Target: Patton by Robert Wilcox

December 21, 1945 – a date that many people do not know the significance of unlike June 6, 1944 or July 4, 1776.  December 21, 1945 should be remembered by all Americans as the day we lost one our best fighting generals in our history.  On that day, General George S. Patton succumbed to complications from injuries he suffered in an automobile “accident” on December 9, 1945.  I write “accident” because there are some that think the accident was an elaborate plot to assassinate Patton.  Robert Wilcox’s Target: Patton, The Plot to Assassinate General George S. Patton provides a compelling argument supporting the idea that Patton was killed for his outspokenness against the Soviets.

Here is a synopsis of the book (in part) from its publisher:

He was the most controversial American general in World War II–and also one of the most successful, courageous, and audacious. As a post-war administrator of defeated Germany, he sounded alarm bells about the dangers of Soviet encroachment into Europe.  Politically, he was a lightning rod–an outspoken conservative who continually embarrassed his superiors with his uncensored, undiplomatic, and unrestrained comments to the press. He was General George S. Patton Jr., old Blood and Guts.

In 1945, shortly before he was to fly home to the states as a conquering hero, he was involved in a mysterious car crash that left him partially paralyzed.

Two weeks later, just as his doctors were about to send him home to finish his recovery, he was dead.

The army ruled the car crash an accident, his death natural. Yet witness testimony on the crash conflicted, key players in the incident disappeared, official reports vanished, soldiers were ordered to keep silent, and there was no autopsy performed on the body.

Investigative and military reporter Robert Wilcox, author of Black Aces High and Wings of Fury, has spent more than ten years investigating these mysteries, and in Target: Patton he has written an electrifying account of the shocking circumstances–long hidden from the public–surrounding the death of America’s most famous general.

This is a very well-written and researched book.  Wilcox clearly did his homework when he wrote this book.  I am amazed at the amount of information that he puts in writing.  All of this information is well-organized for the most part -  a few times Wilcox’s tangents could have been pared back.  I particularly think that the parts of the book regarding the infiltration of the Soviet spies into our political hierarchy is fascinating.

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Shimmer by Eric Barnes

The word I bet you will hear used a lot to describe Eric Barnes debut novel Shimmer is “timely.”  With the sentencing of Bernie Madoff, and the general climate of the economy in the aftermath of the financial crisis, this seems like the perfect time for a thriller about a high tech mega-corporation that is really a giant ponzi scheme.

Here is the publisher’s blurb to give you a feel for the plot:

In just three years, CEO Robbie Case has grown Core Communications, a data technology company, from 30 people to over 5,000. Now a $20 billion company made legendary by its sudden success, Core is based on a technology no other company can come close to copying, a revolutionary breakthrough known as drawing blood from a mainframe. And Robbie, its 35-year-old CEO, is acclaimed worldwide for his vision, leadership and wealth. Except that all of it is based on a lie. The technology doesn t work, the finances are built on a Ponzi scheme of stock sales and shell corporations, and Robbie is struggling to keep the company alive, to protect the friends who work for him and all that they ve built. Each day, Robbie tries to push the catastrophe back a little further, while his employees believe that they are all moving closer to grace, the day their stock options vest, when they will be made rich for their faith and loyalty and hard work.

In essence what Barnes has attempted is to get inside the mind of high tech con man.  What type of person does this sort of thing?  What would it be like to be at the center of such a scheme?  Robbie Case is his attempt at flushing this out; an answer in the form of a character.

I found Shimmer to be unlike almost any other book I have read. It was interesting and entertaining but there was something about it that didn’t quite click.

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The Vanishing Sculptor by Donita K. Paul

It must be Christian fiction week here at CM as today we have another example; although very different from the Shack.  The Vanishing Sculptor is not theology thinly disguised as a novel but rather a novel with a subtle theological point.

Here is the description from the publishers:

Donita K. Paul’s 250,000-plus-selling DragonKeeper Chronicles series has attracted a wide spectrum of dedicated fans–and they’re sure to fall in love with the new characters and adventures in her latest superbly-crafted novel for all ages. It’s a mind-boggling fantasy that inhabits the same world as the DragonKeeper Chronicles, but in a different country and an earlier time, where the people know little of Wulder and nothing of Paladin.

In The Vanishing Sculptor, readers will meet Tipper, a young emerlindian who’s responsible for the upkeep of her family’s estate during her sculptor father’s absence. Tipper soon discovers that her actions have unbalanced the whole foundation of her world, and she must act quickly to undo the calamitous threat. But how can she save her father and her world on her own? The task is too huge for one person, so she gathers the help of some unlikely companions–including the nearly five-foot tall parrot Beccaroon–and eventually witnesses the loving care and miraculous resources of Wulder. Through Tipper’s breathtaking story, readers will discover the beauty of knowing and serving God.

