Customer Reviews

Laos File

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Of course, as a Marine officer and Southern gentleman, Captain Dye would never utter those words aloud, but dive into his new action novel, Laos File, and you feel he's done just that. From front cover to back, Dye's commanding narrative voice reminds you, "I'm in charge of this vehicle, Buster. Hold on."

Set largely in modern day Vietnam, Laos File's protagonist, U.S. Marine Chief Warrant Officer, Shake Davis, takes us from the quiet gravesite of a fallen friend halfway around the world on a mission to locate and retrieve documents that shed light on the fate of hundreds of missing American soldiers. Not unlike Captain Dye's recent previous novels, Platoon and Run Between the Raindrops, Laos File is action packed, engages from first page to last and true to Captain Dye's inimitable style, often compels the reader to confront uncomfortable truths and harsh reality.

Those Dye fans who say only combat veterans can truly understand the nuance in Captain Dye's writing could not be more wrong. My own view is no civilian can ever truly understand combat veterans until she's read Dye's books and explored the minds of his characters. Like Dye's previous books, Laos File is peppered with pithy, often contradictory observations on the treachery of government bureaucrats "who put soldiers in harm's way alongside war profiteering capitalists," the "flawed system" that rushed to establish a fighting force in Vietnam, the impotence and inefficacy of "starry-eyed progressives" who refuse to face fact. Indeed, one needs no combat experience to understand and appreciate the mindset of a character who says, "Nothing is ever subtle to me. Everything is always a God damned head-on collision - act fast - follow your instincts." Someone wishing to know the heart of a combat veteran need only read the hard scrabble prose of the man who has spent a career introducing Americans to soldiers.

The passion that made Captain Dye Hollywood's most successful military technical advisor - verisimilitude - gritty, no-holds-barred realism - combat portrayed in motion pictures that can be touched, smelled and tasted as well as seen - flows naturally from film to printed page. Laos File is rife with the chaos, confusion and bared teeth of men at war. Combat veterans know exactly what Captain Dye is talking about when his protagonist remembers in a flash to stay close to a gun and move away from a knife. Combat veterans understand the character who struggles for years with his demons and wakes up "hugging his knees, trembling and drenched in sweat," and combat veterans long ago dismissed the lies that come easily to "young men in clean uniforms who never had the painful cramps or felt the warm ooze of @#$% on their thighs as they lay gasping in some jungle ambush."

Combat veterans or not, readers will find pleasure and profit in Laos File. Not every reader will agree with all Captain Dye's observations and conclusions, but his call-you-on-your-bull@#$%, no nonsense story telling is highly compelling and revealing of an author who doesn't feel the need to ask for your blessing. For all these reasons and many more, I give Laos File my heartiest recommendation.

William Schroder

Author, Soldier's heart

Close-up Today With PTSD in Vietnam Veterans

[...]

Laos File is a truly fine novel. For me, the pacing and flow of the book

was flawless, and it held my interest to the end. I found the book multi-dimensional, and kept wondering how this terrific story was going to reach resolution. What an exceptional read! I think we need more writers like Dale Dye.

Dale Dye's new novel, Laos File, is a military/suspense thriller on the same level with Tom Clancey's works. This one brings us back to 1972 and a series of incidents which determined the fate of American POWs held in jungle camps at the end of the war. Dye's sense of scene and action is acutely honed, and this fast-paced novel is the latest of an impressive body of work.

John M. Del Vecchio

The 13th Valley

If you're a Dale Dye fan, you'll love this book...and if you haven't had the pleasure to read any of his other novels yet, you'll be glad you picked this one up. Laos File is a gritty, action-packed novel written by a true combat Marine who knows the land, the jargon and the meaning of honor, and tranfers it effortlessly to his characters. Generously salted with intricate details and written with a candor that only close friends share, you might even feel the wind on your face as you imagine riding shotgun alongside Marine Corps Gunner Shake Davis as he risks his life to uncover the long-buried truth about the POWs and MIAs. Well worth the read!

Laos File

Dale Dye, bestselling author of Platoon, writes another compeling story about what happened to 213 American MIAs on the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos in 1972. Gunny Shake was ready to retire from the Corps when he learned an old buddy, SgtMaj Gus, who was a spook for DIA 1972-76, left the Laos File detailing what happened to those 213 Americans. The story has flashbacks of Vietnam as told best by a Marine who had been a warrior there could; prepare for raw gyrene jargon. Mark this a "must read".

Semper Fi, Dick Hrebik, mustang Major, USMC Ret, award winning author of THE WARRIOR AMONG US and CORPS VET

Retired Marine Sergeant Major Quick died at his cabin in a remote part of the Ozark Mountains - never knowing what had happened to his son, a confirmed POW in Laos during the Vietnam war. When the American POW's were released in Hanoi after the war, his son and many other confirmed prisoners from Laos were not a part of that contingent of freed soldiers. It was reported that 213 POW's were collected from various prison camps in Laos and were en route to Hanoi. The prisoners and guards, over three-hundred men in total, were following the Ho Chi Minh trail northward. However, just prior to reaching the gateway into North Vietnam, the entire group vanished. There were no survivors, evidence on the trails or documentation regarding the march and its outcome - 213 American families would never know what happened. So it was said...

