A Private War

by Patrick Sheane Duncan

Overview

As the new chief law-enforcement officer of the soon-to-be-closed Fort Hazelton, Lieutenant Colonel Meredith Cleon expects to deal with nothing more challenging than a few petty thefts. But the quiet of the small post is shattered by the brutal murder of a young woman--the aide of the base's general--found tied to the back of a target on the rifle range.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781959205432
Publisher:	Encyclopocalypse Publications
Publication date:	10/28/2022
Pages:	334
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.75(d)

Editorial Reviews

Somewhat similar to Nelson DeMille's The General's Daughter but devoid of that book's kinky subtext, the latest thriller from the author of Courage Under Fire concerns Lt. Col. Meredith Cleon, the odd woman out in the male-dominated military unit at Fort Hazelton, Indiana. Making her new job as provost marshal (the Army's top cop) even more difficult is the discovery of a young woman's bullet- riddled body propped up behind a target on the firing range. The murdered woman turns out to be the aide of the base's general, adding to the pressure Meredith feels about solving the case. Was it a sadistic crime of passion? A cover-up from higher levels? Or something from Meredith's own past returning to haunt her? While the actual whodunit turns out to be rather simple, there is a great subplot about a rogue group of neo-Nazis operating within the base. One hopes Duncan's next novel will expand on their sinister machinations.

Michael Phillips

A feisty female career officer keeps sexist pigs in line and a military thriller on-target. Lieutenant Colonel Meredith ("Mere") Cleon arrives at Fort Hazelton, Indiana, half-convinced that someone important doesn't like her. It isn't so, someone important, her commanding general, insists. True enough, the base is a backwater these days, closure looming, but "she's a noble old place" and worth a good soldier's best effort. Quintessential good soldier, Meredith commits herself to the task. But, as she quickly discovers, it is one whale of a task. Meredith is Fort Hazelton's provost marshal-chief law-enforcement officer-and before she can say labor of Hercules she's confronted with a homicide. Plus a heinous hate crime. Plus a hijacking-of guns and ammo-that's got the "higher-and-higher" echelon thoroughly antsy. To compound matters, the murder victim turns out to be Lieutenant Georgia Carnes, a young, pretty, popular aide to a general, guaranteeing the closest possible scrutiny from a variety of bosses. And to top it off, Meredith's immediate superior happens to be Colonel J. Peter Levy, against whom Meredith once brought charges of sexual harassment. Though they were warranted, the charges didn't stick, but what has stuck is a bad enemy's active animosity. Still, we're talking the stuff of heroes, and within four days mighty Mere solves her crimes, gets a handle on some knotty domestic affairs (including her love life), all the while earning the loyalty-pretty sure to be undying-of a heretofore skeptical but now unreservedly admiring staff. A bit too good to be true, but Meredith is on the whole easy to like in an easy-to-take entertainment by the author of Courage Under Fire (1996),which, as a movie, starred Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan.

Kirkus Reviews