

ISBN/ASIN: Paperback ISBN: 978-1-61153-399-6, E-book ISBN: 978-1-61153-400-9
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Historical Fiction
Number of Pages: 293

Still Come Home by Katey Schultz

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Katey Schultz weaves a story of three people's lives using an Afghanistan War thread. The reader finds Aaseya, Nathan, and Rahim not happy with their circumstances. It's easy to understand Aaseya's dismay after all members of her family are murdered. Forced at fourteen years old to marry Rahim, she is unable to have children. She is shamed by Rahim's family and villagers. Prevented from completing her education, her life is at a dead end.

The reader is not told why—after six years in the Army National Guard and completing his fourth deployment—Nathan remains a second lieutenant. He loves leading his men. His men are loyal to him. The mission is paramount. Nathan's unhappiness stems from following orders which he does not fully understand. Lamenting the loss of his men haunts Nathan as he questions his actions in combat. Nathan's battlefield focus is interrupted with thoughts of home and family.

Rahim presents himself as a brick maker. He is paid by the Taliban warlords for his services. He resents Aaseya's independence and yearns for a family. He does not like the Taliban but enjoys the money working with them brings. There are no other opportunities for Rahim in his village.

Supporting characters bring Schultz's story to life. Rahim's sidekick Badria believes he is a worthy warrior and wants to please the Taliban. Rahim's sister Shanaz is scornful of Aaseya and was instrumental in Aaseya's family being targeted by the Taliban.

Nathan's men, each quirky in their own way, have their own problems to overcome. Nathan's wife Tenley and daughter Cissy move in and out of the story, letting Nathan explore the love of what he does on the battlefield and the love he craves at home.

Ghazel, age six, a mute unkempt street urchin, gives hope to Aaseya. Aaseya sees a way out of her miserable life by adopting Ghazel. Ghazel is the glue that brings Aaseya and Rahim together. This family unit allows Nathan to do something he feels good about in his quest to find meaning on the battlefield. Helping Aaseya's family escape to a better life brings purpose to Nathan's life. Nathan returns home and finds the love that is waiting for him.

 Review by Frank Taylor (May 2020)

---

Author's Synopsis

When the odds are stacked against you, doing everything right still might not be enough to protect yourself and the ones you love. The three characters in Katey Schultz’s novel are each searching for the best way to be, the best way to live—all the while fighting cultural, societal, and political forces far beyond their control. As their paths intersect over the span of three days, Still Come Home explores how their decisions will forever alter each other’s lives.

 Aaseya, an ambitious, educated Afghan girl, struggles to walk the line between social disgrace and faith that her hometown of Imar can unharden and heal. Though she cannot bear her older husband, Rahim, a child, and she suspects her sister-in-law played a part in her family’s murder, Aaseya maintains self-reliance and dignity by rebelling against the misogyny and violence surrounding her.

Second Lieutenant Nathan Miller blames himself for the death of a soldier under his command and worries that his constant absence from his North Carolina home has permanently damaged his marriage. 

When Rahim learns that the Taliban, whom he reluctantly works for, are hatching a violent plan, conflicting loyalties to country, to enduring peace, and to his young wife take all three down a road that will change their lives forever.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1627202312
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 250

The Big Buddha Bicycle Race by Terence Harkin

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

It's 1970, years before the Vietnam War would actually end, and Brendan Leary has a problem. He wants to live in California and go to film grad school, but he's snagged by the draft. Because he has a film background, the Air Force puts him in a combat film unit not in Vietnam, but in Thailand. That location and the comparatively benign Air Force assignment seem like they'd be an easy gig. But things quickly go downhill from there in Vietnam veteran Terence A. Harkin's The Big Buddha Bicycle Race.

Leary quickly gets used to the laid-back Thai vibe, in large measure because film pals from his former stateside unit have also been assigned to the Thailand photo unit due to their vindictive first sergeant. They face terror when riding out in AC-130 Spectre gunships to film attacks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail and face social challenges decompressing in the Thai bars. Growing recreational drug use doesn't deflect the eventual horrors of the shooting war that are visited upon them in their combat backwater.

The titular Big Buddha Bicycle Race was devised as an inter-squadron competition to raise bags of cash for Leary and his co-conspirators, but by the end of the novel the bike race has devolved into a bloody ambush that kills friends and foes, American airmen, and Thai civilians alike. It's how Leary and his friends live their lives along the way that brings home much of the tragedy that bleeds at the end.

This work is a brilliant companion to the most iconic depictions of life in a war zone, including Joseph Heller's Catch-22, Robert Altman's film M*A*S*H, and Barry Levinson's Good Morning, Vietnam. It depicts the sharply drawn characters, daily work drudgery, combat tragedies, political posturing, and the social upheaval of Americans in Southeast Asia in the heady days before the fall.

