As we grow closer to the release date of my latest men's adventure novel, Tier Zero, and I scramble around getting the coolest blog tour ever ready to go, I thought I'd take a look back over the bloody battlefield of my burgeoning fiction career to the opening shot, so to speak: my debut novel, Hell and Gone.
Above is the paperback's cover image. All but one of the surviving protagonists from that bloody shoot-'em-up are back for more madcap mayhem in Tier Zero.
Here's a bit of trivia for you: The original title was The Has-Beens. I liked it. Nobody else did. I changed it to The Samson Doctrine. People liked that, but it sounded too techno-thriller for me. As the original publication date loomed closer, I argued myself in circles about those two titles. Then I pondered what else I could call it.
It was an old-school commando tale. I figured a title that sounded old-fashioned would clue potential readers in on what sort of novel this was. I wrote about a dozen different blurbs for it, hoping a title would come to me before the deadline for publishing. While working on another blurb, I was summarizing what's at stake. Rocco and the gang had to steal a suitcase nuke away from Khaled Ali and his martyrs-in-training before they used it to blow Tel Aviv to...
(Here's where I thought: "Eureka! Herein lies the inspiration for a title!")
...Blow it to...
Smithereens. Nope. Although it would work well as a title of a comedy, or Clancyesque thriller spoof.
Kingdom Come. Hmm. I was getting warmer, but was sure that title must have been used a thousand times already.
And then it came to me. It was different. It was old-fashioned. And it sounded like something protagonist Rocco Cavarra would say. Bingo. I had a title, literally just a couple days before it was printed. (Yes, the print version came out first--another mistake I've learned from. Of course, I knew nothing about e-books at the time, so cut me some slack already. Okay?)
Anyhoo, there is a brand new Amazon review of H&G, and some others I have not yet shared on the blog. So let me correct that, now:
Military fiction done right., January 8, 2013
By
Winston Crutchfield "MindSpike" (Indiana, USA) Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Hell and Gone (Kindle Edition)
In the tradition of "The Expendables" and "The Dirty Dozen", Hank Brown
delivers rock solid military action with just a hint of techno-thriller.
Brown paints "Rocco's Retreads" with a solid brush that emphasizes
gritty, realistic action instead of a troop of invincible soldiers. The
fighting is brutal and intense; the characters are recognizable and
empathetic. The language of the book is noticeably less crude than one
might expect from this type of military fiction, which makes the book
that much more enjoyable. The plot is straightforward, and complications
derive from perfectly natural mission-creep rather than complexly
contrived circumstance. Brown stays on target and develops his
characters and story without resorting to vulgarity, graphic violence,
or gratuitous sex. This is a book about experienced soldiers on a dirty
covert op; the writing is well-rounded and professional. I enjoyed
reading this story, and immediately went looking for the author's blog
(do a quick search for "two-fisted blogger"). Henry "Hank" Brown is
definitely an author to watch.
Great Read - Fast moving Military Fiction, July 15, 2011
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Hell and Gone (Kindle Edition)
I am a reader who likes military fiction and have found the field pretty
sparse for quite a few years. I look for believable action, realistic
characters and straightforward moral clarity - the next "Dogs of War,"
but relative to the modern world of instability.
Hell and Gone gives
the reader all of it - and the style is so smooth it can be easily read
in an afternoon, it was that good that I could not put it down.
The
work starts by setting the scene for the twisted antagonists (they are
truly sick) - just enough detail to whet my appetite and move us along
to the good guys. It is very believable and makes me wonder if the
author has seen something like the terror camp described....
The good
guys are not supermen - they are men with faults but have innate
clarity that allows their leader, D. Cavarra, to prove his mettle. The
author takes just enough time to give us some insight into each
characters inner workings - enough that we want more from those who
survive. The various characters have to be a microcosm of any small unit
out in various nasty parts of the world - from the bumbling wannabe
goofball to the quiet man of many virtues, with a couple of intriguing
twists.
The location looks to be prime, who could argue against the
Sudan, and with a hint of Isreali intrigue the stage is set for a good
tale. Scary in it's implications for nuclear holocaust but very relevant
and even takes some time to poke back at inadequate leadership in DC!
