Customer Reviews

The X-MAS War

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was very interested in reading this book and I am glad I purchased it. It is an anthology of various books written by Mr. Malensek and once I started reading it, I couldnt put it down.

The war (or I should say wars) takes place between 2010 - 2011. Most of the story is told by diary entries or news releases, with some narrative in between. I served in the military 12 years and I can honestly say the author knows what he is talking about and I like how he doesn't include some gee-whiz high tech gadgets that a person in this year can't visualize. He has the various soldiers using equipment that is in use today (with the exception of the aresenal ships).

My only real complaint with the book is it seems as if nobody proof read it after it was completed. There are numerous grammtical errors. The biggest complaint is the dates of some of the events do not match up. Example: The author writes how on Jan 31, 2011 the news reports that two US aircraft carriers were sunck off the coast of North Korea, but on the next page one of the characters is writing about the battle and stated it happened that day, the day he is writing his entry is Feb 3, 2011. Also there is a section of the book where the dates are totally messed up.

Overall this is a well written and excellent story and it was worth every penny.

I read one of Malensek's other books, and when I heard that he had combined his collection into this one, I saw it as a good way to read some of his other works too. The X-MAS War is one of the biggest works of fiction that I've read, but its unique short story, diary entry, and news story structure kept it from seeming endless. Actually, it was very hard to put down at some points. The combination of several different books did make for some confusion because of all the storylines, but by the end of the book, everything came together very nicely. I liked how Malensek used great detail-but not toooo much. Sometimes other technothriller writers can seem to get lost in the circuits of a heat-seeking missile's guidance system. This is still a very technical book, and it's not for novice readers or most Junior High students. Like the characters and multiple storylines, the war is the true subject of change. There were some places where Malensek's conservative tone could be seen, but for the most part, I think he did a nice job of presenting some very polticially incorrect situations without pushing a doctrine. Like his other works, this novel shows that today's high-tech form of industrialized warfare is becoming too dangerous to fight. I look forward to reading more of his books, and I highly suggest you check out The X-MAS War!

At first this read seemed quite overwhelming to me, but slowly I began to read the many stories that were presented, and I was impressed.

An anthology of four books, the author overlaps storylines, using letters from soldiers, news reports, and stories to bring the reader into the world of the soldier and the world of war.
This is an excellent work, portraying the heart of the soldier in each word read, as the author writes to bring you, the reader, an understanding of human conflict from past, present and future! I was engrossed with the story of Manny, I believe that was my favorite part. Mr. Malensek words allowed me feel Manny's tribulations. His fears and concerns, very good!
My husband and father-in-law asked me to please let them read this work after I was finished. They are both prior military, and I am sure will devour the words of this book in no time. I still have not decided if I will let them. (smile)

I believe for a man, or a woman, who is in military service, this read would be like a delicious piece of their favorite cake; however, a harder read for those not interested in this arena. I do however feel, if others would take the time to read this work, they would understand fuller the heart of man, the horror of war.
Perhaps the cover page says it all!

I take my hat off to Mr. Malensek for the intense labor that surely had to go into completing this work, and highly recommend this for any that are interested in the deep recesses of military conflict, and
are wanting to share in the heart of a soldier. Mr. Malensek's skill as a writer is evident in "The X-Mas War" as he weaves his words on the paper,as an artist would paint their picture on a canvas!

Shirley Johnson/Reviewer

I love this guys writings! Had time over the holidays to read all of them! Keep 'em coming!

Well, the premise was OK. Fledgling CIA agent bumbles his way to fame.

Mr Malensek's writing, on the other hand, is fraught with misspellings (it's instead of its, beauracracy instead of bureaucracy, to instead of too) and some obvious intervention by his editor: references to the task force of Marines always included the very politically correct phrase "men and women." Since the novel is set in 2010, there may indeed be women in USMC infantry, but no women characters are mentioned.

Lots of acronym-busting, too, although why it's placed in dialog is a mystery. Telephone conversations are italicized on one end, people recite each other's first names when they start to speak, there are narrative exclamation points that just don't belong... the whole reading experience detracted from the story.

One passage had Manny riding in a jeep from the church "for an hour" to ISI headquarters, and on the very next page the church was described as being "only a few minutes away" from ISI headquarters. That's some traffic they have in Islamabad.

Oh, yes, one more quibble: Marines don't say "Oo-Yah." Marines say "Oo-Rah."

I gave up after 120 pages. There are better books to read.

In a previous review of this book, my words were perhaps ill-choosen and put down in the heat of the moment. I basically picked apart and trashed Scott Malensk's book without full justification seeing how I am not a published author. (Not yet anyhow) While I will not change my rating of the book I do retract the majority of things said in the review. Until I have the time to write a more appropriate review let me just leave it at this: I did not enjoy the book, it was not what I expected, but I do believe that with the proper edits it can be made into a novel that has the potential to be big. Very big