Review - Your Honor is Safe With the Major!

Honor Defended
A Citizen Warrior Novel
By D. H. Brown
Big River Press
ISBN: 9780979874468
304 Pages


Honor Defended, the second book in the Citizen Warrior series by D. H. Brown is not only just as exciting an adventure as the first book, Honor Due; but, in many ways, it more effectively illustrates the power of citizen warriors!

Wouldn’t it be an amazing thing if citizens were able and willing to share and be responsible for curbing and eliminating violence in our communities? Oh yes, there are programs like neighborhood watch. There are methods by which you can report crimes you’ve seen. But what if, by using our former professional soldiers, who have been trained for combat and law enforcement, we really did have brave citizen warriors “protecting our backs”? I, for one, would quickly relocate to the northwestern part of the United States where the Major resides!

There really was no choice for the Major! When he learned that a soldier, home from Iraq, had been beheaded and then burned, and his wife had been kidnapped, the only thing that he could do was just what he did. He took the challenge, began his investigations, pulled together his team, and went after those that had invaded his territory.

And indeed they had invaded. A small cell of 12 terrorists had landed near the home of the soldier. While it might not have been planned, it was clear by what had been done, that they had enjoyed their actions while stealing a vehicle and taking the soldier’s woman.

Reading D. H. Brown’s novels is not so much about “who” did it. It is truly fascinating to see him go into action, make his contacts, select what personnel will be needed, and who is in the area that can fill those roles. There are a number of carryover characters brought forward from the first book, including Black Dog, the Major’s woman, a neighboring couple in whose lives the Major has brought excitement, and many former professional soldiers who live nearby or are flown in for the “exercise.”

Carmen had been kidnapped and Jimmy, her brother, had sought the Major’s help. Carmen’s two children were with Jimmy. The first success for the major was to find their dog, who had been wounded, and take him immediately to the children, so they could begin to hope again. He called in a friend to work on the dog...a doctor who would be needed to serve as medic for what was coming. Of course, doc was not too thrilled that his first patient was a dog but he goodheartedly fixed him up!

And therein lies the secret! The Major calls upon goodhearted citizens to use their best personal skills to aid a neighbor in trouble. As the team assembled, the Major discovered that he had a stowaway recruit—Carmen’s son, Ward Junior, was determined to help. And so the Major adjusted the plan and immediately identified how and what this young man would be doing. In many ways, he was the star character in this novel, for he did much more than had been expected of him before the mission was completed.

Indeed, Carmen herself was a strong character, much to be admired as she faced all that happened, being captured by 12 terrorists, well, actually, 11, after she had had enough!

D. H. Brown’s Honor Redeemed is coming soon. Readers, if you like action and adventure, have a love for the USA, and enjoy great characterization of our citizens, then you’re already behind. I advise you to get Honor Due and this book, Honor Defended at the same time and spend a long weekend with The Major—you gotta love him!

G. A. Bixler
For IP Book Reviews

Honor Due Won Award - Honor Defended Now Available!

Honor Due
By David H. Brown

Military Writers 2008 Award


In a suspenseful, sometimes-funny first book in his Citizen Warrior Series, DAVID H. BROWN, in But the Major found he was no longer alone in his war. Not only did neighbors prove to be trustworthy, but Blon, too, sought revenge. And, as she watched the Major and had to depend upon him for her life, she sought, too, to fill the empty place in his heart that had long been empty. As the Major follows the clues and tracks the men responsible, still he searches for the reason, the “why” this was happening. What he ultimately discovers surprises him…as well as the readers!

Look for this suspense-packed first book soon. The Major is already on to something new in HONOR DEFENDED. You won’t want to miss the Citizen Warrior Series!

HONOR DUE, has won a prime location on my bookshelf as a must-read author. I have found that I really enjoy books written in first person. Although the majority of publishers require third person in fiction writing, I think first person allows a much more personal feeling for the reader. It is as if the main character, the Major, is sitting right across the table and telling you his story—once in a while tossing in a joke or a “smart-ass” remark or action that enables you to thoroughly enjoy meeting the character. The reader is privy to his internal dialogue, his thoughts, conversations with his dog, and even his arguments with God. Bringing in the special care that he must take as a diabetic, even during traumatic times, makes the storyline even more realistic. I think you’ll grow to love the sensitive, loving, and protective man that lies within the Major’s gruff and gritty exterior.

The Major is “an ex-special forces vet whose years in ‘Nam taught him what he needed to know to work as a covert agent for the shadow branches of the government when he returned home.” Continuing from the book description, “in the 90's he realized his bosses weren't taking terrorism seriously. Finally, a diabetic and completely tired of the life, he'd had enough of the killing, and one day he simply walked into the Pacific Northwest rainforest and lost himself”(page 2).
Having done reviews on two other books by former Vietnam veterans, (The Road from Here to Where You Stay and the Negligence of Death*) I have found a haunting spirit that surrounds those veterans and their stories about the Vietnam era. They sadden me, and yet pull me in to share what proves to be intimate parts of their lives. I am always grateful for that experience. Perhaps it is because I wrote to a friend who was in that war and he would never talk about what was happening there. Indeed, there are many veterans who cannot talk about their Vietnam service time. In a way, because of the controversies over the war and the unwillingness for involved soldiers to share their experiences, there is a certain mystique that seems to have developed. As a lover of mysteries, perhaps that is why I am continuously enthralled by those novels I find that are written by veterans of this puzzling war.

No matter the reason—veterans of Vietnam never quite give up their warrior persona. The Major didn’t and when he arrived in the rainforest he’d brought all of his skills and talents, as well as his memories. Deep inside he knew that even though he’d had enough of the killing and he was now a civilian, he knew also that he would still always be a warrior and would be prepared whenever he was forced to again play that role.

It was a good thing that he’d prepared.

When the stranger showed up, asking questions, carrying his picture from his service days, instinct immediately told the Major there was trouble coming. He didn’t know why yet, but his instinct told him—he would have to kill that stranger. So he did.

Many of the Major’s war memories surrounded his wife and child and her Montagnard family. Though his wife and child had been killed, he had worked to bring her family to the United States. Indeed he had met his wife through one of his warrior brothers, Ang. Now, as he followed the trail that the stranger had taken, he found that brother, to be tortured, dead.

But he also found evidence that someone had escaped—perhaps Ang’s wife? The Major had to find out.

One of my favorite characters is Black Dog—truly the Major’s best friend. As the Major tracked through the rainforest, it was Black Dog who discovered the hiding place, and would not leave it, until Blon, Ang’s daughter, had been found, nearly frozen, nearly dead.

As he doctored and nursed Blon back to health, the Major had plenty of time to think—why was this happening now and who was behind it? Considering those with whom he had worked years ago, he was able to realize one thing quickly. The stranger that had been sent and who murdered Ang was really another victim—he had been sent to his death, as surely as he had died. He had become a victim of war and for that he had honor due him. The Major would see that honor was given to both of his warrior brothers—Ang and the stranger!

But the Major found he was no longer alone in his war. Not only did neighbors prove to be trustworthy, but Blon, too, sought revenge. And, as she watched the Major and had to depend upon him for her life, she sought, too, to fill the empty place in his heart that had long been empty.

As the Major follows the clues and tracks the men responsible, still he searches for the reason, the “why” this was happening. What he ultimately discovers surprises him…as well as the readers!

Look for this suspense-packed first book and HONOR DEFENDED which was just published You won’t want to miss the Citizen Warrior Series!