As the battle for Dien Bien Phu rages, a small detached regiment of American soldiers assesses the black market in arms being sold to the Viet Minh to gauge the prospects for a U.S. engagement with the insurgents. 100,000 first printing. $70,000 ad/promo.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Set during the last days of French rule in Vietnam, before the country was divided into northern and southern portions, this military thriller by a former helicopter pilot ( CW2 ) offers skillfully researched material and military minutiae that convey authenticity but that often slow the narrative. A U.S. squad arrives in Hanoi, purportedly sent to aid the French by training helicopter pilots for emergency evacuations. But the detail's honest major, Marsh McCall, has also been ordered to look into any gunrunning or other black-market corruption in the weapons supply chain. As McCall uncovers evidence of massive provisioning of the enemy, his line is suddenly cut. The mounting tension that Heath's use of detail could have provided in a terser context does not develop, however; the covert investigation slows the pace of what is otherwise an account of a suicide mission. Several mysterious subplots inject spurts of energy: they involve a young helicopter pilot, a native-born Eurasian nurse, the madame d'affaires of the Cafe Ho Tay and McCall's shadowed past in Korea. The inevitable bloody ending is the best part of the book; its unflinching honesty is wrenching. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
This novel takes us to the beginning of U.S. involvement in Vietnam, when the French were in the midst of betrayal and death at Dien Bien Phu and the only Americans were unofficial "volunteers"; when exotic restaurants and women and ex-patriots were financed by the black market. Marsh McCall and his men have been sent to Vietnam ostensibly to train French helicopter pilots, but almost at once McCall scents an underground traffic in weapons. With the help of the beautiful restaurant owner Su Letei, McCall sets out on his investigation. At the same time, young Code West, crackerjack pilot, falls in love for the first time and risks getting shot by his young lady's father. Soon the war heats up, men begin to die, and the already dark shadows of what would soon become America's most dismal military adventure begin to cover the land. The author, himself a helicopter pilot in Vietnam, has written a book rich in autobiographical detail. The location, the culture, and the people are vivid. The tangles of espionage are cleverly woven into the story. Highly recommended. Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 11/15/92.
- Elsa Pendle ton, Boeing Computer Support Svces., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Elsa Pendle ton, Boeing Computer Support Svces., Ridgecrest, Cal.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
The best men thrown in a dog-fight pit for money,
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This review is from: Blue Deep (Audio Cassette)
Something that I feel professional reviewers have missed is Layne Heath's ability to give a dream-like atmosphere to his fiction, even when his prose is precise, vigorous, and realistic--even naturalistic, in fact. This atmosphere seems to be more fit to the portrayl of the absurdity of war, than more realistic and historical approaches. His endings, here as well as in *CW2*, plunge the protagonist's personal search or departure from humanity (as in *CW2*) right into the imponderable. In keeping up with Heath's approach, *The Blue Deep* is full of loony, eccentric characters--as the French drunk who shots the protagonist Cody West every time he drops by to court his daughter, a beautiful half-bred Vietnamese nurse called Moni; or as the former American ambassador who, as war in Vietnam seems to be the only option for the US in the near future, dedicates himself to gardening. Even thought they seem to be not-fully characterised, characters have in this novel a honesty of their own. The love of flying is also a palpable element in the story, and Heath's description of flights and air combat are superb. His language is always effective, crisp, never stilted or pretentious. Another point of interest is that Heath's metaphors are frequently played out in the characters' lives, and he always reaches them with surehand and respect for the reader. In this case, the strongest metaphor to come into fruition this way is that of the best men--those who are there really to do their jobs--being set to be slaughtered in a dog-fight pit (in the Hanoi club that gives the book its title), while around them greedy [punks] literaly make money out of their blood. The novel's concerns become more interesting and significant in the lights of the recent US invasion of Iraq and the accusations of government favouring of particular firms and persons, in the handling of reconstruction resources.
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