Matt McAvoy Book Review

Another day, another excellent Vietnam war book from Glyn.  A direct sequel to Promises to the Fallen, this instalment kicks off immediately following the tense ending to its predecessor as, much to his new wife’s horror, Eddie is to return to the jungles of Quang Ngai for his second tour of duty.  This time, however, his experience values him much more highly, and he is selected for a small, novel search and rescue unit.  His new adventures will reunite him with old friends, and introduce to him a cruel and formidable new enemy.

Whilst not as procedure-rich as the first book, this instalment definitely bears the trademark of the Promises… series, and is a hugely worthy sequel.  Unlike the more mundane, day-to-day routine we were drawn into previously, there is perhaps a clearer sense of structured-act action in this one, though it is by no means formulaic; Glyn retains all of the quality, knowledge and first-hand expertise which we have now come to expect from this equally gifted author of fiction and Vietnam non-fiction alike.  If you are a fan of action books, you will love it; if you are interested in the Vietnam war or military books generally, you will love it.  This author has an innate talent of putting the reader right there in the jungles and firebases.

War is a very indiscriminate thing – at least, it is for the soldiers once they are on the ground – but with this book, Glyn very deftly and subtly moves the action closer and closer toward the protagonist/antagonist model, and slickly sets up a nice series in the process.  He has managed to achieve a very tricky manoeuvre, incredibly well: to create an intelligent, educated war book series, which gradually veers toward military action with a glossier shine, yet maintaining its integrity at every moment – even Stallone couldn’t manage that with the work of David Morrell.  I’ve no intention to spoil any of the books in the series by embellishing; all I will say is read this series, starting with Promises to the Fallen.  If you have already read Promises…, read Return to the Madness, because I’m sure this author has much more in store.

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