The War You’ve Always Wanted

Mike McLaughlin

THE WAR YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED by Mike McLaughlin

UNITED STATES, May 20, 2024 /EINPresswire.com/ — There are no John Wayne-like heroes here. Instead, author Mike McLaughlin has published a new gripping, gritty Vietnam novel entitled THE WAR YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED (Koehler Books) that is all about the reality of war – not the glorified myth.

Pat Dolan’s father has a box. In it are treasures from Jimmy Dolan’s service in World War II – his photos, his medals, his memories. But ten-year-old Pat can’t understand why his father refuses to look in the box. After all, the war was a grand adventure, wasn’t it?

Determined to serve in the Army like his father, Pat enlists nine years later – but it’s 1972, and the American military is withdrawing from Vietnam after seven years of futile combat.

As an Army combat correspondent surrounded by people growing more desperate by the day, young Dolan quickly learns how bleak the South’s prospects are. He is forced to witness the slow, steady death of a nation. When Pat is wounded in action, he wonders if he will live long enough to fill a box of his own. Are there any treasures to be found in a country as fragile as this?

The theme for this book, and the title, come from Dolan’s great desire to serve while seeing South Vietnam go through the difficult and ultimately doomed effort to fight the war alone. The other reference is when the North Vietnamese Army shifts its tactics to fighting the war the Americans had expected all along, moving battalions and divisions en masse. For these reasons and more, Vietnam for Dolan has become “the war you’ve always wanted.”

The book already is receiving heaps of praise:

“There’s a tricky twist in this book, and that hits home with me. The protagonist is a budding war correspondent who goes into hot spots with his eyes wide open and manages to see the best of human behavior and the worst of it. The transformation that pursuit incurs is written in terse journalistic style, but it’s so much more than a simple reporting of facts. It’s what those observations and insights do to human beings that make this book both an exciting read and an epic addition to the genre.” – Captain Dale Dye, Combat Correspondent, USMC (Ret.), Author, Actor, and Filmmaker

“What a story! Mike McLaughlin takes you deep into the frustration and horror of the Vietnam War through the eyes of characters you won’t soon forget. This is a terrific novel from a terrific writer.” – Terry Golway, Author of I Never Did Like Politics and So Others Might Live

“Reading Dolan’s story is a cerebral awakening that touches the part of your soul that wonders just how would I react to human conflict! Smacks of James Joyce throughout!” – Sergeant Candido Alvarado, Ranger, 1st Air Cavalry, USA (Ret.)

“Insightful and poignant, the finished product launches the author securely into the ranks of distinguished Vietnam War novels. Bravo, Mike McLaughlin! Get some!” – Sergeant Mike Stokey, Combat Correspondent, USMC (Ret.), Author, Military Advisor for Film and Television

THE WAR YOU’VE ALWAYS WANTED is available on Amazon and other popular retails outlets where books are sold.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MIKE MCLAUGHLIN writes fiction and nonfiction. His short stories have appeared in The Wrath-Bearing Tree, October Hill, and The Metaworker. His historical features have run in American Veteran, WWII History, and American Heritage. He is a graduate of Fairfield University with a degree in English writing. Mike lives in Boston, an excellent place for any writer to keep a low profile and get real work done.

Mike McLaughlin
Mike McLaughlin, Author
+1 617-852-2267
[email protected]