Blair Beebe, M.D. Medical lessons from Vietnam; what did we learn? Almost fifty years after the beginning of American involvement in the Vietnam War, we still remain embroiled in military actions that generate disease, disability, and death. Frontline physicians who were in places like Afghanistan, Iraq, Bosnia, Herzegovina, and Vietnam faced the medical consequences of war every day. My new novel, Doc Lucas USN, based on real people and real events, brings the war down to a human scale, one person at a time. History gives us statistics and dates, but fiction helps us to better understand the meaning behind those facts. One of my old professors defined history as "lies we tell about dead people." We understand more from reading Homer, Sophocles, Shakespeare, Margaret Mitchell, and Stephen Ambrose than we ever learned from dry history textbooks. Paradoxically, the truth comes out in fiction. During my time in Vietnam, and for many years after, I listened to stories from other physicians who served during the war and from naval aviators and marines who faced combat every day. I also heard different points of view from Vietnamese civilians who had come to America to escape the chaos after the war. Their eyewitness accounts are the true history, but unless someone writes them down, we lose them forever. Moreover, individual stories may have little meaning to us if they lack context. I've often heard both veterans and civilians say, "I don't talk about my experiences, because anyone who wasn't there could never understand how bad it was." That's why we need a novel to give us a complete account in an organized way. Each character and each scene moves the action to develop a central theme about the war. We want more than anecdotes. We want to understand the how and the why of the unfolding tragedy. Doc Lucas not only recounts the stories, he lives them. We feel his anxiety, his terror, and at times, his joy. When things go wrong, we know why, and we can feel his despair. In the good times, and there are many, we laugh along with him. In the end, Doc Lucas learns important lessons about himself and his values centered on human rights and the relief of suffering. He emerges from the war better equipped to take his place with stronger convictions about his role in his society.

In a final desperate attempt to establish his legacy, the forty-third president of the United states, Gerald W. Burke, issues an ultimatum to the leaders of Israel and Palestine to resolve their conflict on his terms-or else. The ultimatum triggers a chain of unforeseen consequences that cause Burke to be marked for death by al-Qaeda-or is it al-Qaeda? That's the question Kathy Romano, Homeland Security Terrorism Analyst, has to answer as she follows a labyrinth of clues that lead to a shocking discovery that can forever shatter the friendly relations between Israel and the United States.

At the center of the action, is Ari Bugari, an Israeli undercover agent, recruited into al-Qaeda after Iraq is invaded and defeated by the coalition forces. On orders from the al-Qaeda leadership, Ari pursues President Burke across three continents. Caught between his Israeli and al-Qaeda masters, Ari, himself, becomes the hunted quarry and is forced into hiding when he learns the explosive truth that underlies his relationship with Mossad Director General Shalom Eitan.

In this tale of adventure, betrayal, and redemption, President Burke must do everything in his power to salvage the peace agreement and his presidency.

Codename: FLAME is the parallel to Dr. Niklewicz's first riveting historical novel, "Last Train to Dachau." That story was based on his mother's wartime experiences and the plight of the Miller family that lived and survived the terrible challenges and brutality that was forced upon them by the Nazis.

As was his first book, Codename: FLAME is an historical novel based on the true-life struggles of courageous Poles in the time of war. His father Stanislaw Niklewicz was such a person and his life is featured in this second book. The contrast between the two stories is vast. The Millers, a family of five survived through patience and the strength of a family unit that did everything to stay together. Stanislaw on the other hand, was all alone as he ran away from his pending draft into the Hitler Youth at the age of 15; eventually becoming a Partisan fighter.

Follow the hardships that Stanislaw endured while being alone in the forests of Poland; first as a teenage Boy Scout courier and then as a Partisan fighter. The saga of Stanislaw (Staszek) is a portrait of a defiant boy turned into a man by the necessity and passion to live free or die fighting against the tyranny of the Germans.

His defiance and determination for freedom continued even after being captured behind enemy lines during a secret mission and his subsequent brutal imprisonment at the infamous Mathausen Concentration Camp.

