And the Winners Are: My Blog Awards for 2014!

Thanks for the award. Its great when someone enjoys your work and now I have some new great blogs to follow.

GUNSHIPS #2 FIRE FORCE BY JACK HAMILTON TEED

Copyright 1982.

Special forces teams are being ambushed at an alarming rate in Laos. A helicopter incursion into Cambodia results in the unit being ambushed. The sole survivor to escape Captain Marco tells that the ambush was done by renegade Americans. Colonel John Hardin is assigned the mission to find these renegades.

Now Hardin is on the outs with the high command for killing the treasonous general from the first book. But they need his expertise so they give him the gang of misfits from the last mission. With a sergeant who fragged his lieutenant. A mob hitman who’s favorite weapon is a piano wire garret. A pill popping medic named Pepper. Doc Pepper get it.(HA!HA!HA!) This motley crew must infiltrate the renegades valley base run by a crazy redneck major with plans of waging his own nuclear war on the commies with help from a CIA faction.

The second book in this series. Some of the dialogue is just what the English must envision all Americans talk like. The redneck major makes Larry the Cable Guy look Harvard educated. The black Captain Marco always talks in over the top jive. Because lets face it all black guys in the seventies were from Harlem and spoke jive. Even a college educated man like Marco.

Its another fun book with a truly wacky cast of characters and situations. I’m glad I got it for my vacation.

GUNSHIPS #1 THE KILLING ZONE BY JACK HAMILTON TEED

Copyright 1981.

Colonel John Hardin is a officer that has just made an enemy of a corrupt American general. General Dempsey needs someone to deliver a package in Laos and Hardin refuses knowing that the mission is shady. He threatens to expose the general’s cover up of a massacre. Now Dempsey decides that Hardin is too dangerous to live. He arranges for the helicopter he’s on to blow up over Laos. He then mounts an expedition using criminals from the brig as cover for his true mission. It involves passing off intelligence that could cause the death of thousands of American soldiers.

Hardin survives the crash. He links up with the criminals that were destined to be killed. Together they must fight off a ruthless North Vietnamese general and expose the corruption of General Dempsey.

For my Christmas vacation I decided to get all four books in this series. I remember picking up the third book as a teenager to read for my Christmas vacation and it seemed fitting to track down the other books to complete my collection.

The first book is a solid action story. It is written by an English author who’s only knowledge of Vietnam is watching movies like Apocalypse Now and the Deer Hunter. He makes up his own slang words that I never encountered is books written by veterans. Indeed he uses English words that seep into the Americans dialogue. I think it kind of adds to the charm of its bad pulpy feel.

So there is no authenticity to the stories but they are an enjoyable and interesting action story.

HAVE A PATRICK SWAYZE CHRISTMAS

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. I figured I would share my favorite song for this time of year. Lets face it what doesn’t say Christmas like the movie Roadhouse.

WWIII: BEHIND THE LINES TARGET IRAN BY JAMES B. ADAIR AND GORDON ROTTMAN

Copyright 1991.

After their victory in West Germany the Soviets turn their attention south to Iran. The country is in the midst of a civil war between the Soviet backed government and Muslim hardline fundamentalists. The Soviets come in on the government’s side with the goal of controlling the Iranian oilfields and access to the Persian Gulf. The Americans send a force to stop them.

The rebel Iranians are able to capture two nuclear armed Scud missiles from the Soviets. Now Major Jinx and BJ must lead a team to destroy these missiles before they’re launched and cause a larger nuclear conflagration. Colonel Bodnya and his Spetsnaz are also looking for the missiles. The wild card is a group of rebel Kurds that are nominally allied to the Americans but have an agenda all their own.

The final book in the WWIII behind the lines was another fun read. All the books took place in a different area of the world giving the series a fresh new story every book. Also the Soviets are always coming out the winners in these books which was not usually the case for adventure books of the time. It gave them a sense of realism.

Of course by 1991 the Soviet Union was on its last leg. The series was a victim of fast changing world events and was dated when it first came out. I think it would of had more success if it started five years earlier. It’s a shame since I really enjoyed this new world they created and would have liked to see where it went.

World Unknown Review is Here!

My debut as a writer is now available.

L.S. Engler

The announcement I’ve been chomping at the bit to make is finally here! I might be pushing it out the door a little early (KDP is giving me weird cover issues and the physical book isn’t yet available on Amazon), but I just can’t wait any longer. World Unknown Review is finally here!

World Unknown Review has been an exciting project for me, one I hope to duplicate every year to help put more voices out there in the popular format of our times, independent publishing via Amazon. This first volume brings a lot of really great stories, in a wide variety of genres, from memoir to romance, science fiction and fantasy, adventure and literary. Some of these authors have a hefty list of accomplishments under their belts, some of them have never been published before. There’s a little bit of something for everyone, and, hopefully, everything for someone.

I’d…

View original post 162 more words

WWIII: BEHIND THE LINES TARGET NUKE BY JAMES B. ADAIR AND GORDON ROTTMAN

Copyright 1990.