The Big Buddha Bicycle Race is smart, detailed, compelling, and occasionally heart-rending, and would make a completely legitimate entry in the canon as a movie.

Review by Daniel Charles Ross (April 2020) 

---

Author's Synopsis

It’s all working according to plan.  The draft might be keeping me, Brendan  Leary, from going to film school, but I’m getting to ride out the Vietnam War making training films in sunny California with pals like Tom Wheeler, a laid-back pothead, and hipster production officers like Lieutenant Moonbeam Liscomb, a charismatic Air Force Academy boxing champ turned vegetarian Zen Buddhist.  When Wheeler and I impulsively join local coeds protesting Nixon’s invasion of Cambodia, First Sergeant Link summarily ships us off to the Rat Pack, a photo outfit stuck at obscure Ubon Air Base on the Thai-Laotian frontier. Danielle, an artist I met at a candlelight peace march, promises to wait for me even though she’s already lost a husband in Vietnam.   

Too quickly, I adapt to an air-conditioned editorial trailer and nights off base filled with drugs, rock ‘n’ roll and a growing interest in an exotic masseuse named Tukadah.  Playing drums in a blues band with a Spectre door gunner named Harley Baker, I fiddle while Laos burns and my commitment to Danielle begins to dim. Ubon might be in the middle of an air war that rages all over Southeast Asia, but my motley mates are determined to keep our heads down—until Liscomb, now a radical black nationalist, shows up and talks us into one more peace march.  

Moonbeam is arrested and I am reassigned—thanks again to Sergeant Link.  The Rat Pack needs cameramen: Liscomb and I are soon flying nightmarish nighttime combat over the Ho Chi Minh Trail with hard-nosed Baker flying along as my guardian angel.  When it’s rumored that Nixon and Kissinger are headed for China to meet Chairman Mao, we figure the war must be winding down. I dream up a bicycle race to the Big Buddha monastery as a wholesome distraction for Ubon’s airmen—and a way for me and my buddies to make a quick buck.  We get the brass on board by promising ambitious officers a last chance to put some feathers in their caps before a screwed-up war grinds to a halt. At Big Buddha I’m surprised to learn that two Americans—a former Peace Corps volunteer and an ex-USAF forward air control pilot—now live as monks at a wat on the other side of Ubon.

The band breaks up and I begin teaching night school to a class that includes the demure Miss Pawnsiri and Tukadah’s half-brother, Sergeant Prasert.  Discovering Tukadah is engaged to one airman, married to another stationed in Korea, and nursing a heroin habit doesn’t deter me from figuring I’m the guy who can straighten her out.  When Tukadah’s husband flees with her young daughter, however, she’s devastated and disappears. I try to commiserate with her brother, buying him a drink at a club filled with GIs and Thai bar girls.  Prasert disappears, and my old friend Wheeler insists the sergeant is part of the terrorist group that tried to assassinate the governor of Ubon province.  

I blame Wheeler’s paranoia on too much ganja.  With the race snowballing, Liscomb and I are made lead cameramen on the official documentary, an assignment that reminds us why we love making movies.  The start of the Big Buddha Bicycle Race is glorious—a thousand entrants from every unit on the base mean tens of thousands of dollars for the Syndicate.  Across the river, Tukadah has nearly OD’d while spending the night at Papa-sahn’s opium den. She survives, dragging herself away to find me and stop her brother, but she‘s too late.  The race ends in a bloody ambush led by Prasert, catching me and Tukadah in a crossfire. Liscomb, who has been filming from a Jolly Green, braves a hail of bullets to rescue us, only to have Tukadah die in my arms.  Lying in my hospital bed, I can hear Baker’s unit taking off, plane after plane. One of their gunners has been killed and he will be avenged.

ISBN/ASIN: Paperback 978-0-8040-1200-3, Hardcover 978-0-8040-1199-0, Electronic 978-0-8040-4090-7
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 400

render by W. Joseph O'Connell

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

The story of war is not new. The story of PTSD is not new. In this story, it is the treatment that is new.

The first three quarters of the story enfolds around Iraq and the tanker unit whose mission it is to sniff out IEDs. The language is crisp, full of military detail about the dry, dusty life in a foreign land full of insurgents trying to destroy American forces. The primary setting involves the blasting heat of the desert and cramped tent camps, with forays into enemy territory where some of the locals are friendlies. In the fourth quarter of the story, we see what happens to those who survived and went back home. The language shifts into a beautiful prose that allows us to see more of the internal workings of the characters. The setting moves into a lush scenario of rivers, trees, farms, and stimulating cityscapes. Here, we begin to experience PTSD with bits of hope strewn in.

The title of the story is render. The definition of render is to provide or give a service or to cause to be or become. This becomes meaningful when the story is finished. When finished with the book, it might seem to be another PTSD story. But the story lingers and haunts us. Questions come up. Why is the story titled render? Why were our soldiers in Iraq? What kind of person becomes a soldier? Who are the bad guys? How does one get PTSD? Slowly we see how the story is about how the military, or a country, can ask a person to give a service and then, render that person into something different. Then, we aren’t sure any more what is right and wrong. The story does not feature the happy ending we want, but an ending we come to understand.
The characters are described more than developed. We don’t get to deeply know the characters while they are in Iraq. We only get to know them as their character relates to the military. We learn a little more when the characters return home. We can never truly say we know the characters, but in accordance with the theme of render, we understand how they came to be. It’s an enduring and universal story that I will remember for a long time.

Review by Gail Summers (June 2020)

---

Author's Synopsis

 The Surge ramped up as summer crawled along, one grueling day at a time. Criminal activity remained high in Baghdad despite efforts by American commanders to provide steadfast coverage over their assigned areas. IED attacks had become the enemy’s standard procedure in the aftermath of the catastrophic hit against Baja Company. Day by day, junior officers received their orders, briefed their soldiers, and embarked on mounted and dismounted patrols in search of the enemy. Daytime temperatures soared, and the Americans became entrenched in a battle of wills against their adversaries as well as the unrelenting heat. With an IED seemingly on every street in Baghdad, it's a battle of attrition between the Army and an invisible enemy as they both vie for control of Iraq's capital city.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1657295674, 1657295672
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 208

Navajo Strong by Joyce Phillips

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Navajo Strong is a short book, a quick read with a long-lasting emotional impact. Its single plot line details the coming together of three women related by blood ties but separated by time and distance, by misunderstandings and clashing cultures. We know their names, but the author follows Navaho traditions by referring to them primarily as they see themselves—Grandmother, Mother, Daughter.

Each of these women has a lesson to teach us. Grandmother has faced the greatest challenges but found a way to surmount them. Her openness to learning about new cultures and exploring far-off lands makes her a delight. Mother struggles with long-held assumptions, contradicted by new revelations. And Daughter, a sparkling 13-year-old, stands in the doorway to the future, encouraging the reader to look ahead to the benefits of the modern world while giving full recognition to the treasures of the past.

I enjoyed this work, seeing it as almost a parable. I read it quickly, taking some delight in the author’s ability to catch the linguistic phrasings of characters whose first language was Navajo or Chinese. The differences between cultures revealed their underlying similarities and gave me hope for the future.  

Review by Carolyn Schriber (March 2020)

---

Author's Synopsis

I have always loved reading, and now I say I learned to write from the greats. I began my writing career three years ago at age 77 with a memoir for my family. An interest in my backpacking trip to China resulted in my first fiction story, China Strong. A story of a retired school teacher traveling in China. A year later, my volunteer time in New Mexico, brought about Navajo Strong.

Navajo Strong is a fiction story of three women, and the connection between a grandmother and her Navajo granddaughter. The story of a daughter discovering her mother, and the Navajo man who brought them together.

ISBN/ASIN: soft cover: 9781095190371. B07RY5QFGL
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 210

Alone In The Light by Benjamin W. Bass

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
The first thing that grabs the reader is the use of two first-person narrators, which allows us to see and feel opposing perspectives of the story. These narrators are equally strong and emerge as equally developed characters. Yet the narrator voices are distinct and believable with one male and one female. They are so believable we must remind ourselves this is fiction. Through the male narrator Josh, the author allows us to experience his PTSD without frill or melodrama. It’s not pretty, it’s sometimes brutal, but it’s real and alive in our face. Through the female narrator Mary, we experience the impact of Josh’s new reality on others. It’s also not pretty, but it’s so human that we relate and cry and get mad and become irritated just as Mary does.

Supporting characters are well done also: Josh’s brother Bill who loves in spite of Josh’s spite, the fragility of friend Tim, the quirkiness of temporary girlfriend Carrie, the coldness of the moms, the warmth of Mary’s dad, the inhumanity of Adam the dick and even the concern of Charlotte the art teacher. Every character in the story brings depth to the story and adds a different perspective, adds complexity.

