Betrayed

by Brendan DuBois

Overview

Nearly 40 years after the end of the Vietnam War, the fate of those airmen listed as Missing In Action have remained a mystery... until now. In "Betrayed," award-winning mystery and thriller author Brendan DuBois writes a harrowing tale of "what if" that begins with a knock on the door. Late at night, small-town newspaper editor Jason Harper answers the door, revealing a dirty, bearded and disheveled stranger on his doorstep. This stranger has an amazing tale: its his brother, Roy Harper, a B-52 pilot shot down in North Vietnam in 1972, who has been held captive for decades, and who has recently escaped, with armed gunmen on his trail... The two brothers then begin a harrowing journey, trying to survive and outwit their armed pursuers, and more importantly, trying to make public Roy Harper's incredible story of survival, and the location of scores of other MIAs, who are still alive, and who are still awaiting rescue after all these years... REVIEWS "DuBois, whose Resurrection Day (1999) had JFK's Bay of Pigs debacle actually starting WWIII, sets up another frighteningly plausible scenario in his latest smart and heartbreaking thriller. Suppose a group of Vietnam MIAs had been secretly shipped to the Soviet Union, where intelligence agents grilled them constantly for almost 30 years? What would've happened to these men when the U.S.S.R. fell apart? In DuBois's version, one of them -- Capt. Roy Harper, a bomber pilot shot down in 1972 -- makes it back home to Berwick, Maine, where he promises to tell his younger brother, Jason, the fantastic story. But before he can continue, two heavily armed Russian mercenaries break in, kill the family dog and threaten Jason, his wife, Patty, and six-year-old son, Paul, with a similar fate... As we learn what happened to Roy and his fellow MIAs, and as the Harper brothers try to get the story out to the world via a New Hampshire TV station, readers who lived through the Vietnam era will be hard pressed not to be tightly gripped and moved to tears." -- Publisher's Weekly "Brendan DuBois is a fine novelist and easily the best short-story writer of his generation." -- New York Times bestselling author Lee Child "Brendan DuBois is a fine writer, at the top of his game." -- New York Times bestselling author William Martin "...Brendan DuBois is one of the two or three finest short story writers of my time." --- mystery editor and author Ed Gorman * * * With expanded material and a new Author's Afterward for the paperback edition.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781492110521
Publisher:	CreateSpace Publishing
Publication date:	08/15/2013
Pages:	390
Sales rank:	809,580
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

Brendan DuBois of New Hampshire is the award-winning author of sixteen novels and nearly 130 short stories. This edition is the first paperback publication of this edition of "Betrayed," which was previously published by St. Martin's Press. He is also a one-time "Jeopardy!" game show champion.

His short fiction has appeared in Playboy, Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and numerous other magazines and anthologies including "The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century," published in 2000 by Houghton-Mifflin. Another one of his short stories appeared in in "The Year's Best Science Fiction 22nd Annual Collection" (St. Martin's Griffin, 2005) edited by Gardner Dozois

His short stories have twice won him the Shamus Award from the Private Eye Writers of America, and have also earned him three Edgar Allan Poe Award nominations from the Mystery Writers of America. Visit his website at www.BrendanDuBois.com.

Editorial Reviews

DuBois, whose Resurrection Day (1999) had JFK's Bay of Pigs debacle actually starting WWIII, sets up another frighteningly plausible scenario in his latest smart and heartbreaking thriller. Suppose a group of Vietnam MIAs had been secretly shipped to the Soviet Union, where intelligence agents grilled them constantly for almost 30 years? What would've happened to these men when the U.S.S.R. fell apart? In DuBois's version, one of them-Capt. Roy Harper, a bomber pilot shot down in 1972-makes it back home to Berwick, Maine, where he promises to tell his younger brother, Jason, the fantastic story. But before he can continue, two heavily armed Russian mercenaries break in, kill the family dog and threaten Jason, his wife, Patty, and six-year-old son, Paul, with a similar fate. Then things get really exciting and fascinatingly believable as the Harper family splinters. Jason goes off with his idolized brother to confront an American official who can prove Roy's story, while the tougher, more pragmatic Patty reluctantly goes into hiding. DuBois has a way of taking stock characters-the endlessly resourceful hired killer, the mother who'll do anything to protect her child-and surprising us with fresh insights into their behavior. As we learn what happened to Roy and his fellow MIAs, and as the Harper brothers try to get the story out to the world via a New Hampshire TV station, readers who lived through the Vietnam era will be hard pressed not to be tightly gripped and moved to tears. (June 12) FYI: DuBois is also the author of Killer Waves (Forecasts, May 20, 2002) and other titles in his Lewis Cole mystery series. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

From the author of the Lewis Cole mysteries (Killer Waves, 2002, etc.): a hair-raising thriller about Vietnam MIAs who, it turns out, were never more than semi-missing. Jason Harper--husband, father, publisher of the small but growing Berwick (New Hampshire) Banner, a young man very much settled in his life--hears his doorbell ring late one night and, a bit nervously, goes to answer. When he opens the door, he also, in effect, opens Pandora’s Box, for the person standing outside has trouble written all over him. But, it develops, there’s joy, too, in fact an almost inexpressible degree of happiness. About thirty years before, Captain Roy Harper, bomber pilot, went missing in Vietnam after his B-52 crashed. That was Jason’s adored older brother, deeply grieved over but then eventually relegated to that catch-all compartment labeled "things one needs to get past." Now this man--elderly, shabby, worn--identifies himself as the long-lost brother. And he’s convincing, possessed of details (a boyhood paper route, the name of a first-grade teacher, certain private embarrassments) half-forgotten by Jason himself. The story Roy tells to explain his prolonged absence is at the very least alarming. He’s been tortured, systematically humiliated by an implacable enemy--he in company with a hundred other downed fliers, whittled down to 36 by time and brutality. Who exactly was this enemy--that is, who beyond the obvious and predictable? It takes a while for Roy to tell his story, but when Jason begins to understand it (not easy) and to believe it (unwillingly) he’s distraught, a condition substantially worsened when Roy gets around to explaining his mission and making clear the key role he expectsJason to play in it. Not always plausible, but the story grabs, and the pages turn, testimony to the power of the narrative. Agents: Jed Mattes, Fred Morris, Aaron Downey/Jed Mattes Literary Agency

Kirkus Reviews