Customer Reviews

Full Dress Gray

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(12)

 

 

In Lucian Truscott's world, women are heroic and men are weak and flawed (except our hero Ry Slaight and, interestingly, non-front-lines Army types like pathologists and lawyers). Men who oppose political correctness or question placing women in combat are, ipso facto, sexist/racist/homophobic hypocrites, and probably rapists and murderers too. No doubt it makes life easier to see things this way, but it doesn't leave room for a well-crafted novel. (For example, feel free to skip over Chapter 21 entirely. It's an anti-Republican screed that adds almost nothing to the storyline.)

Truscott's background and experience allow him to create a vivid atmospheric portrait of the federal academy setting. However, the statues on the Plain are more three-dimensional than the characters in this novel. For a responsible (non-fiction) balance to Truscott's political agenda, I recommend 'The Kinder, Gentler Military' by Stephanie Gutmann (Scribner, 2000).

As a fan of Truscott's Dress Gray and a big backer of USMA, I was originally thrilled to see a sequel. That was as far as the thrill went... Truscott has taken Dress Gray and given it a completely unwelcome PC revamping. It's the same story... Slaight realizes there's something fishy and sexual about the death of a fellow cadet, and goes to fix it. The only difference is that this time around, young Cadet Slaight is female, as is the dead cadet. Read the first one. Forget that there is a sequel.

Is the Sup a three or five year term? The author can't get that right within the space of a few pages.

Did Army play Washington or Washington State? Big difference.

What was that confusing time and distance sequence with the state patrol about?

I'm told there are many errors on the medicine.

Cartoon characters. Evil Republicans and patriotic Democrats. Including the President. Republicans engaged in sex crimes and lying about it. Sound familar?

Thank goodness the author is no longer in the Army. We would have lost the Gulf War if his sloppiness was at work in the real world.

Basically, this book is intended to push a Politically Correct point of view. It does so relentlessly, to the point that the so-called "plot" (I am charitably assuming that there is one) is submerged between various "PC" diatribes. Essentially, Truscott is out to trash anyone who opposes gays in the military, women in the front lines of infantry units, etc. Everyone who holds traditional or conservative views as regards the foregoing is a mindless ogre, and that is what the book is about.

Essentially, the book is dishonest. The real Army is nothing like the way Truscott portrays it, and Truscott knows it. I didn't attend West Point, but we may safely assume that Truscott's portrayal of West Point is equally dishonest.

Don't get me wrong. I could have handled the "PC" point of view of the author if there were an interesting story buried in here. There is not. Truscott has no time to tell a story about anything. He is only interested in pushing his Leftist politics at you.

Truscott's book "Dress Grey" to which this is a sequel was a decent if not brilliant read. All of Truscott's books since then are ghastly and militant diatribes pushing Truscott's PC agenda at the expense of plot, realism, or truth. Avoid this novel and this author.

Andrew Rogers' review (see below) is dead-on. I give this book 4 stars for excellent insights into West Point traditions and history, then subtract 3 stars for the blatant propaganda in favor of women in combat. Truscott's thesis is simple: West Point is better than it used to be, not in spite of the presence of female cadets -- but BECAUSE of it. Why, it'll be even better when the Commandant and Superintendent are women, not to mention all the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Why? Don't ask, just believe it. Mr. Rogers is right: skip this fiction and read the facts in Stephanie Guttman's book.

Full Dress Gray is just about the best military type mystery book I have ever read. It combines great characters and a very interesting story line. There are at least three separate "investigations" all going on in parallel and the author manages to keep you very interested in what will happen and then tie them all together at exactly the right moment.

This book reminded me of "The General's Daughter" only better. Near the end of this book when the principle character "dresses down" a member of congress, one is reminded of Jack Nicholson's speech in "A Few Good Men".

This is an excellent, great read and I am anxious to find other books by this author and read them also. I also strongly recommend that a studio purchase the rights to this book and make it into a movie. One could just picture Mr. Nicholson in the leading role.

The plot is imaginative enough, but Truscott just didn't write a good enough story to go with it. He should of kept his politics to a bare minimum and focused on developing a more exciting and interesting story instead. If you want to read a good mystery novel, try one by Stephen Frey or Linda Fairstein.

Lucian Truscott IV proves again what some TV talk show hosts prove every day - some people have to resort to sensationalist trash to get attention. This book bears absolutely no resemblence to actual life at West Point (I should know, I graduated from the Academy). Apparently, Mr. Truscott is counting on the reader's urge for sensationalism rather than on the need to present a gripping story with realistic characters and situations. Don't waste your time on this book.

It was wonderful to vist Ry 30-40 years after he graduated from West Point. I thoroughly enjoyed the book from start to finish. If you liked Dress Gray, you will love Full Dress Gray. The charaters are true to life and the plot progresses nicely. Lucian - get the movie produced and contine with Alec Baldwin the saga on the big screen!

As a grad of USMA I thought this book was an interesting look at the Academy. I notice that other 'reviewers' disagree about how realistic it is. Well, that depends on one's experience while a cadet, but I try to remember when I read fiction that it's just that. So if you want a book about West Point with a relatively exciting plot, this is a good one. Another good one is THE LINE by Bob McGuire as an earlier reviewer noted.