No spoilers here - except when I put the work down - I could only say "sequel/prequel?"
Nuclear Suicide Mission, February 20, 2012
This review is from: Hell and Gone (Paperback)
Look at these reviews. Have you ever seen reviews this long? Readers
care about this book, and the reviewers have deconstructed it. So I will
stipulate what they have said, that it is well-written, well-plotted,
and has excellent characterization, which is hard to do when you have a
military unit worth of characters to delineate.
The first fifty pages
introduce the main characters and the mission, and they are interesting
in themselves. After that reading this book is pretty much like being
strapped to a rocket for about three hours. This is high praise for an
adventure novel. The sucker moves and carries the reader with it, fast
and smooth.
Nobody73 "D.R. Tharp" (Missouri)
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Hell and Gone (Kindle Edition)
I had this book on my 'must read' list for awhile. I should have read it
earlier. I read it in 3 sittings and it went by extremely fast. I
really love the characterization in this book. Anyone who has served in
the military will be jolted back to the service by reading the cast's
resume and the way they do things. Even if you never served in Combat
Arms, the people are the same. They range from Solid Officers who aren't
afraid of work to the bitter angry socio paths who try and maneuver
their way through 20 years and along the way they try and screw Anyone
and everyone they can. Obviously, the author has been there and done
that.
At first, I thought the plot to be a typical hadji hunt.
The author has done a great job at assembling a mission that you might
find anywhere and drags you into the depth of the characters. God, The
Flag and American Pie, this is not. And I love it. The sequence of
events in the last 2/3's of the book are extremely unique. I won't give
away the plot of the book as it has been discussed above. Mr. Brown has a
talent that I wish he would put to more novels of the military
adventure class. This book is worth the time and price and then some. Do
yourself a favor and spend the time getting to know the characters of
this book. Bravo!
A man's book through and through., January 5, 2012
Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is from: Hell and Gone (Kindle Edition)
I read Hell and Gone over three days on my Iphone. Every opportunity I
had I read it, on the train, at the barbers, waiting for physio, sitting
in the park whilst my do burned off energy even waiting for a meal in
an expensive restaurant (oh my girl loved me for that).
I
couldn't put this action thriller down. Why? Because it grabbed me in
the first few pages and didn't let go till the very end. It has it all,
it's contemporary, it's well developed, the plot is solid, the weapons
and tactics are spot on and the writing style is easy to read and
doesn't bog down in to much detail.
There is a lot of independent
crap on Amazon but this ain't some of it. This is an exceptionally well
produced piece of action writing that any major publishing house would
be proud of. Not that I think that all of their work is worth being
proud of.
So why only four stars? Well I think that there was a
few to many characters in the team. At times I found myself confused as
to who was who and what background they had. I think the book would
actually read better if the number of good guys was halved.
All in all a great read that I recommend to any man who likes real action.
Well done Henry!!
There are some more I haven't shared here before, but this post is already getting kinda' long. (Of course you're more than welcome to read them all on Amazon prior to buying about four million copies for friends and family all over the English-speaking world. What? Not quite four million? Quit being so unsociable and start sending some Facebook friend requests!)
When we meet again, Two-Fisted Bloggees, it will be time for the Men's Adventure Blog Tour, kicking off Monday, January 14 2013, after I pull the trigger on Tier Zero!
If you're looking for more hosts for your upcoming blog tour, I'd be happy to host you on Civil War Horror. While my period is earlier than yours, I'm always happy to take guest posts about writing or research. I have a guest blogger coming up who will write about crafting fight scenes, for example.
ReplyDeleteHi Sean. I don't know how to get in touch with you. It's not on your profile page, unless I missed it.
ReplyDeleteMy contact info is in my blogger profile. You can shoot me an email if you don't want to share your address here.
ReplyDeleteIt's on the lefthand column of my blog. It's seansontheweb (at) yahoo (dot) com
ReplyDeleteJust a question. Do you accept guest posts at all?
ReplyDeleteHi John. I do sometimes. What do you have in mind?
ReplyDelete