The Yearlings

Guardians of Honor #2

by J.E. Bandy Jr.

When old enemies form alliances with new and more treacherous adversaries, Casey Sullivan’s undercover assignment becomes more complicated and more dangerous in part two of this exciting Christian Thriller. With Casey’s help, the United States Military Academy scored a major victory against right-wing extremists attempting to infiltrate West Point during the previous academic year. However, unknown to the academy’s leadership, its victory only strengthened the enemy’s resolve. In Guardians of Honor: the Yearlings, the US Intelligence Community and the Israeli Mossad become increasingly aware of a larger and deadlier plot against the American homeland, a plot with deep roots and international implications; a plot that Casey learns has a name--Operation Patriot.

Once more, Casey finds herself engaged in a delicate dance between her Christian values and operational necessity, and between the high standards of West Point’s Honor Code and the murky chasm of moral relativism. Casey gains mentors in unexpected places and on opposite sides of critical ethical issues, edging her closer and closer towards a dark night of the soul.

The Guardians of Honor series is a groundbreaking exploration of West Point and the Intelligence Community seen through the eyes of female officers and cadets on the firing line.

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256 pages, Paperback

Published December 12, 2014

About the author

John E. Bandy, Jr. lives quietly with his family in scenic Fredericksburg, VA. In addition to writing and sightseeing, he enjoys taking walks with his German Shepherd Marti and playing with his precocious Tortoise-shell cat Skoshi. John is a former naval officer, and is a graduate of York High School, the College of William and Mary, and Old Dominion University, in Hampton Roads Virginia. He is an avid reader and loves historical research; skills honed during his graduate school years while working for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation. John is a life long Christian and hopes to create novels that are interesting, exciting, and family-friendly.

Reviews

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read

Awesome read! I finished it in a day and a half, could not put it down! Can't wait to see what Casey will do next!

[elena j. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hickory Hill by Sherrie Hill is a deeply resonant historical narrative that examines friendship, memory, and the painful legacy of slavery in Illinois. The story centers on Lilly and Celeste, two lifelong friends one Black, one white whose bond has endured nearly a century. As they return to their childhood home, the shadows of the past, including the history of slavery at Hickory Hill, come rushing back, both through memory and tragedy when Celeste suffers a massive stroke.

Hill intertwines personal stories with the larger history of Hickory Hill, once a notorious salt plantation and slave-trading hub. The novel’s power lies in its unflinching portrayal of both the intimate dynamics of friendship and the broader social injustices that shaped the lives of generations. Lilly’s attempt to navigate Celeste’s fragmented memories becomes a lens for exploring resilience, historical reckoning, and the complexities of human connection across color lines.

Readers who appreciate historical fiction grounded in real events, multi-generational friendships, and narratives that confront racial injustice and legacy will find Hickory Hill both thought-provoking and moving.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I received a copy of Guardians of Honor: The Yearlings as part of the Goodreads First Read program a few months ago and I am just now getting around to reading it.

Let me start by saying, I came in to this story without reading the first book in the series. Perhaps, if I read that one, I may have a better idea of what was going on with this one... With that being said, I served in the Army, so the lingo and quite a few of the activities mentioned were familiar so I was not lost in that aspect. It was just the story that left a lot to be desired for me personally...

There is no background story AT ALL. The book jumps right in to Casey Sullivan, the main character, on some dangerous and thrilling adventure (which is one of the things I don't understand and was never explained before the book just suddenly ended...) So, for me, I felt that character development was definitely lacking. I didn't connect to any of the multiple personalities in the story since I knew so little about them I could find nothing to relate to. Not only that, but none of them were even likable... Also, a lot of single sentence conversations took place in the two hundred something pages of this book that I found rather annoying. I'm not joking. Nearly all responses and interactions started and ended in a single line so I found them all to be extremely boring. Not witty. Not cute. Not informative or detailed. Just boring.

[Brian Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very quick read. Lots of action and tense situations for the heroine, requiring a healthy dose of suspension of disbelief. I'm looking forward to the next, but I feel this effort was not quite as good as the first.

[Gregory Hamilton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great continuation of the journey of Casey Sullivan in transformation from "rat to cat". The book is extraordinarily well-researched, well-written, and evokes curiosity about what will happen in Casey's West Point career and beyond!