Remember the Alamo!
I’ve been an avid reader about the siege of the Alamo since I was a kid, starting with Walter Lord’s, A Time to Stand. One of my favorite was Three Roads to the Alamo, by William Davis. I started to correspond with Bill about his research and he even granted me the honor of writing an intro to my book on Count Felix von Luckner, The Cruise of the Sea Eagle.
Every year, my wife and I talked about going, but this year, we did it. I have an idea for a novel set at the Alamo, and if you know me, I’m into the research.
It was an amazing visit.
We arrived during the fiesta of the Battle of Flowers – two days/nights of parades and parties. It was very entertaining. The people of San Antonio are very nice, they keep the city clean and safe. It was refreshing to hear the citizens of a community cheer when the police came by in the parade. On its own, San Antonio is a fantastic place to visit.
We did the guided tour of the Alamo, which I recommend. I think the biggest shock for me was how small the façade of the church was. In my mind, it was much larger.
The Alamo is not a “Texas thing,” as one person tried to tell me before our trip. For me, it was an American story as much as a Texan one. It is almost a religious experience to go there. It is a church that remains as symbol of freedom. Last stands are fascinating studies of humanity at its best. Despite the opportunity to leave, the Alamo defenders remained. You can argue about the historic credibility of Travis drawing a line in the sand, but when you are there, and you see the brass marker, you cannot help but step over the line yourself. There is a reverence when you step into the church. Hats come off, voices become whispers. The walls cast eerie shadows, still holding a few secrets.
Walking the long barracks, I tried to picture the hand-to-hand combat there – point blank death. Standing in the plaza, it is easy to imagine that the surrounding buildings are gone. When you walk up to the statue of Davy Crockett, it looms over you, much like the reputation of the man himself.
I’m a “special” kind of history junkie. I went to look for John McGregor’s name on the memorial. Having been a bagpipe player, I have read two accounts of McGregor (one of the four Scotsmen in siege) playing his bagpipes accompanied by Crockett playing his fiddle. Yes, I’m that level of a geek. Bagpipes at the Alamo! That’s a whole new level of stubborn!
Yes, my wife is extremely patient.
We met people that had been to the Alamo throughout their lives. People go back, not because there are new things to see, but because of the feeling you get when you are there. Patriotism, liberty, love of country…they are all intertwined in that place. It is a historian’s holy ground and a place where you can refresh your own sense of duty to both nation and freedom. You can do the entire tour in a few hours but the memories will stay with you for much longer.
We are engaged in an election year. We could all use a reboot of our patriotism and a true appreciation of what it means to be an American. The Alamo grants that.
I wrote about the Alamo in A Most Uncivil War. It was refreshing that I got it right based on the online photos and the help of the Alamo visitor center.
I came away with a much greater respect for the thirteen days of glory that took place there and the efforts to preserve such an important site. My only regret is that I cannot be a citizen of Virginia and Texas…because having been there, I really developed a stronger bond with the Lone Star state and its wonderful people.
Review of Mike Bennett’s Rosehips in June
What if the US Government had an operative and organization that was empowered to make the tough decisions that the politicians couldn’t? What if that operative was responsible for most of the globe-shaping events since the middle of the last century?
In Mike Bennett’s Warlock series that is the exact premise. Think you know what happened at Chernobyl? Fairly certain you know all about the Iranian Hostage Crisis? You don’t – not in Bennett’s universe at least. The Warlock is responsible, a shadowy figure empowered with preserving the US. The Warlock is a master chess player and the globe is his board. His actions have guided the fate of America for generations, an omnipotent fighter to sure the nation perseveres
I’ve read a few of Mike’s books and they all are intertwined with the Warlock. This book is like the binding of a much larger book encompassing his previous works. In some respects, I wish this book had come out first. It sets an amazing amount of context.
Bennett’s premise and prose leaves you questioning the truths you have accepted for decades. It’s a spy thriller where the emphasis is more on strategic thinking than brute force. The level of technical detail in this book is chillingly accurate, making me wonder, is this fiction?
My only gripe is with the title and cover. When I was reading this book in public, I did it with the cover down so that people wouldn’t think I was reading a romance novel. It’s a minor nit, but humorously true.
Mike Bennett has crafted a world of danger, intrigue, and master spycraft, which is hard to ignore. I highly recommend this book.
Review of Graphic Novel Series Florida Man – Issues One and Two
Allow me to set expectations. I’m writing a book with Mike Baron, the writer of this comic series. He didn’t ask me to review these issues. In fact, I didn’t ask him for a free copy; I purchased mine. This is an honest review.
Two years ago, my family went to the Florida Keys for Christmas vacation. We encountered the Keys Rednecks in their natural environment. They were the nicest people, but also deeply quirky. So when I saw that Mike had this series, I had to dive in.
