Unlikely General: "Mad" Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America

Unlikely General: “Mad” Anthony Wayne and the Battle for America is a nonfiction history by Mary Stockwell. Perhaps the content is not so appealing to many, but I’m originally from Fort Wayne, Indiana, which was named for “Mad” Anthony. Although since grade school at Anthony Wayne Elementary, I’ve been aware that Wayne defeated the great Indian Chief Little Turtle at the Battle of Fallen Timbers (August 20, 1794). But, that’s really all I knew, and I’ve never before seen a biography of Wayne. This book was released last month – I could not resist.

Wayne was a controversial man, accused of being a spendthrift, an alcoholic, emotionally unbalanced, and a womanizer. He abandoned his own marriage in order to pursue his military career. However, he was an important general under George Washington, a close friend of Lafayette, and they were all together at Valley Forge, the famous low point of the Revolutionary War. In April 1793, it was Washington who appointed Wayne to be commander in chief of the legion which fought against the Indians who were not ready to give up their territory. I did not know that a prior general, St. Clair, had marched into the same territory where he lost a decisive battle, was killed, and his troops were massacred. Although frequently ill with gout and malarial fevers, and often times horrible depressed, Wayne was also a disciplinarian who subjected any deserters to a firing squad. He drilled his troops relentlessly so they would be ready for battle when it finally happened – and his troops were ready.

There’s much more to the story, but Stockwell’s writing was not the best. The chronology of Wayne’s life did not move smoothly forward. Rather, time and again, it jumped back and forth from Wayne’s early life to later life. Stockwell did assert that Wayne had come to hate military life as a result of the violence in which he was involved, which Wayne referred to as a “horrid trade of blood.” This book contained a lot of good information that I’m glad to have, so if you’re interested in the revolutionary period and the immediate post-revolutionary era, then this is a book for you.

The Gray Man

The Gray Man is the first in a 7-book series by Mark Greaney. I was given a copy of the book by Volleyball Matt. James Rollins referred to this series as “Bourne for the new millennium,” and that’s exactly what it is. Court Gentry is the Gray Man, the ultimate assassin. Highly trained, he was run out of the CIA for bogus reasons, and he then became an assassin for hire. However, he still has some ethics which means that he only kills guys who deserve to die, and he prided himself in being a murderer, not a thief. Despite his immense talents, Gentry took on tasks that no one else would touch and he quickly became a legend among his peers. This book was one intense chase scene from beginning to end in which Gentry survived assault after assault by a series of other assassins who had been hired to take him out. It’s a good story and a fast easy read.

Bum Deal by Paul Levine

You remember Jake Lassiter, right? Ex-Miami Dolphin suicide squad player? Ran the wrong way with a fumble causing Miami to lose a game and miss out on the playoffs? Same guy with a history of concussions and now fears he is on a runaway train headed for the CTE station at the end of the line? Same guy who partners with Steve Soloman and Victoria Lord (just months from their nuptials) in a small defense attorney firm in Miami? Sure you do.

They are defense attorneys for the right reasons. To protect the innocent from being railroaded. OK, most of their clients deserved it, but still. There is always that one.

The Florida State DA and chief foil for Jake, Raymond Pincher, comes to Jack with an offer. Become a one-time prosecutor on a murder case. Not his cup of tea, but says OK. If it gets a scumbag off the streets.

Said scumbag is Dr. Clark Calvert, a Miami orthpaedic surgeon with control issues. Wants to make sure you and everyone else knows he is the smartest, wealthiest, most athletic, best looking person in the room. Likes to choke his women during sex. And when he was a resident up in New England, had this gorgeous undergrad girlfriend named Victoria Lord. You've heard of her. And he has retained the law firm of Soloman and Lord to defend him.

Jake's case isn't overflowing with evidence. Cuz there is no body, no evidence, no witness. For the prosecution consul, no problem. Unless you count The Titty Bar, a Georgia-based actress, a Miami mafia boss, et al. either trying to either help of stop Jakes prosecution of Dr. Calvert.

This is almost the polar opposite of the Field on Honor I just posted. While that was page after page after page of lightning-paced action, Bum Deal is page after page after page of in your face dialogue with legal mumbo jumbo used to twist the truth eight ways from Sunday. And I read this one way faster than than Field of Honor. Yeah, they are muy different. But Bum Deal was whole lot more entertaining as we approach summer. Sit down, put up your feet, grab a tequila, and let Jake and friends take you on a fun ride through the oppressive heat and humidity that permeates the Dade County court system.

Lots of folks will say that Carl Hiassen is their favorite author about Florida. Well, folks. Paul Levine should be your second favorite Florida author.

ECD

Rumble Tumble by Joe R. Lansdale

#5 (of 19 and counting) from the high priest of East Texas mojo about best friends for life (way before BFF became all the rage), Hap and Leonard.

A twister whacked Hap’s house so bad he has to sleep on Leonard’s couch. Hap’s working as a bouncer at a local dive, instead of picking roses at the huge farm nearby his home in LaBorde, Texas. Shitty work, but it’s steady. He’s still seeing Brett and he and she are contemplating Hap moving in with her. Can you spell midlife crisis?

