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"Terrifying and exhilarating with enemies, allies and lovers at every turn, clear your schedule because once you pick up this book, you won't put it down until you have read every page!" -- Rich Merritt, author of Code of Conduct
In Elliott Mackle's new book Captain Harding's Six Day War the erotic blends with the romantic in a wartime story to create a heady mix.
Assigned to baby-sit a loose-cannon colonel at remote Wheelus Air Base, Libya, handsome, hard-charging Captain Joe Harding spends his off-duty time bedding an enlisted medic and a muscular major, then begins a nurturing friendship with the American ambassador's teenage son. The boy swiftly develops a crush on the man, feelings that Joe, a Southern gent with a strong moral sense, feels he cannot acknowledge or return. Joe's further adventures and misadventures during the course of the novel involve a clerk's murder, a flight-surgeon's drug abuse, a fist-fight in the officers' club bar, a straight roommate whose taste for leather gets him in trouble, the combat death of Joe's former lover, and participation in an all-male orgy witnessed by two very married but somewhat confused fighter pilots.
In the run-up to the 1967 war, a mob attacks the embassy in nearby Tripoli and the deranged colonel leads an attack on an Arab warship. To bring the pilots and their airplanes safely home and keep the United States out of the war Joe has two choices: either come out to his closest, straightest buddies or know himself to be a coward, a failure and a traitor to everything that he holds dear.
"Military veteran Mackle's resonant story, set with Catch-22 authenticity against the backdrop of the Six-Day War, spans an emotional spectrum from lusty horniness to nuanced romance with literary polish and story-telling punch."
—Richard Labonte
At first, I really struggled with the language of the book; though a piece of fiction, it was full of bigotry and hate – and obviously written before “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” was lifted. Also, having lived my entire life around homophobic neighbors and coworkers, finding my way through a story about the conflicts Captain Harding suffered made for a very painful read. Still, I decided to keep on reading and then, fortunately, the story started to become quite enjoyable. I was glad I didn’t toss the darn thing in the trash!
Most of the characters are very likable - some of them you wouldn’t mind seeing court-marshaled (they deserve it – big-time!) – and, well, Captain Harding seems pretty hot. The story itself unfolds at Wheelus Air Base in the Kingdom of Libya in the 1960s. It’s a world I’d never in a million years wish to be in or wish anyone else to be in. Hot, dirty and dreadful.
The story makes you think about the Gays and Lesbians who had to hide their personal lives from their fellow soldiers – and what they had to do privately to mask who they were so they could live comfortably and do their jobs serving our country effectively. This well-paced story is quick, and it’s very easy to put the book down and pick it back up, falling right back into what’s going on.
-- Drew Simon
Publisher : Lethe Press
Closeted airman's experience before DADT
Bob Lind wrote on 08/28/2011:
It’s 1967, deep in the middle of the war in Vietnam, when our military was also maintaining a presence in Libya, working to control an increasing unrest there. Handsome, gay Captain Joe Harding finds himself assigned to Wheelus Air Base as chief administrative officer, primarily to babysit that base's commander, a troublesome colonel close to retirement. With the colonel undependable, Joe quickly learns to work around him, using the hidden alliances at the base that actually can get things accomplished. Along the way, he finds a couple of fellow closeted men for unsanctioned R&R, and develops a mutual but disturbing infatuation with the teenage son of the US ambassador to Tripoli. He also has to deal with the wrath of a drug addicted surgeon who wants him gone, and an officer back in the states who blames him for stealing his boyfriend, whom the officer reassigned to Vietnam after Harding left.
Mackle is a talented writer who brings first-hand knowledge to this engaging and suspenseful story of a closeted soldier dealing with military life 20+ years before "Don't Ask Don't Tell" became a policy, including the diverse reactions of some of Harding's fellow soldiers who learned of his sexuality. A special treat for military buffs, but an enjoyable read for all. Four stars out of four.
- Bob Lind, Echo Magazine
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