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Exiting the battlefield does not escape mental trauma. Even in psychological darkness, however, there is light for hope and happiness.

Synopsis

Some people deserve to die. At least that’s what The Old Man thinks. Best not to cross him. The Vietnam War taught him how to kill. Now he’s putting those skills to use in the real world.

Ashley England, in her new position as a DNA analyst, is assisting law enforcement in their search for the serial killer known as the Vigilante Virginian. Some people call him a hero, but Ashley believes vigilante justice isn’t justice. Identifying the man won’t be easy—and if her team finally succeeds, the truth will be devastating.

Lives Intertwined portrays events of two individuals who fought together in Vietnam, both members of Army Special Forces of their respective countries, U.S. and Vietnam. The American, Dordi, marries a Vietnamese woman. The Vietnamese fighter, Loc Tin, suffers the death of his wife in war and the loss of his children to an unknown fate. He flees Vietnam on an overloaded boat, which capsizes in a storm. He finds himself on a piece of flotsam with the boat’s pilot, whom he marries after they make their way to the U.S. The characters are separated, but eventually reconnect though happenstance and DNA searches.


I spent a year in Vietnam from February 1967 to March 1968 with the Marines in I Corp, the northernmost sector, and felt a visceral tie to much of the narrative. Depictions of the effects of war on individuals is haunting and told not only with human empathy but also with scientific accuracy. The author to her credit depicts the damage that agent orange still exacts on those exposed to it and to their offspring. She gives attention as well to the burn pits that have harmed U.S. troops in the Middle east. Human relations are rendered skillfully; depictions of battle less so. Despite a text check by a U.S. army veteran of Vietnam, I found the action Rambo-esque: a silent and instant kill by a thrown bayonet and again with a bow and arrows. A soldier climbs the outside of a building in the battle of Hue to get to a sniper, because the building is booby trapped. In Hue, snipers were hit with explosives. NVA killed Marine snipers with rocket propelled grenades. Marines used the Ontos, a tracked vehicle with six recoilless rifles, to good effect as well as M79 grenade launchers.


The novel starts as a memoir written by an old man that describes his vigilante killings. This provides some mystery to the story, as his identity is not revealed until the end. However, the author’s extensive use of exposition (turning around the maxim “show don’t tell”) delivers no real tension. Neither is there a good explanation of why the vigilante killed bad people, except that “they deserved to die.”


Still the novel is packed with information and is an excellent read for Vietnam veterans or anyone interested in either Vietnam or the lingering effect of toxins released in war zones by the U.S. Three stars.

Reviewed by

I am a retired financial journalist. My last job was stocks editor at Bloomberg's Tokyo bureau. I have also written five novels and two short stories. One novel and two short stories that sold to Virgin books were picked up by a German publisher for translation.

Synopsis

Some people deserve to die. At least that’s what The Old Man thinks. Best not to cross him. The Vietnam War taught him how to kill. Now he’s putting those skills to use in the real world.

Ashley England, in her new position as a DNA analyst, is assisting law enforcement in their search for the serial killer known as the Vigilante Virginian. Some people call him a hero, but Ashley believes vigilante justice isn’t justice. Identifying the man won’t be easy—and if her team finally succeeds, the truth will be devastating.

The Old Man

January 2021

The old man sat in front of the sleek new laptop his son had given him a week ago. “Write your memoir, Dad,” his son had suggested when he gave it to him. That was the same day his son had left him in this godforsaken hellhole. His son had insisted, “It isn’t a retirement home. It’s an assisted living facility. They’re better equipped to help you now that you’re in the wheelchair.”

“Write my memoir,” the old man said aloud, rubbing the stubble on his chin. He stared at the blank screen in front of him and contemplated his life. He knew his son was just trying to give him something constructive to do with his time. He had never been one to watch much TV. These days it probably seemed to his son that he preferred to be alone. He knew he had become unpleasant to be around.

After his wife died, he had reluctantly moved in with his son’s family. His daughter-in-law was a lovely and kind young woman and was a wonderful mother to his grandchildren. Initially, he had very much enjoyed the lively chaos that young children brought to his son’s home. But then the memories came flooding back to him. They had been unexpected and painful. On a daily basis they reminded him of how much he had lost. Once he could no longer compartmentalize the multiple facets of his life, he had begun the steady slide into becoming a grumpy and bitter old man. Then there was the accident. It was entirely his fault and completely avoidable. He had gotten sloppy and had broken his own rules. His son was probably relieved that he now needed the wheelchair because it gave him an excuse to move him to this place.

He looked around at his tiny apartment. His daughter-in-law had tried to make it cheery and homey with family photos and the grandkid’s artwork, but it was depressing nonetheless. The space had no real warmth, and the hospital bed that took up most of his bedroom added to the clinical feel. He knew he would die in this place.

“Write my memoir,” he said again, thinking. Maybe it wasn’t a terrible idea, though he was certain his son was unaware of the darkness that lay in his father’s past. The old man closed the laptop that sat on the desk. He opened a drawer and pulled out the spiral-bound notebook he used to keep up with his expenses. Perhaps the world needed to know that the man that had come to be known as the Vigilante Virginian had not been born a killer; he had been made. The old man opened the notebook, flipped to a new page, and began to write.

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About the author

Kaylon Bruner Tran, PhD is best known for her research examining endometriosis. When her sons were little, she was annoyed that so many cartoons included an evil scientist and made up stories about good scientists to tell them at bedtime. Now that her sons are in college, she is writing for adults. view profile

Published on December 21, 2021

90000 words

Contains mild explicit content ⚠️

Genre:Historical Fiction

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