Acts of Honor [Mass Market Paperback]

Vicki Hinze (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 1999

In a secret military hospital, five mentally shattered officers hold the key to dangerous secrets. A specialist in post-traumatic stress syndrome, Dr. Sara West becomes a pawn in an undercover mission. Told that she will uncover answers to the mystery of her brother-in-law's disappearance, Sara attempts to find out what happened to these soldiers, aware that she's entering a world where knowing too much can be fatal.

Why do these men fear the color white? Why do they repeat the phrase "I wept"? As Sara is drawn to one remarkable patient she calls Joe, the shocking truth is exposed as his memory begins to return. And not even this man whom she is starting to love, can stop her -- or save her -- from committing an act that will either save millions of live...or condemn her to the darkest hell imaginable.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A lengthy stint as an Air Force wife has provided Hinze (Shades of Gray; Duplicity) with plenty of fuel for her edgy military-themed romances. Her latest romantic thriller centers around a civilian psychologist, Dr. Sara West, who has been coerced into military duty. Acting undercover as an Air Force major, Sara enters a maximum security facility in Mississippi to direct a short-term research project on five patients suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. All the patients are men, and all have been reduced to a catatonic state, each one repeatedly uttering the phrase "I wept." It's Sara's job to find out what has happened to them. She's drawn to one patient she calls Joe, a man who worked as a Shadow Watcher (a spy who spies on spies). As Sara helps Joe heal, she finds herself falling in love; through him she learns that "I wept" is an acronym for a place more horrible than the human mind can endure. Gripping and adrenaline-charged, Hinze's plot will appeal to fans who like their suspense razor sharp. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (December 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312972733
• ISBN-13: 978-0312972738
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.2 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #891,098 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was raised in New Orleans. After I married a Hurricane Hunter/Special Ops officer, we and our children moved every few years. Some of those places? Mississippi (recently devastated by Hurricane Katrina); California; Illinois and Florida.

I've been writing full-time since 1987, have written over thirty books--novels and nonfiction--and for the last ten years or so, I've spent a lot of time teaching new writers or running mentoring programs like [e-mail], when I answer questions on the craft, business and writing life, sharing what I can to help. I also have a free online writers' library, ON WRITING, on my website:(www.vickihinze.com)that WritersZone members and others are welcome to use. Additional podcasts and feature articles are available there, too. I'm a sponsor of As a Mom--love their project teaching history--The Book Club Network, and of International Thriller Writers.

Between family and writing commitments, I don't have as much time for hobbies as I once did. My favorite? Home-improvement projects. I'm active in ITW, MWA, RWA, ACFW, NINC, ACRA, AG, AWSA and other writing organizations.

Blogs? Oh, yes. My Kitchen Table for chatting, On Writing about craft, business and the writing life. VICKI HINZE'S FAITH ZONE, on spirituality. THINKING ALOUD--a thought per day to ponder for the busiest among us. All are on my website at www.vickihinze.com/blog I love hearing from readers, typically via my website or Facebook ( http://www.facebook.com/pages/Vicki-Hinze/197809543636310) and Twitter ( http://twitter.com/vickihinze ).

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent military thriller, November 29, 1999

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Acts of Honor (Mass Market Paperback)

For five long years, Dr. Sara West has tried to learn why her brother-in-law Captain David Quade killed himself because her sister and niece still need closure. Now, the prime person who impeded her efforts to attain the truth, Air Force Colonel Jack Foster arrogantly sits in her office as if he owns the place. She wants the pompous SOB to leave, until he offers her a deal that she cannot refuse.

Jack wants Sara to go undercover at the military Braxton Facility as a psychologist. He wants her to apply her unorthodox but highly successful expertise in post-traumatic stress disorder to one of his operatives residing there. Jack fears that the patient, a Shadow Watcher who knows top secret information, could harm this country. Sara knows that David was a Shadow Watcher, too, and will learn the truth why her intrepid brother-in-law killed himself inside that facility. Also inside Braxton lies a new technology that has caused death in the name of medical research and a love of a lifetime for Sara, if she survives.

Very few authors do military tales quite as well as Vicki Hinze (see DUPLICITY and SHADES OF GREY). This time Ms. Hinze combines a military espionage thriller, a medical research tale, and romance into a fabulous suspense story. The story line never eases up as Sara goes through the same psychological warfare as her new Braxton patients have done. Sara's true love "Joe," a patient in Braxton, is an intriguing individual with quite a history. The eccentric Jack is a weird protagonist who hopefully will gain his own story soon. Though advertised as romantic suspense, ACTS OF HONOR has cross appeal to readers of romance, espionage, and suspense as an entertaining thriller.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No chemistry?, December 24, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Acts of Honor (Mass Market Paperback)

There is EMOTIONAL chemistry that goes far beyond the sensual/sexual that is prevalent in most romances. ACTS OF HONOR, in addition to being a whiz-bang military suspense volume, is most definitely a romance. The chemistry is of the type that leads slowly but surely to a lifetime of commitment. The same cannot be said of purely physical chemistry. Each of Ms. Hinze's military suspense novels has outdone the one before, and I can't wait for the next one.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply Sensational!, December 11, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Acts of Honor (Mass Market Paperback)

Hinze has really done it this time! By blending crisp dialogue, quick pacing, and a dynamite plot, and adding a touch of romance, Hinze has created a story that will linger in your heart and stir your conscience long after you've finished the book. How long has it been since you've thought about the sacrifices our military make for us every day? How did we, as a people, forget our national pride in duty and honor, choosing instead a plethora of situational ethics that made us feel good ... if only for the moment? ACTS OF HONOR will rekindle the flames of patriotism we learned in our youth and challenge us all to fan the fire of honor that members of our military have had to watch over all alone, forgotten by most of us until a national or international emergency reminds us they are there. ACTS OF HONOR is a must read ... for those of us old enough to remember a time when seeing our flag fly in the breeze brought a lump to our throats and for the younger generation who so desperately need to know that we ARE a people of honor, not only for all our yesterdays, but also for each of our tomorrows. If you liked SHADES OF GRAY and DUPLICITY, you will LOVE Acts of Honor! That ACTS should debut during the holiday season, when so many of our military are away from home, is incredibly poignant and just may remind us to open our hearts and our homes to the women and men whose dedication to protect and serve guarantees the freedoms we all enjoy.