cw2

by Layne Heath

A former Vietnam helicopter pilot returns to Asia--this time he is going to do it right; he is going to make a difference. But an unsettled score from his first posting leads to a bloody destiny that explodes at the climax of this riveting military adventure. CW2 is a blend of technological wizardry and gritty realism that signals a whole new direction in military fiction.

Genres: Fiction, Military Fiction, War, Thriller, Military History

438 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published June 1, 1990

Reviews

[Andrew Webster · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book really made me realize how war can change a person. The brutal experiences the main character goes through, along with bureaucracy, profoundly change him. Its not all negative, as there are some positive experiences and people he encounters along the way.

[Byron Edgington · Rating 3 out of 5]

Layne Heath was a helicopter pilot in Vietnam. A Warrant Officer in that long-ago, but still debated and argued war, Mr. Heath has written a not exceptional but very realistic and engaging work of fiction based on his aviation experience in SouthEast Asia. There's a lot to like inside CW2, if the war adventure novel is your thing. If not, you probably won't like it, and that's okay. The book is packed with intricate detail about 'the helicopter war,' aviation items that only a Warrant Officer pilot would know and military strategy that puts readers on the battlefield, as ephemeral and loosely defined as it was in that insurgency.
Though very well written, even crafted I'd say, the book left me a bit disappointed in its almost predictable ending. The Frenchman was a tad too well foretold, so Roark's evolution into his replacement was no surprise. Likewise Crable's suicide, the only possible end for this miserable human specimen. There's an awful lot of killing going on in CW2, which one might expect in a war, but not this much, and some of that killing and dying I felt was a bit gratuitous. Or perhaps I really like happy endings too much, and poor Saccharin seemed too sweet and innocent, even for a prostitute, to die in such a gruesome manner.
CW2 is well worth a look. It's filled with almost microscopic detail of the Vietnam war and the mentality of the leadership that surely cost us a victory there all those years ago.
Byron Edgington: The Sky Behind Me, a Memoir of Flying and Life

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Well-written novel about an often-overlooked facet of the Vietnam Conflict.

[Christopher Taylor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just once I'd like to read a Vietnam story that wasn't miserable, suicidal, and left everyone mentally damaged. I know several Viet Vets and not a one of them came home a deranged lunatic or depressed to the point of insanity.

The helicopter parts are great, the technical stuff was well done, the characters are well fleshed out (except the one bad guy officer, who was a caricature without purpose except as a foil). But its just almost parody now about the tone.

Three stars for quality writing, but not more because of the "Vietnam was the worst war ever that ruined everyone" stereotype.

[Esteban Stipnieks · Rating 5 out of 5]

My sophomore year in high school my father gave me the book to read. About the time my mother whom he met in Denton as a woc on weekend pass was hired by Denton ISD as their first Latina assistant superintendent of schools.

Ultimately as a pilot wanna be and as teenage male who finished high school in Denton I got to understand Billy Roark.....and yes fished and floated the Brazos. In doing so I got to understand my father some.

The book's description of phases of a pilot is spot on and actually fits motor learning principles.
Dark Gruesome honest.

[Benny Kjaer · Rating 5 out of 5]

To quote Tom Clancy: A superb novel...Powerful, eloquent, uncompromising realistic.
Vietnam raw, bloody, and real.

[The Villan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. You can tell the author lived it the way he writes about his subject and the craziness of the Vietnam war and how it affected the soldiers that served there

[Chuckdee · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Author’s Note…

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was captivating, displaying both the history and the people well. The touches of mystery in the conclusion were exceptional. It was a great display of how small events can come together.

[James Maida · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was in my opinion an amazingly written story showing the pride and pain, the fear and exiliration, the frusturation and satisfaction that can come with being a pilot in the armed forces of the united states. Taking your seat in the mind of Army Warrant Officer Billy Roark as he comes to Vietnam as a green rookie and has his world turned in every direction through two tours.

[John Treanor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. I haven't read too many Vietnam books, so it really opened my eyes as to what the chopper pilots life was like.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

As an ex Navy helo pilot I like a good helicopter story. Even when its about those icky Army guys. Pretty good yarn, pretty well told.