The next thing that grabs us are the worlds colliding. The author starts with how the world changes for Josh and Mary after Josh loses his leg. Then we see how the world changes for people after seeing combat and how their former worlds back home do not. We see how the military world, especially that of a wounded vet, careens into the civilian world of holiday dinners and parties. We come to live in the internal worlds of Josh and Mary as they struggle to make sense of what is and is not happening. This collision of worlds is perfectly accentuated by the shifting back and forth between the voices of two narrators, the time of both past and present, and the locations of Indiana and Iraq. Sometimes this shifting is confusing. The author uses subheadings to help us keep track of who is talking and where we are.

The craft of the story is subtle, simple beauty. The Prologue is sheer poetry with its details of the mundane, to the horror of getting blown up, to the emergence of a new world: “I open my mouth and it is filled with the saltwater tang of the blackness flooding me. I feel like I am drowning. I fear I am dead. There is a light. It is everywhere. It is all around me. I am alone.” This imagery of light emerges throughout in different contexts.

The writing remains honest, straightforward, and fluid—no straining after metaphors, no overwriting. This might be one of the best books about a post-traumatic reaction. It's a powerful story, compelling, wrenching, and finally uplifting.

Review by Gail Summers (February 2020)

---

Author's Synopsis

6,000 miles away from the explosion in Iraq that took his leg, Josh Carpenter struggles to reclaim his former life as a college student. Mary Fischer, a civilian for the first time in years, strikes out on her own to create a new, independent life away from the army, and her controlling mother. The last time Josh saw Mary, his National Guard unit was leaving Camp Wolf, headed north to the war in Iraq. The last time Mary saw Josh, he was unconscious, covered in blood, and headed for a hospital in Germany. On the campus of Indiana University, Josh and Mary's paths move ever closer to a reunion that could help ease the nightmares and heal old wounds... or make them worse.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-7332786-0-7, 978-1-7332786-1-4
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 340

Seven Wings to Glory by Kathleen M. Rodgers

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review
Author Kathleen Rodgers has gotten her writing wings—this book flies and soars with great storytelling that is both entertaining and inspiring. She takes the storyline and weaves into it just enough mystical stuff to make the book sing and dance. Seven Wings to Glory, which is the author's third novel, is also her best to date. She has been growing her literary talent and is flying with the best of novelists.

She takes on the subject of racism and hate but doesn't pound the reader with a long lecture; she takes us down a more compassionate road that feels like a happy ending and a new understanding, thus giving a negative character a chance at redemption so that all of us can cheer the life lessons involved.

Her lead character Johnnie Kitchen is not a perfect cookie-cutter heroine. She has some flaws. She is a human being and that makes the story work even better. The book will make you smile at times, cry a lot, ponder the meaning of life, but always entertain you. Loved this book! I fully recommend this to all adult readers. Both men and women will enjoy this masterfully told from the heart story.

Review by Bill McDonald (February 2020)
 

Author's Synopsis

Johnnie Kitchen is finally living her dream, attending college and writing a column for the local paper. She adores her husband Dale and chocolate Labrador Brother Dog, and they reside in a comfortable home in the small town of Portion in North Texas. Their three children are thriving and nearly grown. But Johnnie is rattled when her youngest boy Cade goes to fight in Afghanistan. The less frequent his emails, the more she frets for his safety. On the home front, Johnnie learns that Portion is not the forward-thinking town she believed. A boy Cade’s age, inflamed by a liberal bumper sticker and the sight of Johnnie’s black friend Whit, attacks them with the N-word and a beer bottle. After Johnnie writes about the incident in her column, a man named Roosevelt reaches out with shameful stories from Portion’s untold history. More tears and triumphs will follow, as Johnnie’s eyes are opened to man’s capacity for hate and the power of love and forgiveness. The sequel to Johnnie Come Lately.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN-13: 978-1603815994, ASIN: B06XPQ5SKF, ISBN-13: 978-1432844806 (library binding large print)
Book Format(s): Soft cover, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 304

Living Waters by Ed Waldrop

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

In Living Waters, by Ed Waldrop, the main character’s family was not rich, nor were they even very happy. AJ McClellan’s childhood was scarred by traumatic incidents. But AJ lived in the Low Country of South Carolina, and when things got bad, he took his dog and his fishing rod and sat on a dock—feet dangling above the water, watching the slow but constant ebb and flow of the tides in the marsh, smelling the distinctive odor of pluff mud, watching the sunrise and set, feeling the soft warmth of the air, and listening to the songs of birds soaring over the living waters. He was content, strong, confident—a strapping young man with a promising future.

But then came 9/11, and that boy went straight from high school into the Army to help defend his country—because that’s the kind of young man he had become. He spent six years in the Army, two of them in Iraq. The senseless destruction, the horrible sights of blood and gore, the stark fear that at any moment an explosion might turn him into a pile of stinking entrails—all those experiences changed him. He came home, whole in body but damaged in both mind and spirit. He wandered aimlessly through the southern states, unable to hold a job, given to flashbacks and nightmares, ridden with guilt and uncontrollable anger. Life seemed pointless.

