They Are Soldiers and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more

Buy Used
Used - Very Good See details
$3.53 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details

or
Sign in to turn on 1-Click ordering.
 
   
Kindle Edition
 
   
Have one to sell? Sell yours here
They Are Soldiers
 
 
Start reading They Are Soldiers on your Kindle in under a minute.

Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here, or download a FREE Kindle Reading App.

They Are Soldiers [Hardcover]

Harold Coyle (Author)
2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)


Available from these sellers.


Formats

Amazon Price New from Used from
Kindle Edition --  
Hardcover --  
Mass Market Paperback --  

Book Description

August 1, 2004
They are your neighbor and the person who delivers your mail. They teach your children and build your homes. Every day you see them but do not notice them, that is not until they are needed. Only when disasters strike, whether it be natural or man made do they become something quite different, something more than a fellow citizen. Throughout our nation’s history they have been called many things; the militia, the home guard, the National Guard. But regardless of their title they have always been unique, something more than ordinary people. Their willingness to be both a good citizen in peace and a warrior when called upon make them soldiers.

The nature of the mission, to man a security zone that separates the nation of Israel from the newly created Palestinian state present him and the Guardsmen of Company A with a unique set of problems few are able to predict. Together the professional officer and the citizen soldiers he leads must find a way to navigate their way toward an uncertain future in a troubled land.

Part of that future involves dealing with those who are determined to use the arrival of the Americans to further their own political and personal goals. One of these men is Hammed Kamel, a microbiologist who seizes upon the introduction of American forces in a place some still call the Holy Lands as an opportunity to strike a telling blow against the two nations who have oppressed his people, the Palestinians for decades. Together with a crops of like minded men, Kamel sets in motion a train of events that places the citizen soldiers of Bedlow, Virginia and their community on the other side of the world in jeopardy.

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought


Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Coyle (More Than Courage) chills with a sometimes clumsily written but disturbingly plausible story about a Virginia National Guard unit facing the threat of biological weapons in a security zone between Israelis and a new Palestinian state. Coyle narrates from numerous perspectives, including that of Guard members—postmen, volunteer firefighters—from tiny Bedlow, Va., and the military officers commanding their unit. In the Middle East, Coyle also enters the minds of Syed Amama, a young Palestinian suicide bomber who miraculously survived a successful mission, and Hammed Kamel, a microbiologist determined to rid the new state of its American and Israeli scourge. Chapters about the American deployment are heartfelt but boilerplate, as husbands leave pregnant wives and Coyle describes in excessive detail the heroic patriotism of the military men and the complexities of the U.S. military situation. But a series of taut chapters in which the Americans come face to face with another suicide bomber raises the tension and the stakes, and the stirring climax describes a dangerous raid on Kamel's weapons lab after Amama manages to infect some of the guardsmen with a deadly biological agent. The revolving-character door may leave readers dizzy by the time they reach the climax, but for those who don't mind a heavy hand and a bit of excess patriotism, this is a solid read.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

"Harold Coyle is the best natural storyteller I know."
--Tom Clancy

"Harold Coyle is a superbly talented storyteller . . . the Tom Clancy of ground warfare."
--W.E.B. Griffin

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Forge Books (August 1, 2004)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 076530547X
  • ISBN-13: 978-0765305473
  • Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.3 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
  • Average Customer Review: 2.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,695,638 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

 

Customer Reviews

16 Reviews
5 star:
 (1)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (2)
1 star:
 (5)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
2.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars National Guard at War, September 4, 2004
This review is from: They Are Soldiers (Hardcover)
This book told a story about a seldom-covered part of our military. It is written from the perspective of an active duty Captain (son of the ubiquitous Scott Dixon) who is assigned to a Virginia National Guard unit in order to quickly bring it up to speed in order to fulfill a mission in the Middle East that apparently only a Guard unit could handle. It gives a godd insight into a side of our military that is seldom written about as a novel, rather than a "history". Having served in both the Regular Army and the Guard, I was impressed with the more personal face this novel put on an entire unit- a subculture, as it were, in our military.
Having said that, I was not impressed with the plot; I cannot believe a semi-raw unit of any kind would be sent into a political powderkeg like duty in Israel involving confrontation with the local Arab terrorist infrastructure. Biological warfare, especially a strain of Ebola? Please- Clancy handled that plot awhile back...
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


8 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars A book to tide you over till a good one comes along., January 23, 2005
This review is from: They Are Soldiers (Hardcover)
This book is a disappointment. Hastily written and poorly edited, it should never have reached publication in its present form. The story never becomes sufficiently believable for the reader to immerse himself in it. Whenever there might be a chance of this happening some horribly tangled sentence or ludicrous malapropism pops up. It is as if the text has been carelessly dictated, transcribed by a person unfamiliar with the words and never proofread. For instance, "eek out a living" "screw the pouch" and "gapping mauls" (instead of gaping maws) should certainly have been caught before publication.

The book is largely an account of the difficulties of an poorly prepared reserve unit being called for active duty in the Middle East. While a worthy subject, I think most Harold Coyle readers are looking for more action. The small portion of the plot that could be described as an action story is unbelievable to the point of silliness.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No


8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing Coyle, December 10, 2004
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: They Are Soldiers (Hardcover)
I've been a keen and admiring reader of HC for several years.His ability to create powerful military tales is outstanding.
'They are Soldiers'is a real disappointment. HC's understanding of the complex dynamics of the Mid East is surprisingly poor and he creates comic book characters (a senior Mossad agent who uses phrases like "he won't be playing the violin again" after interrogating a palestinian suspected of biochem warfare - come on Harold, do your research; Shin Bet do the interrogations and Israel has returned so many palestinian prisoners each year without any suggestion of torture since 1985. And a Hamas/PLA biochem warfare lab under a Crusader castle in Israel? Get real!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews 
Was this review helpful to you? Yes No

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
 
 
 
Most Recent Customer Reviews











Only search this product's reviews



Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
For the Israeli soldiers belonging to Isaac Mofaz's squad, the drudgery and monotonous repetition that manning a checkpoint entailed often proved to be nothing short of maddening. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
antivehicle ditch, biowarfare lab, southeastern bastion, radio hand mike, farm compound, cps center, ready reaction force, company orderly room, third squad, eastern fence, ops center, female sergeant, second platoon, new commanding officer, battalion area, first sergeant, security zone, third platoon, alert positions, mortar teams, platoon leader
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Jack Horne, Camp Lee, National Guard, Ollie Rendell, Alex Faucher, Terrance Putnam, Nathan Dixon, Matt Garver, Air Force, West Bank, Fort Benning, Paul Sucher, Russ Hough, Gordon Grello, Middle East, Scott Dixon, Jerry Slatery, Ron Weir, Sam Rainey, United States, Gene Klauss, Bedlow Five, Keith Stone, Allen Teeple, Captain Dixon
New!
Books on Related Topics | Concordance | Text Stats
Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Surprise Me!
Search Inside This Book:


Books on Related Topics (learn more)

What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?


Tags Customers Associate with This Product

 (What's this?)
Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
 

Your tags: Add your first tag
 

Customer Discussions

This product's forum
Discussion Replies Latest Post
No discussions yet

Ask questions, Share opinions, Gain insight
Start a new discussion
Topic:
First post:
Prompts for sign-in
 


Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
Search all Amazon discussions
   
Related forums





Look for Similar Items by Category


Look for Similar Items by Subject