Latest Book Received

The local Rotary charity book fair took place for the first time in 2 years, so I thought I would have a look. My hopes were high; I was thinking I might finally score a copy of Fields of Fire. This is what I found instead:



Battered but intact: First edition paperback of the Pentagon Papers.



Never heard of it; a wheels of military justice type novel, set in Saigon.



This one looks really bad but, hey it was $1.



Terrible cover art on this one, but the prose is not bad - a UK only publication, so it looks like the author was English.



A Soldier of Fortune release - say no more....



And my pick of the bunch; not Fields of Fire, but it was written by a Marine, and is Volume 1 in a 6 volume series on a Combined Action Platoon fighting out of a tiny firebase in Indian country. Lots of action (2 firefights in the first 10 pages) and it is well-crafted prose. Has anyone else read any more of these? The others have titles like "Charlie Doesn't Live Here Anymore".

Looks like a Mac Bolan knock off to me.

Which one - they ALL look like Mack Bolan knock-offs

Speaking of which, there was a whole box of various "mercs who learnt their trade fighting in Nam" series paperbacks from the 1980s. I was starting to get that 200 yard stare...

OTB wrote:I was starting to get that 200 yard stare...

OTB wrote:



Terrible cover art on this one, but the prose is not bad - a UK only publication, so it looks like the author was English.

Whooh: Paperback Warrior gives this author top marks - high praise indeed:

http://www.paperbackwarrior.com/2016/12/gunships-01-killing-zone.html

BravoSix wrote:

OTB wrote:I was starting to get that 200 yard stare...

This sale is on all weekend - I can go back... How about we have a special Saigon Gentlemen's Club offer and I will randomly mail members a 1980s Mack Bolan clone Nam vet merc team paperback of my choice?

YESSSS!

As that prospect might not be appealing to all, I'll include some bona fide military books in there too - there were some good vintage war paperbacks there (non-fiction)

Ha! And everyone who gets a Mack Bolen clone has to give a "serious" review.

Is that even possible? I'd be more apt to write a script for the review and leave the title blank so I can use it over and over. Insert title here>>>

BravoSix wrote:Is that even possible?

How can you even suggest it is not!?! This is serious literature. ART.

It's Harlequin Romance for dudes.

OK I went and rounded up some books today - I limited myself to one from each of the series. I'll post more details over in the SGC.

I only went out to post the first SGC Reading Room paperbacks and ended up scoring a Vietnam book trifecta this weekend. I found the first two at the local postshop:



This one is about an ex-Marine, seaman and barman who accepted a challenge from his drinking buddies at his local New York bar to do a beer run to Vietnam in 1968 to various of their fellow drinkers serving all over South Vietnam, hand-delivering them a beer and a hug from their buddies to cheer them up. It's awesome in its awesomeness. He ends up getting caught up in the crossfire in Saigon when the Tet Offensive breaks out: he was actually due to catch a military bus from the US Embassy to Tan Son Nhut at 5 am in the morning when the US Embassy assault occurred. After surviving the crossfire when he wanders into the VC sapper assault there, he is then left looking for a hotel to stay in, spends a day wandering Saigon dodging bullets and RPG fire, finds an empty fleapit hotel, gets some shut-eye then, in the dead of night, decides to go out looking for a cool bar he's heard of up a Saigon back alley. IN THE MIDDLE OF THE TET OFFENSIVE!!!  I feel like I've discovered my patron saint.



The just-released follow-up to The Sympathizer was my other find at the postshop.

After that I wandered over to the nearby big box retailer to look for clothing items, and ended up finding this:



I knew it would turn up cheap. I rounded the trip downtown off with some Saigon-style fried rice at my local Vietnamese café, so it was a good day out.

NIce Haul, OTB!
The beer run book is a true story. Guys were interviewed
a while back on regular network news. Didn't know the
book was now in print. Now I have some hunting to do.
best always
Sam

That Beer Run book looks great! I sent your pic to Simon from FMM and told him a scooter riding beer run GI would make a great limited edition figure!

yankee sam wrote:NIce Haul, OTB!
The beer run book is a true story. Guys were interviewed
a while back on regular network news. Didn't know the
book was now in print. Now I have some hunting to do.
best always
Sam

And apparently there is now a dramatisation of it on the way too.

https://www.gq.com.au/entertainment/film-tv/apples-next-film-will-tell-the-story-of-the-greatest-beer-run-ever/news-story/bfa58bed7e2f407ae6c44299845d9bfc

Simon from FMM likes the idea.He said he's had the motorcycle done for a while, so it's just a matter of getting the sculptor to do the rider. He even sent me this pic. This seems like the inspiration for the book cover:

That's great!

Ok, the beer run book sounds epic. I gotta find it!

Three more finds from my latest trip to Wellington:



This guy worked on The Killing Fields film.



An Englishman who drops out of university becomes eligible for the draft and decides to pre-empt things by enlisting for airborne training.



Another front-line memoir.

You find the best stuff! DFW is basically a wasteland of VN books, even Half-Price doesn't have much at their main digs. Soooo jealous.