Recently, a friend recommended that I read Jay Mach’s ‘Eagle Facing West’ based on my interest in military history. At 254 pages, this Kindle book is a quick, yet engaging read.
I grew up fascinated with the Vietnam war and remember the mountains of data presented by the National League of Families and others alleging that US POW and MIA personnel had been left behind by our government in Southeast Asia and were still being held captive up into the mid-1980s. ‘Eagle Facing West’ takes this concept one step further and supposes that a core group of “Keepers” had survived to this day and were being kept alive by the Vietnamese and forced train their personnel and serve as analysts. The men who are the main focus of this novel, craft a plan to escape using modern technology and end up with some very capable assistance thanks to an escape signal captured by US overhead imagery. Intrigue ensues with a rogue politician attempting to bury their existence.
Right out of the gate I’m going to tell you that Jay Mach is a pen name. I now know who is behind the book but I won’t tell. What you need to know is that Mach is actually a team made up of a former congressional staffer and a military insider. The duo has close ties with the US Special Operations Forces community and US Air Force pilots. Boy, does it show. To be sure, it’s a technothriller, but elements of the story carry a degree of plausibility. On more than one occassion, my jaw dropped as I saw details which are not common knowledge. I give it two thumbs up!
Download your Kindle copy from www.amazon.com.
Tags: Jay Mach
Unfortunately, Sen. John McCain made it possible. Thanks for the link.
What’s the definition of “Military insider?” Can it be anyone in the military? Because that doesn’t sound very exciting.
PV1 Joe “Snuffy” McGee, fuel delivery specialist, civil war history buff, and military insider.
Read the book, then do push-ups.
Unlike most journalists who’ll use a janitor as an “insider” I think this sites use of the term gives it all the credence to needs.
It’s the kind of person who makes me raise my eyebrows.
If we’re offering suggestions, The Northworld Trilogy by David Drake is something right up your alley, E. Norse Edda myths woven with a modern powerarmor twist. Drake is one of my favorite authors.
You’ll also really like Drake’s Slammerverse, a series of stories about COL Alois Hammer, and his mercenary force, Hammer’s Slammers. Hard scifi, and hard military scifi at that.
I’ll second the David Drake recommend. He came up before, here at SSD, when we had a pretty long thread with everyone talking about book recommends. Can’t find the original thread…
SSD and the hivemind should compile and release an (monthly? annual?) reading list. Especially when it involves capable yet more obscure authors like those mentioned here.