The best way to describe these comics is a hilarious cross between the TV series, My Name is Earl, the funny parts of Swamp People, and the dose of the humor of Red Green. This is not a superhero comic. It is a funny series – a rarity these days. The humor is sometimes dark, often crude, but still funny. In a day and age when every joke is put under observation and analysis searching for microaggressions, Florida Man stomps on woke values and simply pokes fun for the sake of a laugh. Each page oozes with stuff that is bound to offend someone, and for that alone, I love the series.
If you’re looking for a plot in this series prepare to be challenged. It is both simple and complex in both editions of this graphic novel series. This is more about characters. The lead character is Gary Duba, a man that could be called the king of Redneckdom. His girlfriend is a stripper, he owns a pest control service, and is the kind of person that would give you the shirt off of his back. He wants to get ahead but often fate and common sense intervene.
The supporting cast of characters are distinct, twisted, and easily identifiable. From the sleezy lawyer to the women wrestling coach, each plays a funny role in Gary’s trek through life. Gary is, in his own way, purely American. He represents the innocent dumbness in us, that hope we all have of getting rich, and how we are often our own worst enemies. Despite it all, Gary is rarely depressed and always strives forward. He’s no superhero, he’s just a rube that many people can identify with.
I loved this series for what it is, entertainment that pokes fun at the sometimes seedy side of our culture and our immature adultness.
As a final note, this is not a series for kids. There’s foul language, drug use, criminal activity, and a venomous snake in the toilet. Seriously, Gary’s girlfriend’s wrestling name is Black Dildo. Yes, it’s that level of fun immaturity that a lot of people are destined to enjoy, myself included.
You can pick the series up at Baron Comics.
Patrons of Terror (Blue Dawn Five) Available for Preorder
I’m proud to announce that book five of the Blue Dawn series, Patrons of Terror, is available now for paperback and Kindle preorder. The book drops on May 28. We have our fingers crossed that the audiobook will be available at that time. Military fiction fans and those that love political thrillers, this series is for you.
This novel has lots of interesting storylines. Readers will get a conclusion to the story arc for the Defiance in New Hampshire. The American forces drive west out of Texas and meet unexpected resistance. The Newmerican forces, bolstered by the Veterans Corps and other units, try a knock out punch into Texas. That counteroffensive goes off the rails in a great way. Judy Mercury is back with a special operation that is amazing!
For those of you that love the political stuff, there’s plenty of it. An operative goes to Tennessee to attempt to topple the struggling American government.
There are some great themes with this book – from gun control to how veterans are dealt with. The Second American Civil War has a lot of moving parts and as a writer, I’m enjoying playing with all of them.
The book has a rocking cover from the battle for New Hampshire. I’m going to dedicate an entire blog post to the cover. I figured if Mark Sibley could have a tank on the cover, so could I…and mine would be on fire!
Please feel free to order Patrons of Terror and spread the news on your social media feeds. The battle for America’s future has never been so precarious!
Research for Tenure
If you haven’t heard, Mike Baron and I are writing a really cool book series for WarGate called Tenure. This series harkens back to the 1970’s when the Men’s Adventure genre was hot. Remember Mack Bolan from The Executioner? Ah, those were the days.
Our hero is a contemporary man…a good man that is pushed too far and is forced to strike back. Braxton Knox is akin to series such as, The Equalizer, The Punisher, a dash of Reacher, and Nobody. There’s even some of Michael Douglas’s character from Falling Down. He’s a modern day man faced with modern day problems and an old fashioned sense of vengeance. I honestly believe that Mike Baron and I are going to bring the Men’s Adventure genre back, stomping all over the feelings of the woke in the process.
Mike Baron is a bit of a genius when it comes to characters. He picked a weapon for Knox that is pretty iconic, an Accuracy International Sniper Rifle. It has a distinct look and feel and is perfect for our protagonist.
Those of you who know me know I love the research. Last year, I attended Best Ranger Competition, just to hone my knowledge base for a Galaxy’s Edge book I wrote (more on that later!). When Mike suggested this weapon, I dug into it. I contacted fellow WarGate author, John Spears, who teaches snipers, and he helped me with the optics the weapon would need. Needless to say, go checkout John’s books, by the way.
I needed a little more.
As it turns out, Accuracy International has an office in my city here in Virginia. They were courteous enough to give me a few hours of “quality time” with the weapons they manufacture. It was fantastic. My head is still swimming with all I took in. The bottom line, when I write about that weapon, I will be getting it right.
Anyone who says that fiction authors don’t do research is wrong. Every little thing we do in life is research. Some days are far more special than others.
Review of HBO’s True Detective Season 5 Night Country
The short version is as follows: Night Country has all the appeal of a munching on a well-worn urinal cake or a sitting in a porta-john on a 102 degree day.
