Blood on the Risers: A Novel of Conflict and Survival in Special Forces During the Vietnam War
If you weren't there...the Vietnam War...this read will certainly take you there.  As a 21 year old Green Beret Officer and commander of an 'A' Camp in the Plain of Reeds on the Cambodian border, Mike Shannahan's experiences as a patriotic teenager longing to serve his country, gradually transitions into the painful awareness that he will encounter three enemies; his innocence, the brutal communists, and his own countrymen who have sided with the enemy. -SSG Brendan Lyons, IV Corps Mike Force, MACV SOG Recon, 1970-71-CCS&CCC;/TF2AE."Mike O'Shea captures the adrenalin pumping essence of a recon team being chased by the NVA regulars, and gives full thought to the deadly game in SOG-Give no quarter; receive no quarter.The only thing that is missing is that sour smell of sweat."  SSG Gene H. Pugh (Ret.) One-One RT Asp, MACV SOG - CCN 1968-1969.With dialogue that keeps the pages turning, Michael O'Shea transports us directly back to the real American experience in Vietnam. It's been nearly fifty years since the US inserted troops into jungles and villages more than 8,000 miles away. Stories such as Blood on the Risers are important and necessary for today's readers and future generations; veterans like O'Shea are prized for sharing them.Chris Henning - Clarion ReviewBlood On the Risersis semi-autobiographical and saturated in O'Shea's combat experiences. Like actual war itself - to say nothing of the combat that was the Vietnam meat grinder - O'Shea's book is not for those prone to swoon easily away and suffer the vapors. Its portrayal of life at war is totally uncompromising. It is also factual.  If you want a frank picture of life in a war zone, however, his book is a page turner. You might find yourself wanting to look away - and find yourself not able.Jeff Clarke - Tacoma Northwest Airlifter