His PTSD was not a condition easily remedied. It took a family death to bring AJ back to the Low Country. And there, slowly, the combined efforts of an understanding pastor, a beautiful woman who refused to give up on him, two rambunctious and doting dogs, and the slow, soothing rhythms of the living waters combined to ease his torment and helped him to rediscover the young man he thought had been destroyed forever.

This is a well-written and heart-wrenching book written by an author who understands the appeal of the Low Country. Readers who know something of South Carolina will be homesick; those who have never visited will be planning a trip. But more importantly, the author provides an intimate understanding of the tormented perceptions of a veteran returning from a devastating war. He offers an important message, one that will linger with readers long after they turn the final page.

Review by Carolyn Schriber (August 2019)

---

Author's Synopsis

Living Waters is the story of AJ McClellan, born in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. He was raised and nurtured along her creeks and waterways. Tragic events in AJ’s young life tested him deeply, but it was the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York City that moved him to action. Determined to serve in his country’s defense, AJ joined the Army right out of high school, eventually doing two combat tours in Iraq. He would later leave the Army a broken man, emotionally and spiritually. He lived a vacant life in central Texas until an unexpected death in the family brought him home and began a redemptive journey for him of new life, new love, and new hope.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 9781641111171, ASIN B07GX1593B (Kindle)
Book Format(s): Hard cover, Soft cover, Kindle, ePub/iBook
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 302 

Job 2.0 by Del Staecker

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Patterned loosely after the Book of Job, which was written three millennia ago, Job 2.0 by Del Staecker is a charming and engaging tale of the struggle between “good” and “not good.” Using contemporary language and situations, Lucifer asks God for a rematch after failing to compromise Job’s faith so long ago. Choosing Jake, an ordinary man, Lucifer unleashes all hell into Jake’s life and leaves him with nothing. His friends from his fast-pitch softball team, the Misguided Saints, rally around Jake to expound on their own versions of truth. From the book, Lucifer’s response is: “I love these guys. They focus on my kind of stuff—half-baked ideas born out of copious alcohol consumption.” Jake does not slam the door on God, but continues to question and search. In an interesting twist, Lucifer brings Jake relief and his heart’s desires in an effort to distract him from seeking God. 

The deceptively breezy dialogue and cleverly simple situations contain nuanced truths that I found to be, quite simply, mind-boggling. Somehow Staecker manages to couch theological concepts in words that we humans can contemplate and—dare I say?—enjoy. Of particular note, God’s “character” was enlightening. Whether you are a spiritual person or not, this book will tug at heartstrings you may not even know you have.  

Review by Betsy Beard (June 2019)

---

Author's Synopsis

God and Lucifer are at it again! More than three millennia after their first contest, the Creator of the Universe and his highest errant minion are struggling a second time over the fate of a single soul. What does this rematch mean - for you? Perfect for believers, seekers, and questioners of all ages, Job 2.0 answers the question of the meaning of life through humor and wisdom that is both entertaining and deeply profound.

ISBN/ASIN: ISBN 978-0-310107583 (paperback); ISBN 978-0-310107590 (ebook)
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 67

To Any Soldier: A Novel of Vietnam Letters by Kathryn Watson Quigg and G.C. Hendricks

Click on cover to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Two innocent lives are brought together in a war-inspired love affair through a letter addressed to “Any Soldier,” tacked to a bulletin board in a combat ready-room. The reader is drawn into a titillating experience reading personal revelations in private letters from a 23-year-old Marine Corps pilot. Moved by monotonous routine, he unpins and reads the letter out of boredom and curiosity. Lieutenant Jay Fox lives day to day at the incompetence of unseen enemy gunners, identified only by the character of their barrage attempting to destroy him and his A-6 Intruder before his bombs obliterate the “gooks.” He lives each dreary day to maybe die each night. Squadron mates do. Dullness through a daily routine prevails until he thoughtfully answers obviously silly questions from an innocent 19-year-old college student. Hesitantly, guardedly, an exchange begins. Ashley Beth Justice suffers the difficulties encountered away from home the first time. She writes about problems, and delights, in dealing with college roommates and routines experienced by a first-year college student having known and experienced little outside her rural South home.

