Nick Parker is a Combat Security Police Flight Chief at Ko Kha Air Station, a remote radar outpost on the Thailand-Laos border. As the war in Vietnam draws to a close, he is suddenly thrust into a dark, secret war taking place in Thailand and must devise an effective defense for his small but important radar station, one that serves both the Air Force and the CIA.
Ever the joker, Nick finds himself competing with his boss, who was expected to take the assignment. Nick Parker’s life isn’t all about war, however. He struggles with the injuries he sustained during the war, the ready availability of drugs and alcohol, and – tragically – the suicide of a close friend and fellow soldier. Nick has to defend his radar station while grappling with a murder accusation and being torn between his love back home and the one he potentially finds while at war.
It’s not often we get to review works of fiction by veteran authors, but “Cobra Talon,” the first in a series of novels by Vietnam veteran Patrick Sydor, is worth reading. Based on true events from Sydor’s service, the author draws from his experience to tell an entertaining story for any reader—it even includes a glossary of terms for those who might be unfamiliar with the lingo of the Vietnam era.
Sydor himself was a Security Policeman at a remote radar station, and the title “Cobra Talon” was a military and CIA code name for the detection of missile launches and ground movements of North Vietnamese troops throughout Vietnam and Laos. Like many of our own war stories, it weaves in the personal struggles of being far from home while fighting a war so far away.
After the war, Patrick Sydor earned a Master’s degree in Education from Indiana University and began teaching while working in sales. He writes from his beachside home in Ecuador and enjoys traveling to add authenticity to his novels. Will Nick Parker do the same after his war ends? The only way to find out is to read the whole series.
“Cobra Talon” is available on Amazon Kindle for $2.99 or paperback for $14.95.
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