MWSA Member

Title: Tainted Dawn: The Great War
Author: B.N. Peacock
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Edward Kelly

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1611792126

August 1789. The Rights of Man. Liberty. Equality. Idealism. Patriotism. A new age dawns. And yet, old hostilities persist: England and Spain are on the brink of war. France, allied by treaty with Spain, readies her warships.

Three youths - the son of an English carpenter, the son of a naval captain, and the son of a French court tailor - meet in London, a chance encounter that entwines their lives ever after. The English boys find themselves on the same frigate bound for the Caribbean.

The Frenchman sails to Trinidad, where he meets an even more zealous Spanish revolutionary. As diplomats in Europe race to avoid conflict, war threatens to explode in the Caribbean, with the three youths pitted against each other. Will the dawn of the boys' young manhood remain bright with hope? Or will it become tainted with their countrymen's spilled blood? "...compelling characters and an exciting plot... Much like the Hornblower series

Title: That Time, That Place, That War
Author: Margaret Brown
Genre: History
Reviewer: Marcia Sargent

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): B0060LXHH6

THAT TIME, THAT PLACE, THAT WAR by Margaret Brown is a book for every American's bookshelf, a book that reveals the Vietnam War, not as a war book or a political book--though it addresses both evenhandedly--but as a human book: a book of human life during war shown by those who fought. The author shares the code of Vietnam using the grunts' words, photos and poetry. Her hope is that her book "unlocks the door that separates the soldiers who went to war from those who love them and from those who want to learn about history."

Title: FAHIM SPEAKS A Warrior-Actor's Odyssey from Afghanistan to Hollywood and Back
Author: Fahim Fazli
Genre: Memoir
Reviewer: Hodge Wood

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 978-0-9821670-7-6

Fahim Fazli is a man of two worlds: Afghanistan, the country of his birth, and America, the nation he adopted and learned to love. He’s also a man who escaped oppression, found his dream profession, and then paid it all forward by returning to Afghanistan as an interpreter with the U.S. Marines. When Fahim speaks, the story he tells is harrowing, fascinating, and inspiring. Born and raised in Kabul, Fahim saw his country and family torn apart by revolution and civil war. Dodging Afghan authorities and informers with his father and brother, Fahim made his way across the border to Pakistan and then to America. After reuniting with his mother, sisters, and another brother, he moved to California with dreams of an acting career. After 15 turbulent years that included two unsuccessful arranged marriages to Afghan brides, he finally qualified for membership in the Screen Actors Guild—and found true American love. Though Fahim's California life was happy and rewarding, he kept thinking about the battlefields of Afghanistan. Haunted by a desire to serve his adopted country, he became a combat linguist. While other interpreters opted for safe assignments, Fahim chose one of the most dangerous: working with the Leathernecks in embattled Helmand Province, where his outgoing personality and deep cultural understanding made him a favorite of both Marines and local Afghans—and a pariah to the Taliban, who put a price on his head. Fahim Speaks is an inspiring story of perseverance and patriotism—and of the special love that one man developed for his adopted country.

Title: Rogue Crusader
Author: John R. Monteith
Genre: Fiction
Reviewer: Gail Chatfield

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0985044306

A hijacked Israeli submarine. An unprovoked attack against a U.S. Navy destroyer. A civilian oil tanker with a secret cargo of nuclear weapons. Together, they add up to an ingenious plan to penetrate the ballistic missile defense of the United States. Standing in the path of destruction is a crew of mercenary submarine sailors, led by ex-U.S. naval officer, Jake Slate. Exiled for crimes that should have earned him a military execution, Slate is not anyone’s idea of a hero. But he’s all we’ve got….