Customer Reviews

Trinity Fields.

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Trinity Fields is without question, Brad Morrow's best book. Disturbingly beautiful, grounded in the moral ambiguity and searing heat of the project to build the atomic bomb, the unfolding of this love triangle is expertly done against the backdrop of post-Vietnam America. Without question THIS is Morrow book to read.

Over the last year I have visited Western New Mexico on numerous occasions, including many of the settings of Trinity Fields and its sequel, Ariel's Crossing. Morrow's description of the New Mexican countryside and its people is exquisite, allowing me to see that beautiful State with a fresh appreciation of its natural, historical, and spiritual beauty.

Morrow's treatise on the human affinity for and in the end the banality of war-particularly Vietnam-is worthy of another Pulitzer. The metaphorical power of the friendship of Kip and Brice is best understood as complementary alter egos, forces and instincts that exist side by side within many of us.

I read Ariel's Crossing prior to reading Trinity Fields. While I also loved the sequel, I recommend reading Trinity first, since Ariel builds on the characterizaions so carefully wrought in Trinity. Read them both for a great literary experience.

1968, by Joe Haldeman, and Trinity Fields, by Bradford Morrow

1968 will surprise readers who think of Joe Haldeman exclusively as a science fiction writer. Its stunning realism and cynical outlook are harrowing. Haldeman's main character is Spider, a soldier in Vietnam. Haldeman never compromises his grim vision of this pivotal year in American history--just when you think it can't get worse for poor Spider, it does. The writing is razor sharp--I was especially enamored of the sections relating Spider's evolving description of his wounding and near death in an ambush. The story changes with time and with Spider's experiences and mental state. At story's end, Haldeman turns the tables and tells the story from another participant's point of view. In doing so, he manages to give the entire book an ironic spin.

The focus in Trinity Fields is on Brice McCarthy, who's sedate existence is interrupted by a letter from a friend he thought long dead. The letter causes Brice to reflect on his life, and, more importantly, on the influence that his boyhood friend, Kip Calder, has had on him. As sons of scientists working on the Manhattan Project, the duo literally grew up in the shadow of the atomic bomb. As children, the two were inseparable, but as they grew older their paths diverged. Their deteriorating friendship finally collapses over their philosophical differences regarding the Vietnam War and their love for the same woman. Ultimately, Brice joins the radical Left and Kip flies secret missions over Laos. Morrow's description of their meeting some twenty five years later, and the poignant favor Kip asks of Brice provide an emotional and satisfying climax.

Taken together, 1968 and Trinity Fields provide plenty of food for thought. Morrow's book, cerebral and reflective, is the perfect complement to the more visceral and gruelling 1968. In both, the horror stems from the Vietnam war, and the physical and mental damage it inflicted. Individually, either book is worthy of your attention, but I recommend that you read them together for greater impact.

Brad Morrow has a way with words ... He crafts them into exquisite sentences, paragraphs and mental pictures that are wonderfully refreshing. The story is compelling ... His Characters believable. I loved it! Great job, Brad!

As a member of the so called X-generation, I have a better understanding of what my parents must have gone through regarding Vietnam. Morrow's writing style puts you right in the scene. As I was reading it I was convinced this must be his life story. It was so real. However, the acknowledgments at the end point out that this is not his life, but his incredible imagination. I will be reading more Bradford Morrow.

Philip argues with Victor about his love for Chloe as Victor claims he's too young to know what love really is. When their argument heats up, Victor grounds him for having low grades and being distracted by Chloe. Stefano overhears Brandon pleading with Lexie to give Isaac to Hope where he belongs. Stefano first offers him money to keep quiet and then threatens him but Brandon isn't frightened which worries Lexie. When Stefano complains to Rolf about this trouble, Rolf decides to kill Brandon. Belle and Chloe look for Bo and Hope to tell them about what Belle saw at the river. Hearing the fire department found nothing after dragging the river again, Bo decides Hope's right that J.T. is still alive. This, folks, is the wonderful world of "Trinity Fields." Read it and learn the meaning of the word "enthralled." Here's how many tiny yet flamingly intense white dwarfs I give it: ****************************************************************************. Wow!