Inspired by actual events, Forgotten is the story of Kevin Slade, a Green Beret sergeant who vanished while on a covert, top-secret mission into Laos during the Vietnam War. Listed as MIA for over two decades, he is discovered alive in the jungles of Southeast Asia. Fraught with unknown dangers, Sergeant Steve McShane pits his courage and strength against an unfamiliar and brutal enemy he never imagined existed to rescue his friend and colleague.
What a riveting story! I had visions of the Gene Hackman movie, "Uncommon Valor" when reading this story. Remember the scene when Hackman and his group are traversing the Laotian mountains with a group of Asian mercenaries, trying to locate a secret POW camp after the end of the Vietnam War? Kent White's scenic descriptions are so vivid throughout the novel, readers may feel as if they are standing right there with the characters in the lush mountainous vegetation.
The story jumps back and forth between 1970 Vietnam / Laos and 1992 Stateside. Special Forces MSG Steve McShane is a month away from retirement, yet accepts a final mission back to Asia. Intelligence sources have provided evidence that a Caucasian man is training and fighting with Karen rebels against Burmese government soldiers. The intel agencies believe that it may be former SF SSG Ken Slade, who's entire team disappeared on a SOG mission in the jungles of Laos twenty years earlier. He and MSG McShane were friends. In fact, McShane led a larger unit back into the area to locate the missing team - finding only one mercenary survivor who said that he witnessed the killing of everyone else. So up until now, SSG Slade was all but forgotten - until the pictures surfaced.
If they are successful in locating the Caucasian, and he is, indeed, Slade, then the government wants McShane to use whatever force is necessary to bring him home. He's an Army deserter and the only one who has answers to a ton of questions.
Two different story lines take place - the first, follows Slade and his team during his fateful mission in 1971, and the second string follows McShane and his group in 1992 as they search through the mountains of Thailand and Burma for this ghost. There is a third string as well that follows a Karen rebel patrol during their return to their secret hidden village. They've been fighting Burmese soldiers in the mountains during the last month and are accompanied by a tall Caucasian man who appears to be their patrol leader. This patrol happens to be travelling in the same direction as McShane's group. Do they cross paths? Who is this Caucasian man - it's rumored that he may be a German citizen? Will McShane be successful in his mission? Read the book - it will keep you on the edge of your seat and the ending will surprise you.
Great job Kent White! Superb story!
John Podlaski, author Cherries - A Vietnam War Novel
We left them, the Nungs, the Montangards, to the mercy of the communist forces. These were a peaceful people who wanted to be left alone. Once the NVA and VC started conscripting the men a stated fighting back. Fantastic book!