Pass in Review - Duty

 Author's Summary

Pass in Review is a trilogy about men and women totally involved in the love-hate relationship of military service to country. This is a saga of a 20th Century military family … three generations and their contemporaries – some famous, some not, but all of them intensely American. Pass in Review – Duty is the story of Dave Nolan – part man, part legend – who leaves a small river town in Pennsylvania to chase his destiny in the Army as a professional soldier. To him the Army is more than just a career, it is the essence of who he is – his very life. From the Plain of West Point, high above the Hudson, to the trenches of WWI France and the wearying decades between the two world wars of the 20th century, he devotes himself wholly and tirelessly to his country and the Army, even when they do not reciprocate. And woven throughout this saga is the historically accurate story of Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, George Patton, Douglas MacArthur, and others who graduated from West Point and interact with the fictional Nolan, all of whom forged the victories on battlefields around the world, across a century. They along with Nolan, his friends, family and others – like the legendary “Wild Bill” Donovan, Dave Nolan’s mentor in war and during the peace – make and mold their Army, their country, their Alma Mater and their world.

MWSA Review

If you love a long read, if you want to get to know the characters in this story better than your best friends, if you like reading informed dialogue, dive into "Duty." Brian Utermahlen knows human nature and he knows his history. Dave Nolan, soldier, husband, lover and father takes you into the trenches of WWI France and into his heart. Loyalty and honor are as natural as breathing to him and he did not learn those at West Point. He brought those qualities and a brilliant mind with him when he left his river town in Pennsylvania.

Utermahlen takes his reader into Army ranks and personalities and sheds new light on people who shaped American destiny. Whether you follow Nolan into the battlefields of Europe or Army bases with two women who have captured his heart, you will not want to put this book down until you discover Dave Nolan's choices in love and loyalty.

Reviewed by: Carmen Stenholm (2012)