Book Reviews

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: Small as a Mustard Seed
Author: Shelli Johnson
Genre: Fiction, Literary
Reviewer: Bob Doerr

ISBN : B00537SSQ8

As a child in 1960's rural Ohio, Ann Marie Adler finds herself caught between her father, Frank, a veteran who survived the war in Korea but with devastating post-traumatic stress, and her mother, Adele, who is blindsided by the mental illness that accompanied him home. In a series of escalating dangerous episodes, Frank confuses reality with soul-searing memories, believing he's still a soldier fighting for his life in battle-torn Korea. During the delusions, Ann Marie and her younger sister, Jolene, become the enemy, which leaves them fearing for their lives. Unable to fully protect her daughters, Adele scrambles to keep order while her husband's threatening and unpredictable outbursts slowly tear the family apart.

Title: Aldric & Anneliese
Author: Harry E. Gilleland Jr.
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Fran McGraw

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): ISBN / EAN

When honor was everything, and your word, a binding contract, Aldric was knight and champion to the king. A tale of love and devotion, chivalry and honor, this great tale held me captive through to the end. I personally feel this item is good read to younger children, as a bedtime story, young adults venturing into reading for themselves, and adults as a light tale of true honor and integrity. There was no one part of the book I liked above the other, except for the morals and integrity listed within. Through action and word, Aldric is a prime example of a true friend, a great leader, and a person true to their word.
Once it was over, I wanted more stories from this author. The tale was fast paced and one I couldn't put down. I felt transported back in time to a year where life was physically hard, and not always rewarding. Lessons learned often came at a high price.
I would recommend this book to all readers. It is one that whisks you away into another world. It transports you through great imagery and action. A whole new adventure to be found.
The author is very talented. I will be searching other books out from this author and adding them to my collection.

Title: Don Jose, An American Soldier's Courage and Faith in Japanese Captivity
Author: Ezequiel L. Ortiz and James A. McClure
Genre: Non-Fiction Biography
Reviewer: Barbara Peacock

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 086534857X

In 1941 the Japanese invaded the Philippines with overwhelming force and forced the surrender of American troops at Bataan and Corregidor. Prisoners of war were subjected to brutal captivity and thousands did not survive. This is the story of an American soldier who survived and became a hero. When American troops liberated the Niigata POW camp after the Japanese surrender, Corporal Joseph O. Quintero greeted them with a homemade American flag that had been sewn together in secrecy. The son of Mexican immigrants, Joseph Quintero grew up in a converted railroad caboose in Fort Worth, Texas, and joined the Army to get $21 a month and three meals a day. He manned a machine gun in the defense of Corregidor before his unit was captured by the Japanese. When prisoners of war were transported to Japan, Joseph survived a razor-blade appendectomy on the ''hell ship'' voyage. In the prison camp he cared for his fellow prisoners as a medic and came to be known as Don Jose. Joseph's narrative is an enlisted man's view of the war with first-hand descriptions of conditions in the POW camps and personal glimpses of what he and his buddies did, endured and talked about. The authors have drawn on other histories and official documents to put his story into perspective and focus on a little-known chapter of World War II.

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….