The second book in the series jumps right into the action from the first. The Soviets have unleashed Operation Summer Harvest and invaded West Germany. Our heroes Jinx and BJ find themselves leading special ops teams deep inside East Germany. Major Bodnya and his surviving spetsnaz return to a heroes welcome back home. The unit is given the title 800th Guards Special Purpose Battalion. The first unit to be elevated to guards status since the Great Patriotic War. In no time he and this troops are assigned to East Germany to hunt down the NATO teams operating behind the lines.

The war is going badly for NATO and the decision to use nuclear attacks to stop the Soviets results in a devastating counterattack. The two sides agree to a nuclear moratorium. Nuclear Demolition Teams operating inside East Germany are recalled. All but one team 032A does not respond. Jinx and BJ must lead a team to find 032A and stop them from detonating their device otherwise it could start a bigger war.

The second book in this series deals with special forces action in East Germany. It has a real grasp of the various tactics and security forces that would be encountered. Another solid book that looks at special operations in East Germany from both the American and Soviet viewpoints.

WWIII: BEHIND THE LINES TARGET TEXAS BY JAMES B. ADAIR AND GORDON ROTTMAN

Copyright 1990

In this alternate timeline Gorbachev dies in a mysterious plane accident. The new regime puts a halt to all the reforms. This still doesn’t change the fact that the economy is a total mess. The only thing in good shape is the military. War is the only thing that will restore the motherland. Operation Summer Harvest is set to begin on Christmas day.

The first target is Fort Hood, Texas. A crack team of Spetsnaz lead by Major Bodnya and Ensign Kovpak must infiltrate Texas and destroy the armor critical to resupplying the war in Europe. Only CIA agent Richard ‘Jinx’ Jenkins has discovered the plan while raiding their training camp in Nicaragua. With his friend Sgt. B.J. Hickey the two try to convince their government of the impending attack.

I remember when reading this back in 1990 that it was a bit dated. I mean now of course its dated but when the book came out the Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviets were out of Afghanistan and the Nicaragua war was winding down. I suppose the events were still possibly but world events were outpacing the authors story.

Still it is a very enjoyable book. The authors clearly have a feel for special forces operations. The Spetsnaz infiltration tactics were plausible and it was a fast paced story. I enjoyed it now as I did back in 1990 as a sort of nostalgia for the 80’s.

RIFFTRAX LIVE: SANTA CLAUS

The story of Santa Claus is a very well known story. He lives in the north pole. That elves make his toys and that reindeer fly him on his midnight toy runs to all the children of the world.

Well who would have guessed that is all wrong.

According to a 1959 Mexican film Santa Claus the mythology gets a complete makeover. Santa lives in a floating castle in space. Its decked out in goofy telescopes and ear decorated radar used to spy on all the kids and their dreams. Santa apparently works for the NSA. Instead of elves he uses child slave labor. The children are forced to dress in the ethnic dress of the countries they were taken from. The African children get to wear leopard pattern loincloths and bones in their hair. Yes Santa is a diehard racist. The children sing songs that have the enthusiasm of getting socks from their aunt on Christmas.

The reindeer are actually mechanical windup machines and are the creepiest things you could imagine.

Oh and there are Merlin who looks like a lawn gnome. He makes magical powder that makes Santa invisible and another that gasses the kids. He loves to gas the kids. And there’s also Vulcan the Roman god of the forge up there. He makes Santa a magical key that can open any door.

The plot revolves around the eternal battle between Santa and Satan for the souls of the kids. Satan sends his main henchdemon Pitch to Earth. He threatens Pitch with the horrible punishment of being force fed chocolate ice cream if he fails in his mission.

Well the story involves Pitch’s attempts to get a young poor girl Lupita to steal a doll. He also cuts the bag of Santa’s bag filled with his magic powders. After being treed by a small little boxer dog he is in danger of being discovered. Luckily he escapes and rewards Lupita with a huge doll. We assume that Pitch is forced to chow down on a bucket of Ben & Jerry’s.

This was one mama-jama of a weird movie. It makes it a perfect movie to ring in the Christmas holidays. I can’t wait for comes next year.

World Unknown Review 2014 Authors!

Can’t wait. Thanks for giving this opportunity.

L.S. Engler

Now that we’re into December and I’m trying to wrestle with some formatting with the hopes of releasing the debut edition of World Unknown Review to the masses, I thought it was high time I made an official announcement revealing the authors you’ll find inside this eclectic volume of excellent fiction. I can only express the utmost thanks and praise to these eleven fantastic writers who took a chance on a fledgling publication; I’m incredibly honored to put them all together in what I hope is the start of a beautiful and exciting new tradition. It also blows my mind that I’m actually getting the chance to be the first person to publish a lot of these stories, the first stories to be “professionally” published for many of these writers. True, I had to send out just as many rejection letters as acceptances, which was a bit of a surprise…

View original post 242 more words