Reviews of books by MWSA members. Reviews appear in reverse chronological order, with the most recent review posted appearing first.
Note: Some older reviews are being reposted to this site and those will appear out of order.
Title: A Heart Without Words
Author: David McDonald
Genre: Poetry
Reviewer: Cathryn J. Prince
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1471770885
This poetry deals with the emotions Soldiers and their loved ones must deal with in a myriad of situations. This poetry is much softer in nature to my previous work and is, I hope, easier on the reader for that.
Title: Mead's Trek
Author: Tom Gauthier
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: John Monteith
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0984663800
Marine Corps Major Amos Mead, a lawyer by education and a Special Agent for the FBI by trade, is recruited as an agent in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) in early 1943. His latest mission: Assess the level of cooperation among the factions conducting the war against the Empire of Japan in the Asian Theater of Operations. Known only to a few, additional orders direct Major Mead to seek out a powerful Asian leader and investigate the possibility of the Vice President of the United States being involved in secret negotiations with Vietnamese Communists for a post-war alliance.
En route to his assignment, unexpected life-threatening events befall Mead's team. The mission then takes on a new urgency—one of survival. Mead and his team are forced onto a trek in an enemy infested jungle that will test the limits of their mental toughness and physical endurance.
Title: Ghosts of Babylon
Author: R. A. Mathis
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Reviewer: Cathryn J. Prince
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1478130091
Set against a backdrop of escalating terror, Ghosts of Babylon is a fast-paced military thriller that features an intense, gritty, and powerful cast of characters. In a desperate attempt to salvage both his career and a wrecked personal life, archaeologist Stuart Knight volunteers to serve in Iraq as a translator, but his real objective is to get his hands on Babylon's ancient treasures. Once on the ground, he meets Captain Allen, a battalion intelligence officer determined to catch Al-Khayal, the insurgent who blew off his leg and annihilated his entire crew with an IED.
Entangled in the grisly web of Allen's private war, Knight's quest for redemption turns into a struggle for survival with deadly enemies on both sides of the wire. Stuart soon finds himself staring into the face of terror, his own mortality, and an evil as old as Babylon itself.
Title: Mistletoe, Merriment, and Murder
Author: Sara Rosett
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Reviewer: Betsy Beard
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0758269218
.Super organizer Ellie Avery could really use some Christmas cheer when Gabrielle Matheson, a grinchy professional rival, sets up shop in the same small Georgia town. But before the halls are even halfway decked with holly, someone uses Ellie's terrifically tasteless white elephant swap gift as ...a murder weapon! Ellie's now a suspect. Besides playing Mrs. Santa for her Air Force pilot husband and their two kids, shielding her eyes from the garishly over-decorated house down the street, and helping a client who's a hardcore hoarder, Ellie also has to solve this ho-ho-homicide ...and find a killer who wishes her a very deadly Christmas.
Title: A Thousand Letters Home
Author: Teresa K. Irish
Genre: History
Reviewer: Bob Doerr
ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 098395531X
After the death of her father, Aarol W. Bud Irish, in 2006, Teresa Irish opened the Army trunk that had resided in the family home her entire life. There, nestled in row after row, were her Dads nearly 1,000 handwritten letters from WWII. Visited only by him over the course of six decades, the letters were postmarked from November 1942 to December 1945. The fragile and yellowed pages were written to Buds parents and to the sweetheart who would become his wife, Elaine Corbat. From lonesome, moonlit nights listening to the Hit Parade, to the foxholes and front lines in Germany where Bud would receive the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, and two Bronze Stars, to correspondence with the heartbroken mothers whose sons died by his side, this is a moving and historic story of life and loss, hope and perseverance, unwavering faith, and true love. This firsthand account through the eyes, heart, and words of one soldier mirrors the journeys of many who served in WWII - millions of young Americans abruptly pulled from civilian life and thrust into the unfamiliar world of a military at war. At every opportunity, Bud poured out his thoughts and feelings in these letters, all amidst reassuring words to loved ones a world away. The transition from boy to man is apparent in the passing of the weeks, months and years. A selection of these poignant letters and accompanying photographs are contained in the newly published, A Thousand Letters Home. This book is for the children, grandchildren and future descendants of all veterans. This book is for all Americans lest we forget.