Lynn Mason

Lynn Mason's A SUMMER OF WAR (2021) is a war story and a love story and a such a damn GOOD story that I just didn't wanna put it down! There, that was just how I felt when I turned the last page last night. I wanted to TELL someone about it. Still thinking about it. Truthfully, it's kinda like a Hallmark movie minus the schmaltz and kitschy decor, with frequent gory firefights, death and dismemberment thrown in. And there's the misery, fear and sometimes even boredom of patrols into the dripping triple canopy of the Vietnam jungles, in search of the elusive Viet Cong. But it is foremost, make no mistake, a love story, set against a very real backdrop of the Vietnam war in the summer of 1969. Mason's protagonist is twenty-six year-old Chris McKenna, an ambitious young journalist who wants to write the truth about what is happening in this unpopular war, and so she and her photographer, Paul Lane (a Marine veteran of the War in the Pacific), embed themselves with an infantry platoon at the remote FOB Jane. Seemingly fearless, and eager to prove herself, Chris insists on being a part of every patrol, armed only with her notebook, and her only helmet a NY Yankees ball cap. She soon earns the respect of the whole squad, except for their point man, John Rawlins, a strong, silent type who may be much more than the big, dumb Iowa farm boy he seems at first. And the story is populated with plenty of fascinating secondary characters too with salty, genuine GI dialogue that adds authenticity to all of it. (Hmm ... All that cussing? Not very Hallmark, at ALL.) And our heroine? She can cuss with the best of 'em. No shrinking violet, our Chris, and we find she's never been shy about using whatever she's got to get what she wants. Okay, I take that back what I said about this being Hallmark-y. No way. NOT.

Throughout this book (350 pp), which I ripped through in just a few sittings over two days, I kept thinking who IS this Lynn Mason? And why isn't she famous, and why wasn't this book a huge bestseller? Because it is so much BETTER than that Kristin Hannah thing, THE WOMEN, which was one of the most read books of the past year, although I found it forulaic, predictable an even boring. The answer, of course, is all about money and publicity. Hannah has a major publishing house and PR department behind her which put her on all the morning and talk shows and ran full page ads in print, TV and social media. Mason has none of that. She is a cottage industry unto herself, self-publishing her books and blogging and posting her own ads online. She has her own following, but nothing like Hannah's. Too bad, for readers, because, to my mind, Mason is better. (Check out her website: lynnmason.com .) I flat out loved this book. My very highest recommendation.

- Tim Bazzett, author of the memoir, BOOKLOVER… (more)

I always enjoyed the tv show Alias, so when I picked up some tie-in novels for my sister, I decided to read them before sending them to her. Recruited tells the story of how Sydney Bristow, exemplary student but shy and withdrawn, first joins SD-6, covert branch of the CIA. Some well-known characters from the show appear, including Francie, Jack, Sloan, and a cameo by Dixon.

Recruited certainly isn't the best tie-in novel I've ever read; Sydney is depicted as a little too immature and socially awkward at the start and grows up unrealistically fast once she joins the agency. However, it's a quick read and for fans of the tv show, a fun way to visit old friends.… (more)