Featured Official Review: Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War And... [November 2019 Book of the Month]

Please use this forum to discuss historical fiction books. Common definitions define historical fiction as novels written at least 25-50 years after the book's setting.
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kfwilson6
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Re: Official Review: Deadly Waters: The Vietnam Naval War And...

Post by kfwilson6 »

I am not in favor or reading historical novels that center around war and its aftermath. Your review clearly demonstrates your enjoyment of Zachariah's story though.
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Thunderhead123
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Post by Thunderhead123 »

Wow! They description of this book is amazing it goes into such great detail. I am a big fan of war and action books, and this book really catches my attention. I am seriously considering reading this one.
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Post by abbiejoice »

An interesting book about the horrors of war made worse by adjusting to a new land, new food and new terrors.
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revna01
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Post by revna01 »

I definitely love the idea of getting such an in-depth view of characters, terrain, cuisine, etc. Typically war-based books offer a narrative that doesn't extend much beyond the actual war engagement. Agent Orange was devastating for many soldiers and the idea that they were being denied adequate treatment post-exposure is sickening. Great review!
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Laura Del
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Post by Laura Del »

I'm not into war books of any kind, so this is a no from me. They're just not my cup of tea. I'm glad that it's well written though.
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Post by virgino »

Every war has its aftermath. Many soldiers fight with patriotic mind yet fail to be recognized. It's really a pity for such guys who devoted their lives for their fatherland. The review is insightful.
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Celticlady
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Post by Celticlady »

I am old enough to remember this war. I would come home from school and my dad would have the news on and I remember watching actual fighting and think to myself that it was so far away, how can this affect me. Until I met a man, we were going to date, but he was so shell shocked, what they called PTSD back then. We never did and I often wonder if he got the treatment he needed. The point being, Agent Orange was and still is affecting lots of men today. We know someone who is still fighting to get compensation for it.

Thank you for your insightful and concise review.
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Post by imjaneturner »

This sounds fascinating. I love historical fiction - especially when it portrays characters and issues in realistic ways.
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LV2R
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Post by LV2R »

Though I am not particularly interested in war stories, this book sounds like it was written well and worth reading. The story is based on true accounts of the illnesses brought on by exposure to Agent Orange during the Vietnam War by thousands of Navy sailors. The story of Zachariah will bring the account to a very personal one, as the readers can peek into the life of one affected by the war and Agent Orange.
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goldengal1315
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Post by goldengal1315 »

The Vietnam War was during a horrible and changing time in the United States. The political culture of the Civil Rights Movement and equal rights was put aside as many young men and women were introduced into a culture shock some never recovered from. This sounds like a an engaging and interesting book and I am eager to read it.
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Post by holsam_87 »

I can't even begin to perceive everything that these men went through. My dad almost ended up going down the Yangtze River, but his superiors gave him the option to leave due to the low survival rate. This book will definitely put things into perspective.
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Hunterflores93
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Post by Hunterflores93 »

So I'm just going to as honest as possible - books about war and politics are not my jam, so I kind of didn't want to read the book. But I forced myself to read at least the introduction (I hope that counts!) and I found one good thing and one bad thing:

On page 4 on the Kindle Cloud Reader, it says, "The Assistant Engineering Officer in rumpled khakis, was making his rounds and came through the aft hatch asking, 'Everything is as it should be with the desalination plant, Bates?'"

The comma placing is kind of weird. I would have written, "The Assistant Engineering Officer was making his rounds in his rumpled khakis, stopping at the aft hatch to ask, 'Everything is as it should be with the desalination plant, Bates?"

I know it's a minor detail but I think it would add to the flow of the story better.

I also wanted to note that the ending of the prologue was beautifully done. This sentence, for example, "They were both completely unaware that the freshwater they were producing in the ship's evaporators would kill more of the ship's crew than all of the People's Army of North Vietnam ever would." It has the ominousness of the beginning of a horror movie. There was just something about how that sentence was written that made me (almost) want to read further. The writing is concise, descriptive and informed - it is the kind simple writing style (as opposed to the complexity of old literature or poetry) that I personally prefer.

I also got a kicked out of the Mr. Borg calling the coffee "java". Good way to plant us into the time period using dialogue! Like I said before, war and political books are not my forte, but I would say this is book wasn't so hard to read for its genre.
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JerryReading
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Post by JerryReading »

Thank you EmunahAn for a detailed review. You echo the tone of the book without giving away key details, while drawing potential readers into the plot. After briefly reading the prologue, I can see that not only the character development is well-detailed, but the way that Randy Miller depicts his scenes allows the reader to be fully immersed into the story.
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Post by chelhack »

I am having mixed feelings about today's book... I am not really into war stories yet, I am interested in the aftermath and how the war really affect the lives of all the soldiers. In my opinion, the aftermath is the real war stories. But I have not read in any of the reviews anything that has really stood out and caught my attention.
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CaitlynLynch
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Post by CaitlynLynch »

I couldn't even get all the way through the sample. Too much phonetic accent absolutely kills the readability of a story.
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