Interestingly enough, the first and last sentences above are points worth discussing. I missed the strong connection to the Dragon Keeper Chronicles when I first started reading and I think this had an impact on my experience.  And I also think the last sentence (re: the beauty of knowing and serving God) over-states things a bit.

More on those issues, and more, below. Read more..

The Shack by William P. Young

One of my oft repeated phrases is: “Better late than never.”  The sad fact is that I have all too many chances to utter it.  I bring this up because it seems a perfect application to this review.  Those bloggers who are organized and on top of things tend to offer reviews when a topic, book, or author is in the news and/or the hot topic of conversation.

While The Shack is still the topic of conversation around the country and around the world, the story is by now well know and thoroughly debated. (See this New York Times article for a flavor)

I first read the book back when it was much more a burgeoning phenomenon but never got around to putting my thoughts and reactions down in pixels.  But when my church’s Sunday School class offered this as one of its book discussions I decided to go back and resist it.

For those of you unfamiliar with the book here is a brief description:

Mackenzie Allen Philips’ youngest daughter, Missy, has been abducted during a family vacation and evidence that she may have been brutally murdered is found in an abandoned shack deep in the Oregon wilderness. Four years later in the midst of his Great Sadness, Mack receives a suspicious note, apparently from God, inviting him back to that shack for a weekend. Against his better judgment he arrives at the shack on a wintry afternoon and walks back into his darkest nightmare. What he finds there will change Mack’s world forever.

After a second reading, I found that while its literary merit left a lot to be desired, and its theology was shaky in parts, as a whole it was a thought provoking and worthwhile read.

Below I will look at the book’s literary, theological, and philosophical implications. I’m not sure this matters at this point, but there will be “spoilers” involved. Read more..

Are You Kidding Me? by Rocco Mediate & John Feinstein

As the players struggle to get their rounds in at rain soaked Bethpage Black what better time to take a look back at last years amazing US Open golf tournament.  Are You Kidding Me?: The Story of Rocco Mediate’s Extraordinary Battle with Tiger Woods at the US Open by Rocco Mediate and John Feinstein does just that and in entertaining and enlightening fashion.

For those of you not golf fans, or who inexplicably didn’t follow the amazing events of last year, here is recap.  Tiger Woods was coming of April knee surgery and hadn’t played a 18-hole round of golf before the US Open started.  Many wondered if Tiger would finish the tournament.  But if Tiger is in the field then he is the favorite; and he had won at Torry Pines, the US Open site, many times including earlier that year at the Buick Open.

Rocco Mediate was a successful PGA journeyman whose bad back had kept him from achieving the kind of success his talent might have brought him.  He was more famous for his talkative demeanor than for competing in majors. If you had to pick a player that would challenge Tiger Woods for a major championship, and in spectacular fashion, you would not have picked Mediate.

But last year these two very different golfers produced one of the most memorable US Opens in golf history.  Tiger mixed in some very ugly golf with the kind of shots only Tiger can make to storm to the lead after 54 holes.  Thirteen times before Tiger has taken the lead after three rounds and thirteen times he has won.  And yet Mediate pushed Tiger to the brink; twice forcing him to make birdie on the final hole to stay alive.

Mediate in turn frequently seemed about to fade away and let Tiger grab another spectacular win.  But on numerous occasions he pulled himself together and played remarkable golf in the most pressure cooker of situations (three successive birdies on the Monday playoff to take it too sudden death).  In the end it took Tiger 92 holes to beat Rocco.  Tiger may have had a bad knee, but Rocco still forced arguably the greatest golfer of all time, and one of sports most dominant competitors, to use everything he had to win.  And Tiger labeled it his greatest win ever.

You don’t have to be a golf or sports fan to appreciate the drama and appeal of this story.  But what Mediate and Feinstein offer in Are You Kidding Me? is not just a shot by shot recap of the tournament – although the coverage of the event is well done – but rather a better understanding of the person and golfer behind it. Read more..

Saratoga by John Luzador

The Battle of Saratoga – the pivotal, some say the most important, battle of the Revolutionary War.  It conjures up images of the British march through the wilds that took weeks to travel a few miles and of Benedict Arnold coming to the rescue of the Americans.  These events and many more are covered in detail in John Luzador’s Saratoga: A Military History of the Decisive Campaign of the American Revolution.

