Smoke on the Water
by Jack Bartley
It is 1971 and the war in Vietnam rages on. Jason Conley, a recent college graduate, finds himself paying the price for his free university education. Since he couldn’t afford college, he applied for and was awarded an NROTC scholarship. He now owes the Navy four years of service. Not wanting to go to war, he devises a scenario in which he would serve on a ship converted to be an oceanographic research support vessel in Hawaii, thousands of miles from the battle zone. A brilliant plan, if it worked. It did. Then, it didn’t. Through a series of events and miscues, some of his own making and some out of his control, Jason fails to negotiate life on board his first ship and is transferred to a new command, a destroyer escort that deploys on a WestPac tour to Vietnam the very day he sets foot on board. He now faces new challenges. How does he avoid the same mistakes he made on the first ship? How does he reconcile his feelings about the Vietnam War while at the same time directing a destroyer escort on the gunline supporting US and South Vietnamese troops? How will his personal life be affected by the dictates of the Navy? How does he come out of this alive? Based on real incidents and filled with action, romance, and humor, Smoke on the Water paints a realistic picture of life in the Navy during an era when the United States was a deeply divided country.
Please read the synopsis above and then CLICK on the cover you prefer. Thanks for helping us pick a cover.
or