The Sand Fiddlers by Les Burns
A Rogue Green Beret's Escape From the Memories of Vietnam
Pages: 94
Genre: Mystery, Romance
Published: 13 Sept 2021
Publisher's Blurb
Alex Driscoll, a US Army Special Forces combat veteran, seeks solitude on an isolated section of beach while awaiting a discharge forced upon him due to an unauthorized eighteen-month mission to avenge the torture and butchering of his teammates at the hands of a Viet Cong death squad. A mysterious blonde-haired woman shows up unexpectedly and ruins his plans for seclusion. Suspecting she is either a war protester or sent by the Criminal Investigation Division of the Army’s Military Police, he tries to keep her distant. His suspicion dissipates when she reveals her lack of modesty and disclosure of childhood sexual abuse, retaliation, and possibly murder in a past as dark as his own. She claims she only seeks answers about the demons possessing a former friend who didn’t return from the same jungle. The strangers are drawn closer throughout the day and night, only for him to discover the circumstances of the former friend aren’t what they seemed. Torn between reality and fantasy, his realization that he has fallen in love may have come too late to save the developing romance.
Review
Alex Driscoll has spent the last eighteen months on a mission of revenge in the jungles of Vietnam.
Following the completion of his unauthorised killing spree he is returned to the US and is about to be discharged.
Whilst awaiting the final papers he goes for some rest and relaxation on a nearby beach where he meets a mysterious blond woman who throws his plans into disarray.
This short read is very well written. The main character is shown with all of his flaws open for scrutiny and we see the struggle he goes through trying to adjust to the real world after years in a war zone.
The dialog is realistic and the interaction between the two main characters maintains the reader’s interest.
I thoroughly enjoyed Alex’s story and it raised interesting questions about returning veterans and their subsequent mental health as they seek to reintegrate into society.
The Author
During his time as an investigator, he opened and operated the first licensed Counterintelligence Service in the State of North Carolina—License #CI-1.
After leaving investigations, he obtained his paramedic certification and worked in EMS until 2012. He is currently a writer, an editor, a published author, and book cover designer.
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