Army Blue [Paperback]

Lucian K. Truscott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1990

The Army called it desertion. Three generations of soldiers called it a lie. It is 1970, at the height of the Vietnam War, and a young lieutenant faces court-martial for desertion in the face of the enemy. He is Matthew Blue IV, a third-generation soldier from an illustrious southern family. His grandfather, a general, fought in World War II; his father earned his stripes in Korea. Now, from the quagmire called Vietnam, the controversial trial of the last Army Blue is about to explode outward, probing the intense bonds and pressures that unite and divide an extraordinary military family . . . and America itself.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In the eagerly anticipated follow-up to his first novel, Dress Gray , Truscott turns his attention to the Vietnam War and delivers a suspenseful, sprawling court-martial drama, set in Saigon in 1969. At 23, platoon leader Lt. Matthew Nelson Blue is the youngest member of an Army family: his father is a colonel and his grandfather a profane, cantankerous retired general. Shortly after one of his men is killed by friendly fire while on routine patrol, Blue is arrested and charged with desertion in the face of the enemy. Arriving in Vietnam, his father and grandfather end their long estrangement and join forces to clear the young soldier's name. Truscott's plot offers less than initially meets the eye; the nature of the conspiracy and cover-up that nearly destroy Blue is fairly easy to predict, as is the disillusionment about Vietnam that eventually befalls his seniors. ("Nobody is going to win this war," says one, just pages before the end.) But the author's intimate portrayal of the texture of Army life gives his narrative a more deeply felt sense of anger and regret than others in its genre, and makes its final revelations more powerful than they might otherwise have been. 75,000 first printing; $75,000 ad/promo; Literary Guild selection; author tour.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Three generations of Blues have served in the army. The General, now retired, was in World War II. His son, the Colonel, was in Korea and Vietnam. Now the Grandson is in Vietnam and in trouble: accused of cowardice, disobeying an order, and fleeing from combat. Victim of an elaborate scheme to cover up the CIA's covert drug operations, Lieutenant Matthew Nelson Blue IV awaits court martial in prison, while his platoon is swallowed up in transfers. Grandfather and father fly to Vietnam, a beautiful TV reporter becomes involved, a member of the old platoon turns up, and all hell breaks loose before the slambang trial (over one fifth of the book) takes place. This long, panoramic novel maintains suspense beautifully and focuses on the stupidity and corruption in Vietnam. While the battle scenes in Donald Tate's Bravo Burning ( LJ 3/15/86) and other novels are stronger, and Tim O'Brien's Going After Cacciato (LJ 12/15/77) ranks high on any Vietnam novel list, Truscott's ( Dress Gray, LJ 1/1/79) fast-moving book should have wide appeal. It has "miniseries" written all over it. Literary Guild selection.
- Robert H. Donahugh, Youngstown and Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Warner Books Inc (Mm); 1St Edition edition (October 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446359807
• ISBN-13: 978-0446359801
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.1 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,158,495 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A rivetting journey into the Blue family's personal war, March 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Army Blue (Paperback)

Perhaps you've read all those I-was-there-and-this- is-how-it-really-was battle accounts of the Vietnam war, detailing the petrifying fear of nighttime patrols in the jungle, with VC lurking in the dark with malicious intentions on your life and limb. In Lucian K Truscott IV's rivetting book Army Blue, the young Leiutenant Matt Blue faces a very different, even more frightening enemy - the US Army.

Having grown up in an Army family, his father and grandfather a General and a Colonel, respectively, Matthew Nelson BLue IV had an innocent faith in his family's Army. That faith is destroyed, however, when he is arrested and court-martialed for desertion in the face of the enemy. He is allowed one desperate call to his father, the Colonel, before being cut off from the world and hidden away in solitary confinement in a god-forsaken jail in Vietnam. Through the eyes of young Matt, his father, and his grandfather, the mystery slowly unfolds, along with it the story of the Colonel's 10 year estrangement from his abrasive father, and the beginnings of similar strife between the Leiutenant and the Colonel.

Leaving the reader hanging on the edge of his/her seat until the very end, this suspenseful, entertaining, and personal novel will leave you changed, with a fresh perspective on the Vietnam war through the eyes of three generations of men wearing Army Blue.

Lindsay D. Nelson

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars interesting read from a well-informed source, July 10, 2000

By 

J. K. Kelley "literary mercenary" (Eastern WA, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Army Blue (Paperback)

In case the reader isn't aware, Truscott is an exceptionally well-informed source. Not only is he a graduate of West Point, his family has been eating Army rations for a long time and has produced some very distinguished soldiers. The family in this book bears quite a resemblance to them.

At first blush it seems that Truscott is taking out his bitterness on the Army, but as you read along you see that he's actually quite fair. Good soldiers, bad soldiers; good NCOs, bad NCOs; good officers, bad officers. What he really shows us is that while there are some unmitigated heels at all levels of the service, there are also some of the finest and most dedicated people you could hope to meet. I found most of the characters credible and interesting.

While I wouldn't say it's superb in any area, it's a creditworthy portrayal. Truscott shows hints of the ability to create 'moments' that you remember many months after finishing the book, but there are not quite enough of them for five stars.