At first, letters are innocent and probing. Then subtly over months, nearly every subject of life is explored, from the sharing sadness of losing a favored pet to questioning the war and politics. Flirtation, sex, and love intrude. Writing in increasingly personal levels, each writer elevates the other’s maturity and awareness in life. Respect and trust emerge. Frivolity and flights of silly imagination lighten gloomier thoughts and fears. Despite his conservative leanings and her staunch liberal attitude, each begins to understand life in grander perspective through understanding the other. Slight misunderstandings in expressed words or phrases create tensions as their relationship sometimes wavers, however, always to strengthen and grow—like a couple in a long-term affair. The ending is both surprising and understandable.

Descriptions of combat and life as a Marine Corps pilot in Vietnam are without flaw, obviously coming first-hand. Life as an emerging young woman away from home for the first time is authentic. Both voices ring true in language and tone through all topics.

The book’s presentation is somewhat unique with letters from Jay Fox printed out in faux typewriter font and Ashley Beth’s in computer-generated cursive font. This reality along with flawlessly spelled and formatted letters did bring forth some consternation when there appeared no strikeovers, errors, or corrections, as one would expect in real letters. Cursive also may offer some reading difficulty for young readers no longer taught cursive. A minor flaw was the author’s choice to combine both a literary fiction with military history with the inclusion of actual photos of individuals who were the foundation of the letters along with supplemental information on the real letter writers.

Unpinning a letter “To Any Soldier” from the bulletin board begins a delightful love story.

Review by Tom Beard (May 2019)

---

Author's Synopsis

In 1968 Jay Fox is a young marine attack pilot in Vietnam and Ashley Beth Justice is a college freshman in North Carolina when they meet each other by chance, through letters.

Ashley Beth, naïve and totally separated from the Vietnam War, begins her letter-writing as a way to personally contribute to the war effort. Having recently moved away from her small hometown, she's beginning to see the world from a new perspective.

Jay, in the midst of bombing runs each evening, has purposefully distanced himself from any close relationships, but there's something about Ashley Beth's innocent and forthright manner that compels him to answer her letters.

The reality of the war hits home for Ashley Beth when Jay describes his plane almost colliding with another after a dangerous bombing run. The stakes are higher now—the disagreements, more intense; the flirtations, more significant.

Even amid the bloodshed in Vietnam and the civil unrest at home, Jay and Ashley Beth dare to dream of a life together while struggling to understand the war and themselves in To Any Soldier. 

ISBN/ASIN: ASIN: B00TKTE6UM (Kindle) ISBN-10: 1505206448 ISBN-13: 978-1505206449 (soft cover)
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 264

Across the Inlet by Gail Summers

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Across the Inlet by Gail Summers is a novel for today. As baby boomers age to the point where they must address the care of their elderly and ill parents, this novel shines an unapologetically realistic light on family dynamics and end-of-life issues. Admittedly, the family in the novel is more dysfunctional than most, but their interactions show the range of emotional responses and reactions that we all might experience. The characters drive the novel, and the ensemble is well developed and believable.

I especially like the way the author reveals the individuals’ backgrounds as the novel wears on, rather than dumping it all in the first few chapters. It’s a sophisticated way to deal with the varying motives and past experiences, shifting loyalties and agonizing separations. And it demonstrates how we can at the same time both love and hate our family members. Also impressive is the author’s choice to use first person point of view and present tense. It places the reader squarely in the middle of the drama and gives a sense of immediacy and intimacy that allows readers to share the characters’ emotions. The author used dialogue and email correspondence as well as first person observations of the narrator to develop and reveal the other characters, so I never felt that the narrator violated the mandate that she only share the things she could know.

The novel is organized chronologically, dating each entry as the narrator’s stepfather progresses slowly from life to death. The use of flashback, sometimes sudden and startling, mimics the way our minds cannot easily focus on the present when the present is painful and difficult. I had a hard time putting this book down because I was never sure where the next page would take me. I also found the choice of setting to be significant. The backdrop of the beauty of Alaska’s natural features contrasted sharply with the psychological angst of the characters, showing that we can appreciate beauty even when we are in pain and that nature can bring respite in times of despair. Although I have yet to travel to our 49th state, this novel put Alaska higher on my list of places to go. 

Review by Betsy Beard (July 2019)

---

Author's Synopsis

Anger is easier than forgiveness—but at what cost? There’s much Abby has tried to forget in her life, including her biological father who, besides crueler things, labeled her a “dumbass girl.” Her stepdad, Bill, on the other hand, Abby doesn’t ever want to forget. So when her sister Aurora informs her that he only has days to live, Abby hops on a plane to Alaska. But Aurora lied. While Bill is dying, his is a lingering death, the wearisome kind marked by bedsores and soiled sheets. As days turn into weeks, Abby discovers that, among other things, Aurora has been stealing money from their parents, and her anger begins to harden into hatred. Although Abby’s central desire is to protect Bill from needless suffering, the discord between her and her sisters threatens to destroy the peace she longs to offer him. Thus begins the The Alyeska Saga and the beginning of a transformative journey set in the mysterious land across the inlet of Cook Inlet, Alaska.