A ginger-haired little person and his beefed up sidekick want to meet with Brett. Says he’s got info about Brett’s estranged daughter, Tillie. For maybe $500 they tell Brett that Tillie is hooking, up in Hootie Hoot, Oklahoma. Working for a local thug in an out of the way farmhouse just outside town. Brett is also told that Tillie wants out of the life.

Bretts wants to find her daughter. That means Hap wants to help Brett find her. That means Leonard is also heading up to Hootie Hoot.And they go packing with more weaponry than is legal in most places.

Some elementary detective work and a couple well-placed inquires send this heavily armed trio to that farmhouse, but luck isn’t with them. Yeah, they shoot the place up pretty good, but no Tillie. She’s now with a biker gang in Mexico. Off they go and engage a drunk pilot to fly them in, shoot the hell out of anything that moves, grab Tillie, hide while the pilot sobers up, then fly out on fumes.

Every Hap and Leonard book (so far) features enough mojo to keep readers coming back. 19 titles so Lansdale is doing something right. Plenty of great backwoods dialogue, fists/guns/knives, cussing, spitting, killing and sex to last most authors a lifetime. But not Lansdale. Every book (so far) is will stoked with East Texas mojo.

It’s not just that the Hap and Leonard characters are so entertaining as they stumble their way through one case after another. Lansdale has the talent, to wit: winner of the British Fantasy Award, American Horror Award, Edgar Award, and 10 (that’s right, 10) Bram Stoker awards. Flaunt 'em if you got 'em, I say.

Next up is Captain Outrageous then Vanilla Ride. Hopefully this summer. 

ECD

Field of Valor by Matthew Betley

#3 in the Logan West saga, former Marine Force Recon commander. Now head of the special task force Ares that answers only to the President. Their current target is a shadowy group that controls untold number of cells worldwide. The Organization.

At first, The Organization acted against groups that worked against the greater good. Now they too have gone a bit rogue. Task Force Ares picks up the investigation. Intel says a top dog known only as The Recruiter is to be and the National Air and Space Museum near Dulles Airport. As Ares tracks a couple possible targets in the mob of tourists, West mobile phone rings and he answers the unknown number right in the middle of an op. A strangely familiar voice tells him that the Museum is a trap.

The trap and subsequent shoot out start a chain of unpredictable events. Like the Baltimore-Washington Pkwy execution of an NSA boss on his way to brief the President. The assault on the Chesapeake Bay mansion of a shipping billionaire. And more assaults all on US soil. Clues say there is a shadow government in the US. Or is it China? Or Russia? Trust is running pretty thin in West’s world.

Being a former Marine officer and sniper platoon commander with deployments to Africa and the middle east, Betley is perfectly suited to deliver the goods at the pace of a minigun. You no sooner catch your breath and then the next assault sneaks in through the bushes of descends from a helicopter. With Betley having served in combat, we have to believe the dialog of battle is as it should be and the action, bloody and vicious, reflects what all of us can only imagine. 

Great non-stop action and realistic dialog cover dang near every page. What more do you want? Why, another Logan West book.

BTW, just learned that the Logan West series has been optioned to Hollywood. Should be way better than anything Marvel or DC Comics are giving us today.

ECD

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The Fairfax Incident

The Fairfax Incident is my fourth novel by Terrence McCauley, so you know I’m a fan, but this one was a departure from his prior work. It’s a historical murder mystery that takes place in 1933 New York City. Charlie Doherty was a disgraced detective who had previously been a bag guy for the very corrupt Chief of Police Andrew Carmichael. But, Doherty was rescued by Mr. Harriman Van Dorn, a wealthy and well-connected-to-Washington guy. Van Dorn created a life for Doherty in a fancy NYC pad, and he was asked to purse an investigation of the apparent suicide of Walter Fairfax at the behest of Fairfax’s wife who know her husband would never have killed himself. She said, “Not that he wasn’t a coward, mind you, but Walter Fairfax was most certainly a cowardly man. He simply wasn’t considerate enough to kill himself. For had he been a considerate man, he would have done us the favor of ending his won life long ago, freeing the children and me from decades of mediocrity and mendacity.” What a great line, and it’s typical of McCauley’s writing.

The story takes the reader through a tour of depression-era New York, the mafia influences that gripped the city, as well as the corrupt police department. This is an excellent and well-told murder mystery and the historical angle is spell-binding. The plot development was great and I did not see the final twist coming until the very end. McCauley’s character development was perfect. Good stuff – it gets my enthusiastic recommendation.

Second Story Man

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Charles Salzberg is a rather prolific author and Second Story Man is his first book reviewed in this blog. This is a story about a master thief who apparently is eventually brought to justice by two cops after a lengthy investigation. I use the word apparently because I gave up on this book at about the 20% mark. I found the story to be rather stale and the dialogue was surprisingly amateurish for such a seasoned author. I can’t say there was anything about the book that I liked, thus my decision to let it go.

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