Adult / Military / Historical & Realistic Fiction
I gave this book 4* of 5 stars
In Vietnam Redux: For Some the Vietnam War Never Ended, author Howard B. Cohen has written an historical and contemporary military fiction story that takes readers back and forth between the Vietnam War and the war that continues today between the Vietnamese and its indigenous Montagnards, allies to American soldiers in the Vietnam War.
Politician George Darnell brings together former Special
Forces buddies Benny Friedman and Frank Stone -- both retired, wealthy, single,
and pushing seventy -- and proposes a plan that Benny and Frank can't resist.
Darnell, a lobbyist and advocate for the Montagnards and safe emigration for
them, has received information that indicates that the Montagnards are planning
a violent revolt, which could compromise any progress Darnell has made on their
behalf. He asks Benny and Frank, posing as old Vets touring the country, to go
on a fact-finding mission within the Montagnard community and to dissuade them
from any violence. With the aid of Nyugen Thi Anh, a Vietnamese woman and
Montagnard sympathizer, what
Benny and Frank discover is that the Montagnards have an unfathomable problem: a plot
by the Vietnamese Environmental Adjustment Agency, run by the vengeful
Tran van Throng, to carry out the genocide of the Montagnards. Benny,
Frank, and Anh join Dan Carter, leader of the Montagnard resistance, as they
set-out to destroy the death camps and document the atrocities for all the
world to see. Through flashbacks to the war, readers learn many of the
characters' backgrounds -- full of heartbreak, horror, and heroics -- which
molded each of them into the people they are today. Benny and Frank,
compelled by their history with the Montagnards, find themselves going back
into the jungles of Vietnam to fight to save their former allies.
What is impressive about Vietnam
Redux is how author Cohen must have done meticulous research in order
to provide such a factual account of the Montagnards and the role they played
vis-a-vis the US Special Forces during the Vietnam War. Additionally, he has
pulled current events straight
from the headlines, where we see as recently as early March, 2015, there were
reports of several dozen Montagnards hiding in Cambodia, hoping to seek refugee status
for alleged political and religious persecution in their homeland, who were
sent back to Vietnam. The reports indicate that some Montagnards have
disappeared and there is suspicion of Vietnamese interrogations and torture.
Cohen's story, given the current climate in Vietnam and with the United
Nations, is completely feasible. Military enthusiasts will appreciate the level
of detail in describing weaponry, war tactics, and engagements, which are
graphic and violent and realistic. It's war, after all, but this war has an
entirely new rule book, where the lines are blurry between right and wrong,
good and bad. The transitions between past and present were smooth and the
characters were well defined. Through the last quarter of the book, the tension
builds steadily, resulting in readers rapidly turning pages to get to the
conclusion.
*A
note about the writing: readers who are bothered by writing errors will be
frustrated by this book. The book is in
desperate need of a thorough, professional editing. Normally, I do not
recommend books that are in need of substantial editing, but Vietnam Redux is
an exception.
This book was reviewed for Readers' Favorite, which
provided me an eBook copy in exchange for my honest review -- the only kind I
give.
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