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Bad Odds
Bad Odds,
a Novel by Duke Davis. Copyright January, 2011
Bob Sloan, a young helicopter repair, and design technician, for HeloTechnologies, a company out of Atlanta, goes to Vietnam as a Civilian Technical Representative. Sloan has spent six years in the Navy, working on choppers on aircraft carriers, and four years in the civilian world doing the same job. He knows nothing about warfare, the jungle, or Vietnam, other than what he has seen on the TV news. But, he reasons, it makes no difference as he will be on a base somewhere and not involved in the Army way of life.
He arrives at Bien Hoa Air Base just after daylight, and is immediately impressed with a few things. The heat, the horrible smell of burning human waste that permeates everything, and the constant bustle of a war time environment. He reports in and is issued a uniform, a change of clothing, and put on a chopper to Nha Trang, where he will catch another flight to the A Shau Valley and an Army Helicopter base camp located there.
At Nha Trang he meets an Army Warrant Officer named Red Watkins. Red is the pilot who will take him to the A Shau. Sloan finds out that the A Shau is known as the meanest place in Vietnam. On the flight to the base camp the Huey Slick they are in is hit by Vietnamese anti-air-craft fire and explodes. Sloan is blown out the hatch and lands in a treetop. He's unconscious, and hurt, but not seriously.
Before he can get out of the tree, Sloan sees Vietnamese soldiers on the ground and stays still until they go away. He doesn't know if they are Viet Cong, North Vietnamese Army, or even friendly troops, but is afraid of letting them find him.
Fear dominates his every thought. Sloan is more afraid than he has ever been in his entire life. He is lost in the jungles of a nation at war. He has no combat training. No weapons to defend himself with. No supplies. No idea what he should do. He decides that the Army will not come looking for him because they will figure he was killed in the explosion. He has to get himself out of this jam. He decides the odds are extremely bad against his survival.
Sloan is eventually captured and his treatment starts to make him mad but not knowing what to do he does nothing. He is joined in Captivity by Briscoe, a US Marine Lance Corporal. They team up and together they escape and do their best to evade recapture.
Some of his anger is at his situation and the need to kill. Some is from. And some is due to the savageness that resides in man's soul. Sloan arrives in Vietnam as a twenty-eight year old boy but in the end becomes a man.
a Novel by Duke Davis. Copyright January, 2011
Bob Sloan, a young helicopter repair, and design technician, for HeloTechnologies, a company out of Atlanta, goes to Vietnam as a Civilian Technical Representative. Sloan has spent six years in the Navy, working on choppers on aircraft carriers, and four years in the civilian world doing the same job. He knows nothing about warfare, the jungle, or Vietnam, other than what he has seen on the TV news. But, he reasons, it makes no difference as he will be on a base somewhere and not involved in the Army way of life.
He arrives at Bien Hoa Air Base just after daylight, and is immediately impressed with a few things. The heat, the horrible smell of burning human waste that permeates everything, and the constant bustle of a war time environment. He reports in and is issued a uniform, a change of clothing, and put on a chopper to Nha Trang, where he will catch another flight to the A Shau Valley and an Army Helicopter base camp located there.
At Nha Trang he meets an Army Warrant Officer named Red Watkins. Red is the pilot who will take him to the A Shau. Sloan finds out that the A Shau is known as the meanest place in Vietnam. On the flight to the base camp the Huey Slick they are in is hit by Vietnamese anti-air-craft fire and explodes. Sloan is blown out the hatch and lands in a treetop. He's unconscious, and hurt, but not seriously.
Before he can get out of the tree, Sloan sees Vietnamese soldiers on the ground and stays still until they go away. He doesn't know if they are Viet Cong, North Vietnamese Army, or even friendly troops, but is afraid of letting them find him.
Fear dominates his every thought. Sloan is more afraid than he has ever been in his entire life. He is lost in the jungles of a nation at war. He has no combat training. No weapons to defend himself with. No supplies. No idea what he should do. He decides that the Army will not come looking for him because they will figure he was killed in the explosion. He has to get himself out of this jam. He decides the odds are extremely bad against his survival.
Sloan is eventually captured and his treatment starts to make him mad but not knowing what to do he does nothing. He is joined in Captivity by Briscoe, a US Marine Lance Corporal. They team up and together they escape and do their best to evade recapture.
Some of his anger is at his situation and the need to kill. Some is from. And some is due to the savageness that resides in man's soul. Sloan arrives in Vietnam as a twenty-eight year old boy but in the end becomes a man.
246 pages, Kindle Edition
First published February 19, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 30, 2020
Run of the mill Vietnam pow story. Not really long enough to offer anything substantial. If you've got a couple of spare hours to kill this book will do the trick. If you're looking for something deep this book isn't it.
All reaches an ending you can spot from halfway through the book. I think they're seemed scope to develop the story further. But it wasn't to be.
All reaches an ending you can spot from halfway through the book. I think they're seemed scope to develop the story further. But it wasn't to be.
December 8, 2011
After serving in the U.S. Navy for six years, Bob Sloan is now a civilian contractor for the U.S. Army in Vietnam. He also spent four years in the civilian world fixing helicopters.
He is on his way to his first station, when his helicopter is shot down in the middle of nowhere.
This book is about his trials after surviving the crash.
Now, let me tell you a little about Mr. Davis. He is a Vietnam veteran, serving with distinction with a small group in the Navy. Maybe you have heard of them, The SEALS.
This book comes from the heart, it feels like you are actually there with Bob as he and Marine Lance Corporal, Steve Briscoe.
There were many time I caught myself (mentally) yelling at the characters to warn them.
You will enjoy this book, even if you do not care for historic or military fiction. I know I did.
He is on his way to his first station, when his helicopter is shot down in the middle of nowhere.
This book is about his trials after surviving the crash.
Now, let me tell you a little about Mr. Davis. He is a Vietnam veteran, serving with distinction with a small group in the Navy. Maybe you have heard of them, The SEALS.
This book comes from the heart, it feels like you are actually there with Bob as he and Marine Lance Corporal, Steve Briscoe.
There were many time I caught myself (mentally) yelling at the characters to warn them.
You will enjoy this book, even if you do not care for historic or military fiction. I know I did.
June 28, 2011
I thought this was a fine book, well written and full of action. Great for any Vietnam Buff, War Buf, or just plain Adventure.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews