Saigon Tea Paperback – July 28, 2011

Creative and imaginative plot. Good writing style. Better than I would have expected from an old trial lawyer.

What a treat; Clay Sanders, a background character in the author's earlier work, Pursuit, assumes center stage, as the principal character in this new novel. This walk through his first few months as a legal officer in Viet Nam in 1967 is a riveting read and not to be missed. Not really a coming of age novel, those of 'a certain age' will find this story of a conflicted young officer thrown into the confusing political/military cauldron that was Viet Nam strikes a number of chords of memory. Not really a love story, the portrait of the beautiful, mysterious Mai Le makes Clay's fascination with her both understandable and a little frightening. As with the earlier work, the plot builds so that the last few chapters fly by quickly.