The posthumous masterwork by critically acclaimed author, storied publisher, and Viet Nam veteran Juris Jurjevics-the story of two American GI cops caught in the corrupt cauldron of a Vietnamese civil war stoked red hot by revolution.
Viet Nam, 1963. A female Viet Cong assassin is trawling the boulevards of Saigon, catching US Army officers off-guard with a single pistol shot, then riding off on the back of a scooter. Although the US military is not officially in combat, sixteen thousand American servicemen are stationed in Viet Nam "advising" the military and government. Among them are Ellsworth Miser and Clovis Robeson, two army investigators who have been tasked with tracking down the daring killer.
Set in the besieged capital of a new nation on the eve of the coup that would bring down the Diem regime and launch the Americans into the Viet Nam War, Play the Red Queen is Juris Jurjevics's capstone contribution to a lifelong literary legacy: a tour-de-force mystery-cum-social history, breathtakingly atmospheric and heartbreakingly alive with the laws and lawlessness of war.
'A whopper . . . Relentlessly fascinating.' THE NEW YORK SUN
'Wildly entertaining.' THE NEW ORLEANS TIMES-PICAYUNE
'Infectious.' USA TODAY
A novel of soldiers and spies in the highlands of Vietnam
Army cop Erik Rider is enjoying his war until he's sent to disrupt Vietcong opium fields in a remote highland province.Rider lands in Cheo Reo, home to hard-pressed soldiers, intelligence operatives, and profiteers of all stripes. The tiny US contingent and its unenthusiastic Vietnamese allies are hopelessly outnumbered by infiltrating enemy infantry. And they're all surrounded by sixty thousand Montagnard tribespeople who want their mountain homeland back.
The Vietcong are on to Rider's game and have placed a bounty on his head. As he hunts the opium fields, skirmishes with enemy patrols, and defends the undermanned US base, Rider makes a disturbing discovery: someone close to home has a stake in the opium smuggling ring'and will kill to protect it.Written by a master, and as authentic as Matterhorn or Dog Soldiers, Red Flags is a riveting new addition to espionage fiction.
'Intriguing'Jurjevics, himself a Vietnam veteran, is best when describing the details of daily life during war, particularly those involving the abuse of the huge native tribal population of Montagnards.''Publishers Weekly