I imagine that the pitch for this season of True Detective went something like this: “We can get Jodie Foster for True Detective!” “That’s great, what’s the story?” “We don’t know, and neither will the fans. It doesn’t matter, we’ll have Jodie Foster!”
This season sucks to the tenth power. I am now more stupid for having watched it. It is a meaningless blur of bizarre images and characters that are easy to hate because they all hate each other. The story starts off with a hint of The Thing, but then decides to try and take a sharp left into being a supernatural thriller. Woven into this is symbolism designed to intrigue the viewer, but instead only plants seeds of confusion. It was as if the writers had no plan whatsoever short of being a vehicle for Jodie Foster. The producer tries to shift and turn this into a murder mystery, but only in the last two episodes, far too little too late. I won’t ruin the series for you by explaining the plot because it really didn’t have a cohesive one. It’s like staring into a M Night Shyamalan bowel movement and calling it art.
Normally I would call this a wokefest—all about the need to tear down the white patriarchy and pushing an environmental message. I don’t have to go down that path, though it is completely valid. This series self-implodes without the need for external based stimuli.
The main characters are female. The male characters in the series are just as horrible as the women. This highlights the core problem with this season; not a single character was remotely likable. If anything, you are presented with characters that are nothing but a hot steaming bag of flaws with no redeeming characteristics at all. I was rooting for the dead bodies, at least they didn’t have to watch the series. I kept going, thinking that somehow, at the end, it would all make sense. The characters are not shallow, they are loathsome.
The Jodie Foster sex scenes were uncomfortable at best. I’m the same age as Ms. Foster. The last thing I want to do is see other people my age having sex. This series shouldn’t just be avoided, it should be banned and all digital copies purged from existence. I’m counting on the Tourism Board for the State of Alaska to intervene on behalf of humanity in making sure something like this is never produced again.
Two of the Colonial Parkway Murders Solved!
I know members of the family of Robin Edwards and David Knobling. It is with great satisfaction mixed with sorrow that they finally know who was responsible for the deaths of their loved ones. My daughter Victoria I both extend to them our most positive thoughts and prayers. Our prayers go out to the other victims’ families as well. This is a huge step in the right direction. Victoria and I spent two years researching and writing our book on the Colonial Parkway Murders, A Special Kind of Evil. We got to know many of the family members personally. This case is a part of us now.
In a news conference yesterday it was announced that Alan Wade Wilmer, Sr., now deceased was linked via DNA evidence to the murders of Robin and David, along with the murder of Teresa Lynn Spaw Howell.
I’m glad that these families got the answer as to who was responsible. I wish he wasn’t dead so that we could have learned more about his motives and what happened.
What was shocking for us was we knew about Alan Wade Wilmer already, as did readers of the book. He had been the FBI’s prime suspect in the murders of Cassandra Hailey and Keith Call.
Needless to say we are getting swamped with messages and inquires asking if this guy was on our radar. Yes, along with a half dozen others. A chill went up my spine when I saw the image of his truck license plate. I remember sitting with Irv Wells, the FBI SAIC in charge of the Call/Hailey case. He told me that he remembered the license plate as Eat Em Raw or Em-Raw. When we wrote the book, I changed it EAT THEM with a footnote indicating that I had changed it. At the time, I didn’t want wannabe true crime sleuths tracking down this person, who, at the time of the writing, had been cleared by the FBI. That footnote exists both in the print and ebook versions.
When I saw the press conference with that picture I realized that the FBI not only was aware of this person, but had cleared him.
Our writing of the book was the first time that this part of the puzzle had been made public. While I encourage you to pick up the book and read the whole story regarding Wilmer. It starts on page 204 of the print edition of , A Special Kind of Evil. At the request of my publisher, I am paraphrasing below about the events. There is more available in the book.
With the disappearance of Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey, April 10, 1988, the FBI became involved with the case, rather haphazardly, because of mismanagement at the US Park Service with Call’s car. Irv Wells as the Special Agent in Charge, dusted off the profile the Behavioral Science Unit from the Dowski-Thomas case, the first victims found on the Colonial Parkway.
That profile indicated they should be looking for a waterman, a local fisherman. They looked into peeping Tom cases on the Parkway. One stood out. This man, who we now know as Wilmer, was “more aggressive,” confronting couples on the Parkway. In one instance, a couple was making out and the young man had long hair. He banged on the window asking, “Are you girls having fun?” When he saw one was a male, he backed off.
They had a description of his blue truck, complete with oversized tires, rifle rack, and the distinctive EM-RAW license plate. The FBI spotted him then tracked him down and did drive-by undercover surveillance. This was four days after Keith and Cassandra went missing. He was seen spray painting the bed of his truck, vacuuming the inside. The FBI feared that he was destroying potential evidence and got a warrant.
