Customer Reviews

Take Back the Night

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Dennis Foley has created a wonderful character, Jim Hollister. If you have never read a novel about the Vietnam War, make this exciting series your first. You might as well read them in order (Long Range Patrol, Night Work, and Take Back the Night), if you don't order all three together you'll soon be ordering the rest. The novels are so well written you can see, feel, hear and live the action. The characters are real and believable. Treat yourself today, you won't regret it!

As usual I read this book before I read Dennis's first book. I still enjoyed the book very much. Dennis puts you in there with Hollister. I as a member of a LRRP/RANGER unit(Echo 50thLRRP /Echo 75th RANGER unit would have loved to have had someone like him leading our unit. Dennis made this book sing. I lost a lots of sleep,because I couldn't put the book down. Ialso have his other book, I will go back, and read them both again. Roadrunner6 Out

Captain Jim Hollister is back for his third tour in Nam. Much has changed since his last tour. His marriage cannot take the strain and he and Susan are separated. The draft has been scraping the bottom of the barrel of American youth. The media has convinced most Americans that we need to pull out. Vietnamization is a joke and will never work. The ARVNs are next to useless, even with American leadership. After a brief stint at Ranger School as an instructor Captain Hollister is sent back to his old unit, Juliet Company. But boy has it changed: long hair, sideburns, drug use, racial polarity, terrible morale, weapons in disrepair, rusted magazines, men out of shape, etc. As company commander he has to turn the unit around, and quickly, or they are going to be broken up and sent elsewhere. Working with a core of good NCOs he turns the Ranger company around and kicks some [...], starting up long range patrols, insertions, etc. near and into Cambodia. Lots of action and Captain Hollister is in two helicopter crashes. The multiple insertions into a VC tunnel complex in Cambodia to try and snatch some prisoners is awesome. Good book, and a real study in how to effectively turn around and lead a unit that has lost its self-respect. Recommended. This is his third Nam novel and it is well worth it.

Dennis Foley has again produced a novel that is intriguing, entertaining and keeps the reader in suspense. But Take Back The Night is more than a splendid novel, it is a textbook on small unit leadership that should be studied by the schools of the US Army and Marine Corps. Foley illustrates the effective way to deal with problem soldiers and less than competent unit noncommissioned officers and officers.

The author has masterfully woven into the story the painful themes of the last years of the Vietnam War - The drug problems are put in perspective to the combat situation and life back in the States. The disenchantment by the American public with the prolonged war and its impact on morale of soldiers in harm's way is ever present. The failure of national leadership takes an appropriate whack as do the suck-up career officers and the often self-important advisors.

Foley presents a sensitive treatment of the plight of the Montagnard people and shows the disdain and abuse inflicted on them by both the North and South Vietnamese military.

Key to the success and survival of the grunts in the dirt, is the extremely strong bond and mutual respect between Rangers and aviation crewmen that flows through the entire book. The intimacy is reflected in the always correct terminology and techniques relating to flying and employing helicopters in the thick of fighting with the Rangers in desperate situations

A great read, Foley. Keep those stories and books coming!

This book is about a group of soldiers, who are under the leadership of Captain Jim Hollister, that were under a short leave of absence of action for a while and let a bunch of things like, drugs, and racial discrimination get between them. It takes a lot of work for Captain Hollister to get his men into shape and ready for very difficult tasks that they must complete, but survive throught it. This novel showed me that when it comes to war, it can bring all kinds of people together to get the job done. If you love war stories, this absolutely meant for you to read.

As usual I read this book before I read Dennis's first book. I still enjoyed the book very much. Dennis puts you in there with Hollister. I as a member of a LRRP/RANGER unit(Echo 50thLRRP /Echo 75th RANGER unit would have loved to have had someone like him leading our unit. Dennis made this book sing. I lost a lots of sleep,because I couldn't put the book down. Ialso have his other book, I will go back, and read them both again. Roadrunner6 Out

As usual I read this book before I read Dennis's first book. I still enjoyed the book very much. Dennis puts you in there with Hollister. I as a member of a LRRP/RANGER unit(Echo 50thLRRP /Echo 75th RANGER unit would have loved to have had someone like him leading our unit. Dennis made this book sing. I lost a lots of sleep,because I couldn't put the book down. I also have his other book, I will go back, and read them both again.