Historical

Title: Code Name: Orion's Eye
Author: Tom Gauthier
Genre: Fiction
Reviewer: John Cathcart

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0984663851

1943 World War II is raging. OSS officer Major Amos Mead tracks the elusive Nazi spy, Otto Hauptmann. Nazi Germany must steal the new radar technology. Mead must prevent it. From London and Berlin the race begins, finally converging in the South Pacific on the high seas where the lives of thirteen hundred men hang in the balance.

Title: Twenty-One Steps of Courage
Author: Sarah Bates
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Margaret Brown

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1614349576

In 2006, with wars in the Middle East raging, Rod Strong enlists in the Army to seek the goal his father did not achieve when he tragically died in the Gulf War. His objective: The Old Guard regiment, the elite Soldiers who stand as Sentinels at the Tomb of the Unknown in Arlington Cemetery. He overcomes the setbacks that litter his path until an unexpected firefight in Afghanistan changes his life forever.

Title: Forever We Serve
Author: R. Samuel Baty
Genre: Historical Fiction
Reviewer: Darlene Iskra

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 1475935161

Although World War II is over, the world is not a safer place. The Soviet Union has lowered an iron curtain in front of Eastern Europe, and Josef Stalin desires complete world domination. American nurse Jennifer Haraldsson and her former patient and German POW, Otto Bruner, have returned to their former lives with unfinished business. Although deeply in love, both realize the obstacles to spending their lives together are too overwhelming. Haraldsson, who now serves as a nurse at Walter Reed Army Hospital, knows that Jack MacLaine, United States Army Intelligence Officer, is her best hope for romance. After she accepts his marriage proposal, she naively thinks her life will return to normal. Unfortunately, she has never been more wrong. After the North Koreans attack South Korea, MacLaine is sent overseas. It is not long before Haraldsson is enlisted by her boss, Dr. Brad Taylor, to travel to Korea to launch a mobile army hospital. As the two work tirelessly to set up their MASH unit, Haraldsson has no idea that an unexpected tragedy is about to strip away her newfound happiness. Many twists and turns occur in this continuing historical thriller. The great political and military dramas of the times unfold as the legendary Marine First Regiment Commander Chesty Puller, General Douglas MacArthur, General Matthew Ridgway, and President Harry Truman assume their commanding roles. In this continuing historical saga, an American nurse soon realizes that amidst the chaos of war, nothing is guaranteed-especially love.

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Title: Chosin File
Author: Dale A. Dye
Genre: Fiction
Reviewer: Joyce M. Gilmour

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): 0985338806

Nuclear saber-rattling in North Korea has created international palpitations and some unlikely partnerships in an effort to keep communist loose cannons from causing a war that no one wants and everyone fears. The CIA calls on clandestine contacts in neighboring China to run a dark—and wholly unauthorized—reconnaissance mission over North Korea from a top-secret drone base along the Yalu River. All is well and under international radar until Gunner Shake Davis’ best friend goes missing on a mission near the infamous Chosin Reservoir to check on a tip that the North Koreans are up to something sinister around the infamous Chosin Reservoir. That brings Marine Gunner Shake Davis out of retirement once again to locate his buddy on a risky trek through the snow-blown mountains surrounding the Korean War battle site where an earlier generation of Marines fought a classic withdrawal that became an iconic chapter in military history. While Shake is on his risky mission, the North Korean Supreme Leader suddenly dies and the entire world goes on high alert to see what might happen next in Pyongyang. That puts serious pressure on Shake and his South Korean allies who have discovered—and must deter—a potentially world-shattering North Korean weapon that threatens the very fabric of modern computer-based societies. It’s a high-stakes game and the clock is ticking as an international team of technical experts and military special operators launch a desperate search that culminates in a deadly confrontation in the Korea Straits in the midst of a howling storm.

Title: Tom Clancy Presents: Act of Valor
Author: George Galdorisi and Dick Couch
Genre: Thriller/Mystery
Reviewer: Barbara Peacock

ISBN (links go to the MWSA Amazon store): B006JSSFPE

Behind the secret missions. Beneath the official stories. Beyond the brotherhood…

The Navy SEALs have been fighting terrorists around the world for more than a decade. And for all that time, the Bandito Platoon from SEAL Team Seven have been on continuous combat rotation. Now they have drawn a shipboard assignment off Central America—an easy day.

But for a Navy SEAL, the only easy day was yesterday.

Act of Valor goes deep into the secret world of today’s most elite and highly trained group of warriors. When the rescue of a kidnapped CIA operative leads to the discovery of a deadly terrorist plot against the United States, a team of SEALs is dispatched on a worldwide manhunt. As the men of Bandito Platoon race to stop a coordinated attack that could kill and wound thousands of American civilians, they must balance their commitments to country, Team, and their families back home.

But each time they accomplish their mission, a new piece of intelligence reveals another shocking twist to the plot, which stretches from Chechnya to the Philippines and from the Ukraine to Somalia. The widening operation sends the SEALs across the globe as they track a terrorist ring to the U.S.-Mexico border—where they engage in an epic firefight with potentially unimaginable consequences for America…

In a powerful story of global anti-terrorism—inspired by real-life missions, Act of Valor combines stunning combat scenes, up-to-the minute battlefield technology, and heart-pumping emotion for the ultimate in action adventure.