After the Vietnam War ended, Sergeant Major Quick spent four years with the "Spooks" in South East Asia trying to solve the mystery of his missing son. He had heard rumors of existing evidence, and followed up on every lead. He created a log of his own during this time and recorded every tidbit of information - keeping it hidden and secret from the Spooks and others. After his death, this package and other pertinent information ended up in the hands of Marine Gunner Shake Davis. Warrant Officer Davis and Sergeant Major Quick served together in Vietnam and other hot spots during their careers. They were close friends, and it was Shake who held the Sergeant Major's head in his arms - comforting the older man until his heart finally stopped and he took a last breath. The Warrant Officer was contemplating retirement and was ready to sign the papers when these secret documents arrived. In order for him to carry on, Shake had to find a way back to Vietnam with a good enough cover - one that would enable him to conduct his clandestine investigation behind the scenes. The perfect opportunity came up when the Marine Corps asked Shake to postpone his retirement and join up with a MIA delegation in Vietnam. This was also a front for the real reason the government was sending him there. Shake Davis was tasked with spying on Vietnamese military strength, tactics and weapons in addition to those discussions about MIA's. Could he do this and conduct his private investigation about the Laos disappearances at the same time?

Shake Davis found Vietnam much different from how he remembered it during the war. Most of the people encountered were not even born when the war was fought and did not show any resentment for the Americans. It was a different story with the older generation. There were many secrets, ex-soldiers harbored guilt and wanted retribution, there were indeed survivors of the Laos March and evidence of what had happened was also available and hidden in a secret place. However, people are now dying and Shake Davis is in the cross-hairs of assassins; somebody was going to great lengths in wanting to keep the Laos file a secret.

This book is a cloak and dagger thriller with many twists and turns. Shake eventually finds himself at the outer walls of Hue and the Imperial Palace. The familiarity of these sights forces him to relive the battles he fought here during the 1968 Tet offensive. When his mind stops the movie, he realizes that he is standing in the exact place where his foxhole had been some forty-two years earlier. In fact, he even meets a former NVA soldier, who turns out to be the one who fought Shake, hand to hand, in this very spot.

The truth is out there! Can Warrant Officer Davis find it? Will the US and Vietnamese governments try to stop him? Will he escape the assassins? Will there be closure? This is a stay up late at night book - well worth the reader having to drag his ass the next day. Highly recommended. Well done Dale!

John Podlaski, Author

Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel

United States Marine Corps Captain (Ret.) Dale Adam Dye saw combat in the jungles of Southeasr Asia. He transitioned there from a patriotic, light-hearted young U.S. Marine into a combat-hardened, light-hearted professional grunt. From the first page of 'Laos File', there is no doubt that a grunt is relaying this story.

There is some truth in every good piece of fiction, and this story is certainly good. One wonders how much Captain Dye relived in this book.

The salty language may be difficult for some weaker readers. But then the story is not one of 'candy-ass' wimps. For those who might have been there, or even near there, this tale is fascinating. It makes one feel like time rolled back to a much more volatile time, at least for some of us, and for our loved ones.

I bought this book because I had done work with Dale over a ten year span. Back then we had to keep it clean and professional on broadcast radio. A lot of years ago, I ran into him in Boulder. I remember every one of his movies. He was always professional and impressive. Still, this book showed me a different side. Dale can get down and really dirty, to his credit, when the job calls for it. When all is said and done, he will emerge with a gripping story that is guaranteed to pull the readers in. This one does just that!

As Dale would say, 'Well done Marine. Semper Fi!"

Joseph McHale, author

SLOPE: A Colorado Mystery

Arrived quickly and in great shape. Wonderful book by Dale Dye. You're missing out if you're not reading his novels.

Capt. Dye is one of those rare people who is able to leave the action and find a successful career in the Media, doing everything well -- but I didn't know what sort of writer he was, until I read Laos File.

The story is a fast read, it holds your interest and keeps you on the edge of your seat, feeling as if you're THERE.

The fate of American POW's provides the core plot, but there are twists and turns as you follow the journey of U.S. Marine Chief Warrant Officer, Shake Davis, as he navigates the rocks and shoals of the military and intelligence community bureaucracy and lands in Viet Nam. The salty language and the true-to-life characters that Capt. Dye paints on the page will compel you to read and keep turning pages right up to the last.

Highly Recommended!

White Powder: A novel of the CIA and the Secret War in Laos

Maybe I'm partial to Dale A. Dye's work. He was my partner on a news desk at the American Forces Radio and TV Service following his Vietnam service some years ago. He covered the Navy and Marine Corp while I covered Army and Air Force.

But I've watched his written art mature and this is Dye at his best. Laos File is riveting, continuous action and an amazing, suspenseful conclusion. The words his key character, Gunner Shake Davis uses, seem to come direcdtly from Dye's mouth, reflecting much of his own Vietnam experience. But the search for truth described by the aging individuals with lives shaped by their war experiences leads to a more basic and human need...that to have closure on the loss of a loved ones and peace with oneself.