As you read this book, try to think of what it was like to be a boy soldier at 15. Then try to think of the courage and fortitude it took to survive through the torture of an extermination camp. A camp that had no other purpose than to work you to death; something you were equally determined to boldly defy.

Lieutenant Xavier Moran, USMC, better known as "X," is out of the Afghanistan battlefield-his first reprieve in over sixty days. As he arrives at the sprawling airbase at Bagram with nothing more than a pack, a weapon, and a reputation for getting things done, he secretly wishes he was back in the fight, where life is helter-skelter. When he is assigned a tough mission by Colonel Fran Matthews, X has no idea he is about to become immersed in the rampant corruption that surrounds the Afghan war.

Assigned to assume command of an isolated marine rifle company in disarray, X faces many challenges, including bringing casualties in line with operations, raising the marine's morale, and facing off with the current battalion commander. As he heads to Kotjay to begin his mission, X is apprehensive. He must succeed; failure could mean the end of his career-or the end of his life.

In this action-packed military tale, X bravely stands up to the entrenched powers in Afghanistan. Caught between doing what is right and doing what is expected, he makes powerful enemies intent on ensuring his failure. Only time will tell if they will be successful.

Age of Ice and Steel tells the story of a handful of lives transfixed and transformed by the German invasion of the Soviet Union in World War II. It follows the parallel and intersecting lives of Heinz Guderian and Georgi Zhukov, the two most dynamic and important commanders of the campaign, as well as the lives of ordinary citizens, Nadia, Lev, Anatoly, and Sebastian. But it is far from being a mere historical novel. It stands at the brink of literature and research, an approach which was essential to emphasize differences in tactics, attitudes, characters and philosophies. Guderian and Zhukov were the new archetypes of a modernized military philosophy and the brand new war doctrines by which modern leaders rule their generals and modern nations fight their wars. Indispensable and fascinating reading for anyone interested in World War II or modern warfare, Age of Ice and Steel is the essential novel of the War in the East.

First Lieutenant Joshua Jeffreys comes face to face with the reality that "war is hell" during the Battle of the Bulge. His unit is torn apart by the advancing German forces, and he is thrust into a nightmare of blood, death, and faith-shaking trials. Jeffreys gathers together a group of stragglers, leading them behind enemy lines. Lost and wounded, this band of strangers must quickly come together in order to survive. As war is raging around him, First Lieutenant Jeffreys navigates the battlefield while struggling internally with nagging doubts that cause his faith to waver. The outcome of his personal torment is as questionable as is the fate of his small group of GIs. The Battle of the Bulge cost the United States Army thousands of soldiers--captured, killed, wounded. If Jeffreys makes a mistake, he and his men will be part of these casualties, but the torture of his soul may be the ultimate cost of this battle.

It is 1812. For four years, Daniel Brownell has been crossing the Detroit River from Canada every day to attend school in America. But as General Hull prepares to invade Canada at Sandwich, where the Brownell family has a store, eleven-year-old Daniel must choose between following his American father--who is determined to join General Hull--or remaining with his unstable Canadian mother. After he decides his mother needs him more, Daniel retreats with her to Amherstburg, where a wealthy man rumored to be friends with the Shawnee agrees to take them in.Seventy-two-year-old Matthew Elliott has just been named lieutenant commander and chief of Indian affairs in the British Army, and he is tasked with keeping Tecumseh and his warriors in line. As Elliott welcomes Daniel and his mother into his home, Daniel does his best to accept his new life. But when Elliot asks Daniel to deliver a letter to General Hull with the hope of deceiving him, the boy puts his own life in jeopardy in an attempt to save his father's. Although Elliott has participated in many savage battles, the day Daniel loses his innocence grieves him mightily as he realizes that no one--not even a child--can escape the chaos created by war.In this historical tale, two intersecting families are caught up in the War of 1812 as America invades Canada and a boy, an Indian agent, and a great Shawnee chief struggle to survive.