They searched the trailer he lived in and found weapons, handcuffs, and pornography. What they didn’t find was anything that tied him directly to Keith and Cassandra’s disappearance.
“They got everything. We got his vacuum cleaner, and they did a search of his truck, and they found a gun, handcuffs, and I can’t remember what else. He even admitted being at the next cut off around the right time. So he was seen by somebody else that night,” Joe Wolfinger of the FBI confirmed.
While they had someone that fit their profile, how had questionable stuff in his possession. Joe Wolfinger told me that they brought in their best polygrapher. Here’s the shocker, Wilmer passed, with flying colors.
Irv Wells felt the same frustration. “So these guys really did look hot. We brought in a polygrapher, one of the best the bureau had. Anyway, Barry-something was his name. He was sort of known as the bureau’s ‘polygrapher extraordinaire.’ And he was responsible for polygraphing the John Walker case. And he said, ‘These guys didn’t do it.’
“We said, ‘You better fucking be right.’ And we walked away from him. I have always wondered … to defeat a polygraph you have to be more sophisticated than—oh, and they were watermen! That was a big thing—they were watermen! “He said, ‘They didn’t do it and didn’t know about it.’
So the FBI had their man, for the pair of murders that followed Ragged Island (Knobling/Edwards). They didn’t know it, and Wilmer slipped out of their grasp – until this week.
Obviously, I encourage you to pick up A Special Kind of Eviland read the pages about Wilmer with a new set of eyes. In the meantime, I think we are at the beginning of the end when it comes to these crimes. We have a name and a face. If you have any information about this person, please contact the FBI tip line.
One pair of crimes down – three to go.
Review of Rebel Moon
A proviso before I launch into this movie, my son did the star’s hair during the shooting. True story. Her hair was, by and large, the best part of the film. Read into that what you will.
The film is a Star Wars wannabe. Having suffered through Disney’s ownership of that franchise, there was an unspoken hope that Rebel Moon would be fantastic, an alternative to Woke er…Star Wars. If that was your hope, please allow me to squash it. Rebel Moon falls flat on many levels.
Without ruining the plot, the biggest failure for me is the characters. While the story background is definitely intriguing, the characters did nothing for me. I wasn’t invested in any of them. While the lead character’s background is neat, I didn’t care whether she lived or died in the film.
Other character interactions were borderline ridiculous. At one point, the heroes meet someone they want to join their party. They met him for a total of one minute on screen before they decide to trust the rest of their lives in slavery with him if he can ride a magic space bird. No, I’m not kidding. It is this kind of sloppy mismanagement of characters that made me want to stop watching. The protagonist’s entourage all join up simply by being asked, which is three steps past lame.
Another character is said to be a genius general, but not once do we actually see that. Maybe the payoff is in part two, but if you don’t do your work up-front, people will not tune into part two.
Zack Snyder has a semi-strong foundation in the background of this universe, but if we don’t care about the protagonists, does that matter? All of the characters spend the film filthy to the point where I got a few of them confused at one point.
Some of the action scenes are remarkably well choreographed and executed. Those alone aren’t enough to carry the movie.
I recommend this movie if you are insomniac and are looking to induce sleep. If you are looking for a replacement for Star Wars, this isn’t it.
Non-Spoiler Review of Mike Baron’s Sons of Bitches
I was gifted a copy of this novel, which is book four of the series. I’m pleased to say I didn’t need all of the background and previous books in order to enjoy this story. Mike is a truly gifted author. He’s probably best know for his writing in comic books, working on franchises like The Punisher and The Flash. In a way, that’s too bad. Where Mike Baron stands out best is writing fiction, regardless of the format, and novels are a great playground for him.
Son’s of Bitches is about a former biker who now runs a personal protection service. One of my good friends owns one of these so I’m fairly familiar with their work and Baron has clearly done his research. He is helping a young woman who is a comic artist who has produced a comic book called Mohammad, complete with artwork.
The death threats come in. Baron does a great job of taking a real-life story and amping it up on Mountain Dew to turn it into something along the lines of Jack Reacher. Without ruining the plot, things are more complicated than it seems, especially when terrorists get involved. Baron pulls off some great surprises in the story, things that catch you off guard.
What Mike does is give readers a glimpse into his own career in comics and the nerd lifestyle, satisfying the geek in me. It made the story all the more believable.
His lead character, Josh, is not warm and cuddly. He’s been in prison, found God, and has turned his life around while still managing to not morph into someone else. It is this kind of character creation where Baron shows his true chops.
The pacing is fast and the story is one that is anything but a straight line. I highly recommend this book and I’ve already ordered the first one in the series. Pick up Sons of Bitches and prepare yourself for a fun time.
Notes From The Bunker 