Literary

Title: A Quest for Skye
Author: John Rothdiener
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewer: Joe Epley

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0985252332

Doctors Morgan and Tammy Hamilton take a vacation from their pediatric clinic in Saint Paul, Minnesota to board a cruise ship for the Caribbean. Devastated by Tammy’s third miscarriage and the news that she will never be able to bear children, the couple hopes to use the fourteen day cruise to regain their emotional footing. But life has other plans for them.
Among the passengers is Skye, a nine-year old girl with an irrepressible spirit, and a passion for living that touches everyone around her. Infused with hope and a belief in a loving God, Skye becomes the daughter that the Hamiltons could never have.
But despite her open and honest nature, Skye is surrounded by ominous questions. Was the accident that killed her parents truly an accident? Or was it sabotage? Why are news reporters hounding this innocent child? What secrets are concealed in the laboratory clinic on the island of Kardia? The truth—if they ever find it—can bring a government to its knees, and thrust national power into the hands of men who will not hesitate to shed the blood of innocents.
The Hamiltons are drawn into a struggle to protect the little girl they’ve come to love. As everything they value begins slipping away from them, these hardnosed and pragmatic doctors suddenly find themselves praying for a miracle.
When the miracle comes, it’s not at all what Morgan and Tammy have in mind.
Because Skye has been praying too...

Title: Counting Coup: The Odyssey Of Captain Tom Adams
Author: Bob Stockton
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewer: Jim Greenwald

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1483606937

The story of the way west in the early nineteenth century was often a tale of danger, death and unspeakable suffering. The early trappers and mountain men forged the trails westward for the pioneers that followed and became part of the legend of the American West. Of this hardy breed of early venturers one name stands out above the rest: Kit Carson. Many stories of his bravery, often wildly exaggerated filled eastern bookshelves of the day.
How much of what was written was true and how much was fantasy? Cavalry officer Captain Tom Adams vowed to seek the truth behind the legend and along the way faced near shipwrecks, attempted assassinations, Indian massacres, murder, and torture in an odyssey that he never believed could have been possible.

Title: The Recipient's Son: A Novel of Honor
Author: Stephen Phillips
Genre: Literary Fiction
Reviewer: Betsy Beard

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1612511163

Set at the U.S. Naval Academy in the 1990s, this novel tells the story of a young man's struggle to come to terms with his legacy as the son of a war hero and with doubts about his own courage. Donald Durago's father was killed in the Vietnam War where his actions as a POW earned him the Medal of Honor. That honor provided Durago with an appointment to the Naval Academy, a benefit offered to all children of Medal of Honor recipients. But in his plebe year, Durago struggles under the burden of being worthy of his father s memory. With the help of Master Chief Strong, he begins to identify with his father s sacrifice, his own naval heritage, and Academy life. An incident in his senior year brings on terrifying nightmares that make Durago realize he has not completely dealt with his father s death. However, with the support of his roommate and a pretty JAG officer he finds the confidence to pursue a military career. The Recipient's Son is a stirring tale of a young man coming to grips with the heroism of his father and overcoming his self-doubts to accept the challenge of serving his country on his own terms.

An Academy graduate himself, author Stephen Phillips draws an intimate picture of life in the Yard as he examines the concepts of leadership, honor, service and personal sacrifice in the Navy. Readers of Phillips' award-winning first novel, Proximity, will find his new novel an equally authentic read.