ISBN/ASIN: ASIN: B00TKTE6UM (Kindle) ISBN-10: 1505206448 ISBN-13: 978-1505206449 (soft cover)
Book Format(s): Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 264 

The Mayor of Successive Miracles by Hamlin Tallent, author; Dell Putnam, editor; and Steve Collins, contributor

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Mayor of Successive Miracles was riveting and fast-paced. As a career naval officer myself, I probably related more to the subject material and the characters than most, but I still think it's a story that anyone interested in the military and military history would find very entertaining. The US Navy is an organization steeped in enormous talent, but like all large, bureaucratic organizations, there are anomalous characters that somehow defy the norms. I knew officers very much like the main character, who "succeeded" in the system with guile, cunning, and blind good luck—as opposed to the expected character traits of hard work, talent, courage, and superior leadership. Hamlin Tallent , a retired Navy admiral, knows his material. And his vast knowledge of ships, aircraft, systems, and strategy comes through extremely well. At times, there is an overload of detail on Navy terminology, for the unaccustomed reader, but it doesn't really distract from the main story line. Tallent also does an excellent job of weaving in the actual timelines and historic events of his plot with the characters he has manufactured.

Review by Phil Keith (May 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.

---

 Author's Synopsis

 Jack Grant is a total ass. He rises to fame as a MIG killer over the skies of Iraq and his success leads him to command the Navy's premier aerial combat school, TOPGUN. But, things go awry and the Navy sends him to the Pentagon. The TAILHOOK scandal nips at him. Jack survives a shoot-out with Saddam's thugs in the wilds of Iraq and is given command of a Navy air wing. He miraculously emerges as a hero from every tight spot. But Jack is haunted by his dying wife and by the growing realization that his is a terrible husband, selfish friend, lousy pilot, and an absolute fraud. Jack seeks answers and forgiveness and, just maybe, a final mission against Iran will provide both.

ISBN/ASIN: 9781731038623
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 424

Descent: The Forty Days After the Crucifixion of Jesus by D.S. Lliteras

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

This simple story takes place during the first forty days after the crucifixion of Jesus. Jeshua and Flaccus are both on the run from Roman authorities when they take refuge with a community of Christian disciples. The two refugees, who understand that in Judea any new truth is dangerous, find the views of the disciples confusing. The believers speak of one story, but their listeners hear two different meanings. One sees a struggle for power while the other recognizes a commentary on the inherent nature of people. Christians cannot even seem to agree on the fundamental nature of Jesus. Was he a prophet, a rabbi, the Son of Man, or the Son of God?

Are their beliefs a political or a religious threat to the authorities?

Anyone who has read other works by D. S. Lliteras will recognize his riveting literary style. Descent is a thin volume. Its chapters may be long or as short as a half page, but each offers a single scene, titled by a simple phrase from the text. The sentences are short and direct: “A hungry dog growled.” “A man climbed the stairs.” “An owl hooted.” The vocabulary is simple.

But the ideas! Ah, the ideas spiral up and away, leading readers to perceive several different languages, taking them far beyond the events on the printed page.

In short, Lliteras has written a parable. He tells a fictitious story that serves as a protective shell for a moral lesson or a religious conviction. His words inspire rather than declare. They transform his listeners rather than dictating to them. He suggests an interpretation rather than demanding one. On the day of Pentecost, when tongues of fire descend upon the disciples enabling them to receive a Gift of the Spirit, the two refugees will hear two very different messages—and so will the readers of Descent.

Review by Carolyn Schriber (May 2019)

---

Author's Synopsis

Descent is about Jesus' resurrection and ascension that preceded the descent of the spirit―an event that purportedly made saints of ordinary men and women. This is the historical setting and the spiritual landscape upon which two outsiders intruded: Flaccus, a Roman Legionnaire and deserter, and Jeshua, a Judean healer and rogue. Both men are wanted by the Roman Empire and both men manage to hide within a community of disciples. While they evade Rome's authority, each man responds to this evolving faith in a dramatically different way.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-937907-58-7
Book Format: Soft cover
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 197

San Francisco Review of Books—“One of the many aspects of Lliteras' writing is the style in which he places words on a page. His dialogue among his characters is set in the usual novel format but each very short chapter stuns, and opens the window for the next. Moving away from his novels about war and Vietnam in particular (and if you have not read them, do!), Descent takes us into the realm of spiritual aspects of Christianity in a manner that places us wholly in the framework of the significance of the concept of the crucifixion and resurrection and ascension and descent of the Holy Spirit in a manner that is revelatory to all people. This is another work by D.S. Lliteras that provokes a stringent “YES!” from the reader. He sees the world as few are able, and shares the meaning of feeling with us. Quite simply, this is a brilliant little novel—especially for those who struggle with the concept of sainthood and how it happens.”

http://www.sanfranciscoreviewofbooks.com/2019/01/book-review-descent-forty-days-after.html

Booklist—“Fans of Lliteras's earlier novels will enjoy the fast pace of Descent and his insistence of portraying ordinary people.”