The 1777 Saratoga campaign was a British-led invasion of the American colonies to attempt to capture Albany, New York from Canada.  The British force (with some Canadians, loyalists, and Indians) of 7,800 men were led by General John Burgoyne.  They were pitted against a force that grew stronger as the campaign continued and initially led by General Philip Schuyler and then General Horatio Gates.  After a successful and surprisingly easy capture of Fort Ticonderoga, the British quickly followed up with the capture of Fort Anne.  However, their progress was soon slowed by the delaying tactics of the Americans.  The campaign reached its climax in two pivotal battles – one at Freeman’s Farms on September 19 and another at Bemis Heights on October 7.  Following the crucial loss at Bemis Heights, the British were forced to surrender to the Americans (the first British Army to do so).

Luzador provides a very balanced account of the campaign.  He criticizes and praises the British and Americans equally (although a bit more praise for the Americans seeing that they were the victors).

Luzador’s analysis of the decisions made by Burgoyne, Schuyler, Gates, and Benedict Arnold are excellent.  For example, when he looks at Burgoyne’s decision to take the land route from Fort Ticonderoga rather than the water route via Lake George, Luzador explains the pros and cons for each route.  In addition, although many historians have questioned Burgoyne’s thinking, Luzador states that Burgoyne’s reasoning was solid – it was somewhat beyond his control that Schuyler’s men did such a fine job of mucking up the road between Forts Anne and Edward.

In addition to his superb analysis of the campaign leading up to the two main battles, Luzador presents a solid review of the Gates/Arnold affair.  He discusses the strengths and weaknesses of each general and then examines the different theories of their break down in relations.  He concludes, rightly I think, that the blame for the break down rests not only on the two generals, but also on two of Schuyler’s aides who stayed on to help Arnold – Henry Brockholst Livingston and Lieutenant Colonel Richard Varick (they began and stoked the jealousies of Arnold.

Throughout the book, Luzador includes excellent maps to follow along with the battles and the campaign.  At the back of the book, he includes several pages of photographs of the Freeman’s Farms and Bemis Heights battlefields.  Finally, there are several appendixes highlighting items such as the orders of battle for the British and the Americans.

This is an excellent account and analysis of the Saratoga campaign of 1777.

Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton

In the past, much ink has been spilled on the War in Iraq, but not nearly as much on the War in Afghanistan.  This is beginning to change with more books coming out on Afghanistan.  One of the newest, Horse Soldiers by Doug Stanton, is about the role American Special Forces played in the initial stages of the war.

Here is a description of the book from it’s publisher:

Horse Soldiers is the dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who secretly entered Afghanistan following 9/11 and rode to war on horses against the Taliban. Outnumbered forty to one, they pursued the enemy across mountainous terrain and, after a series of intense battles, captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was strategically essential if they were to defeat the Taliban.

The bone-weary American soldiers were welcomed as liberators, and overjoyed Afghans thronged the streets. Then the action took a wholly unexpected turn. During a surrender of six hundred Taliban troops, the Horse Soldiers were ambushed. Dangerously outnumbered, they fought for their lives in the city’s immense fortress, Qala-i-Janghi, or the House of War. At risk were the military gains of the entire campaign: if the soldiers perished or were captured, the effort to defeat the Taliban might be doomed.

As the Americans struggled to hold the fortress, they faced some of the most intense urban warfare of our time. But until now the full story of the Horse Soldiers has never been told. Doug Stanton received unprecedented cooperation from the U.S. Army’s Special Forces soldiers and Special Operations helicopter pilots, as well as access to voluminous after-battle reports. In addition, he interviewed more than one hundred participants and walked every inch of the climactic battleground.

This exciting story is filled with unforgettable characters: brave Special Forces soldiers, tough CIA operatives, cunning Afghan warlords, anxious stateside soldiers’ wives who do not know where their husbands have gone, and humble Afghan boys spying on the Taliban.

Deeply researched and beautifully written, Stanton’s account of America’s quest to liberate an oppressed people touches the mythic. The Horse Soldiers combined ancient strategies of cavalry warfare with twenty-first-century aerial bombardment technology to perform a seemingly impossible feat. Moreover, their careful effort to win the hearts of local townspeople and avoid civilian casualties proved a valuable lesson for America’s ongoing efforts in Afghanistan.

Horse Soldiers is a big-hearted and thrilling read, with an epic story that reaches not just across the cold mountains of Afghanistan but into the homes of small-town America, and confirms Doug Stanton as one of our country’s preeminent storytellers.

Stanton writes a fascinating tale about a little known group of American warriors -  men who are trained to use their brains first and their firepower second.  Stanton captures their spirit by taking the reader alongside their harrowing adventure.

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