Logan - Rise of the Shadow Elf

All persons of evil intent should avoid the community of Taverstown, which borders Goshen Swamp. There within the murky depths of the enigmatic swamp, resides a presence which keeps watch over all who venture near.

Billy Ray McBride was a guy who had it all worked out. He had a future planned after college, a great girl, loving parents, the works. That is, until his twenty first birthday, when all of that was taken away. On this fateful day, his father was murdered, setting a string of events into play that will change his life forever.

Walter McBride is a career man with the FBI, and is ready to walk away. Retirement is calling to him, and he is more than ready to heed the call. For too long, there have been too many long nights, too many fatherless occasions, too much strain on his life and marriage. The time has come for him to close his records and file them away. The announcement of this glorious decision is his gift to his son, on this fateful day.

Over twenty years with the FBI gives a man a chance to make enemies. Walter?s was a mobster who was in his sights for most of Walter?s career. He should have informed the Callistone syndicate of his decision. Too close for comfort, a price was put on Walter?s life. Billy Ray McBride sat and watched, as his father was gunned down right in front of him, on this fateful day.

Love, hope and happiness are replaced by anger, hate and vengeance. His father?s murder case was being swept under the carpet, giving him the self appointed duty of serving justice. Billy becomes a driven man who will not stop until the death of his father is avenged. This brings on a constant battle raging inside him, with morality as the subject. To overcome this and save the innocent, he must cast away his rage, putting others first, before himself.

This is Billy?s story?

 Twenty-five hundred years ago a small Mediterranean community defended itself from an invasion by the most powerful empire in the world and won a singular victory of arms for themselves and for a civic idea.  The community was Athens; the victory was at Marathon, and the civic idea was democracy. 

The struggle was not over.  War and civic struggles continued for the following generation of Athenians.  This is their story and the next chapter of democracy.

The Cold War tested strategic and diplomatic relations between two superpowers competing on a global level. Billions of dollars and rubles were spent on escalating nuclear yield and accuracy, delivery vehicles, and conventional forces. Somehow the missile silos and submarines kept quivered their awful arrows during the 40 years after WW II, in spite of varying levels of tension between East and West. Yet another story (often unheralded) played out wherein the lowest levels of military rank and responsibility, often without specific guidance or supervision, were expected to step back from the edge of emotional and humiliating confrontation, keeping an ?almost? international incident from becoming an ?actual? incident.

These are the unsung heroes of the Cold War: the men and women behind the incident that didn?t happen, and the confrontation that didn?t escalate.

I vowed to one day write of my ?almosts? with the Russian Bear in East Germany. Having been blessed with (or cursed with) a near photographic memory, I set about researching these events, fully expecting to discover a body of work describing these incidents. To my utter surprise, no references mention or allude to my harrowing experiences. It?s as if an information blackout exists around specific events and times.

To the best of my memory from my position as a foot soldier, my narrative describes West-East confrontations at Checkpoints Alpha and Charlie. Either event came frighteningly close to turning the ?Cold War? into a ?shooting war.? And yet, to my knowledge, no record exists in any format or media. Until now?.

We were all touched by the Vietnam War in some way.  Veterans, their families, friends and a whole new generation still have unanswered questions about that turbulent time.  ?Not Enough Tears? lets you see the good and bad through the eyes of a young army draftee sent to fight for his nation.

Duty and patriotic pride quickly degenerated into a fight for survival.  Taking one of the most dangerous jobs in an infantry company, Dave came home with hardly a scratch.  There were no odds to explain the supernatural protection he received.  After two months, that covering extended to everyone around him when he walked point.  Over time, that unbelievable ?luck? turned into a curse as walking point and going home became vexing choices between life and death.

Like most vets, Dave thought he buried the war after coming home.  Surviving the horrors of Vietnam meant he could handle anything.  Thirty years later his life was falling apart.  He?d given up.  Leaving his family seemed to be the only way to stop the pain.  Learn the lessons in ?Not Enough Tears? which can bring healing to tens of thousands who are still hurting and don?t understand why.

?Poignant, and scary? - Norman Bates, editor.

?It made me cry, it made me laugh.  I couldn?t put it down.? ? Jackie Arnold, editor.

?Baby!  What BABY?!? ? Marisha Hall, the author?s wife - overheard as she proofread one of the chapters.

 ?I see you tomorrow Beeelle, you Number One Beeelle!  You bulletproof GI! Beeelle? ? Lum, hooch-maid, Quang Tri Combat Base, Vietnam, 1970.

?You boom-boom, GI?  . . . .  Or, maybe you ?Funny-Boy??? ? The Pimp, pimp age six, DaNang, Vietnam, 1971.

The writing started as a simple answer to a cousin?s emailed question about the war.  It was sort of like someone had distracted the little Dutch boy and caused him to pull his finger from the hole in the dike thus letting the flood waters flow.  That was the story of Lum, the first chapter written.  Then, much later, after I had called the book finished the first time, I awoke in the middle of the night one time and realized that I had finished the whole darned book without having written the first chapter yet.  I think you can read it in most any order you want, if you are somewhat familiar with the jargon.  Each chapter pretty much stands on its own.