The VVA Veteran—“Descent is an exciting return to Lliteras' biblical series. In it, Danny Lliteras shows off his skills with military fiction, and the result is another fine, poetic and spiritual novel. You can feel drama and tension on every page. The military language works well to increase the tensions I felt in the pit of the stomach. I recommend this novel to fans of Lliteras’ biblical books and his military books. He has produced another winner.”

Descent by D.S. Lliteras https://vvabooks.wordpress.com/category/fiction/

D.S. Lliteras is the author of fourteen books that have received national and international acclaim. His short stories and poetry have appeared in magazines, journals, and anthologies. He was an FMF Corpsman & Combat Diver in the U.S. Marine Corps, a Diving & Salvage Officer in the U.S. Navy, and a professional Firefighter in the Norfolk (VA) Fire Department.—https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D._S._Lliteras

Ist RECON ASSOCIATION: Descent—Sylables of Rain—Viet Man—Flames and Smoke Visible—In A Warrior's Romance

http://1streconbn.org/books.html

Additional Literary Acclaim About D.S. Lliteras:

Best Biblical Novels on Amazon—http://www.junglefind.com/historical-fiction/best-biblical-novels/

The Thieves of Golgotha

“Best Biblical Novel on Amazon.”—Jungle Find 2016

“Startling, surprisingly successful.”—Booklist

“Thought-provoking...Recommended.”—Library Journal

“A sympathetic fictional portrait.”—Publishers Weekly

“A tough, vivid, extraordinary novel.”—Christian Fiction, A Guide to the Genre

Judas the Gentile

“Best Biblical Novel on Amazon.”—Jungle Find 2016

“Top 10 Christian Novel 2000. Subtle, provocative.”—Booklist

“A true work of enduring literature.”—Wisconsin Bookwatch

“So honest and elemental it seems like the truth.”—Christian Fiction, A Guide to the Genre

Jerusalem's Rain

“Great achievement.”—Booklist

“Best Genre Fiction 2003. Outstanding biblical novel.”—Library Journal

“A new look at Peter and his anguish.”—Publishers Weekly

The Silence of John

“Outstanding. Highly recommended.”—Library Journal

“Lliteras sees in women the best humankind has to offer.”—Booklist

“Explores the loyalty and sacrifice of Jesus' female disciples”—Publishers Weekly

The Master of Secrets

“Best Genre Fiction 2007. Mesmerizing story of faith.”—Library Journal

“Lliteras again delivers an imaginary gripping story.”—Publishers Weekly

“Lliteras continues his chronicles of crucifixion...Charming tale.”—Booklist

“Beautifully written. Highly recommended.”—Church Libraries Magazine

“Lliteras answers questions his novel raises with literary skill.”—Presbyterians Today

 “Occasionally the text reads like a parable.”—CBS Retailer+Resources

Fight by Betsy Ross

Click on cover image to purchase a copy

MWSA Review

Fight is a novel about a group of soldiers struggling with fitting into the civilian world after deployment in the Middle East. Back in the United States, the characters reveal their stories, told mostly through Leslie and John, about why and how they are struggling with life back at home. The reader learns of each one’s war experience through the characters’ internal thoughts and flashbacks. 

The veterans help each other cope with their demons as they take advantage of counseling offered by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Their resistance to group therapy comes through, although they do help each other cope with tragic suicides and survivor’s guilt.

They grow to rely on each other for healing and moving forward with their lives, understanding that it will take time and they will always be there for each other.

Review by Patricia Walkow (April 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 visual.  This normally indicates a need for further editing.

---

Author's Synopsis

 Leslie and John both served in the Army and crossed paths under unfortunate events. Now that they are out, they are having to readapt to civilian life and it's not as easy as what they were originally told. However, they find out how important it is to stay close with their fellow Veterans who have different backgrounds and stories, but they all share one thing: adapting to their old life as a civilian isn't as easy as it looks.

ISBN/ASIN: 1641663197, B077WLQ3RD
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 97