Rick DeStefanis

Rick’s Blog

  • Melody Hill the Novel

    Melody Hill, a War Novel, an Espionage Thriller

    and a Love Story

    Melody Hill, the prequel to the award-winning novel The Gomorrah Principle is now available in both paperback and Kindle editions at http://amzn.to/1n7rGmM. You may also contact the author, Rick DeStefanis here to purchase a personally signed paperback copy.

    Melody Hill Cover Designed by Todd Herbertson
    Melody Hill Cover Designed by Todd Hebertson

     

    Melody Hill is the story of Duff Coleridge, a boy from the hills of Tennessee who makes the hard decision to enter the military in order to help support his family. A natural warrior, Duff quickly works his way into a Long Range Reconnaissance Patrol unit and is later recruited into a Special Operations Group. Only after he arrives does he realize his group is under the control of an arbitrary and ruthless CIA agent. When he discovers the rogue agent is involved in drug running and arms sales, Duff must rely on his instincts in order to survive the conflict with his boss.

    Melody Hill is a military thriller that exceeds its genre classification with strong elements of espionage and romance. It is the first book in The Gomorrah Principle Series, but as several reviewers have indicated, can be read either before or after Book #2, The Gomorrah Principle.

    Here is a review by Robert Enzenauer: 5.0 out of 5 stars, A book for EVERYONE who wants to understand his veteran FATHER or FRIEND, By Robert Enzenauer, March 15, 2016

    Format: Paperback Verified Purchase

    I have now read ALL of DeStefanis’ three novels. And I love them all. MELODY HILL and THE GOMORRAH PRINCIPLE both stand alone, so the reader can read either one first. DeStefanis has written now three Vietnam-era books of fiction that are on par with the best of James Webb, del Vecchio, Tim O’Brien, and Josiah Bunting. His descriptive writing is so realistic, the reader knows and feels that the author is a veteran “who has been there.” I myself was commissioned after the War in Vietnam was just over, but DeStefanis’ story rings true with the many stories I heard from friends and veterans just a little older than me, stories of corruption of Vietnam’s puppet government and the CIA and the US military often caught in the middle. The author’s description of combat are vivid, and his writing is so descriptive that the reader can feel and smell the muck at the bottom of the ever-present rice paddies. I am so glad that this author chose to become an author. The current group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will appreciate the honest and accurate story-telling of this author.

    Please leave your comments here on the blog and on Facebook, and post a review at www.Amazon.com or your favorite retailer’s site. Reviews help with sales, and your help will be very much appreciated.

  • Blondie Prefers Evan Williams

    Blondie, A Dog Who Knows Fine Bourbon

    Some of you may not know that I have a new Lab puppy. His name is Blondie. He is a very intelligent and inquisitive little critter who is open to trying new things. This I learned the other evening while on the back of the place burning brush. While tending the fire, I set my glass of Bourbon on a five gallon bucket on the hill.

    My Evan Williams Prior to the Dog Attack
    My Evan Williams Prior to the Attack

    Blondie who had grown bored with chasing crickets and toads, found my glass of Evan Williams and helped himself. What he didn’t slurp out, he turned over and drank off the bucket.

    “No problem,” I figured. He didn’t appear to have gotten too much, so I wasn’t overly concerned. A few minutes later he trotted back up toward the house, and it wasn’t long before I heard a commotion. He was barking and growling. I thought about the cats and realized he was probably terrorizing them, chasing them around the deck. The cats barely tolerate him as it is, so I hurried up to the house to save them.

    When I arrived the cats were lined up on top of the deck rail–all five of them, Doctor Claw, Zoie, Harry, Butter Cup, and Zero staring down at my ferocious little lush with more disdain than fear. They didn’t need my help. He was lying on his back, all four paws in the air, growling and barking at them. Figuring he had embarrassed himself enough, I took him inside and let him sleep it off on the couch.

    I’m sure Bourbon isn’t good for a dog and fortunate he didn’t get more. Next time I reckon I’ll put my Evan Williams on a fence post.

    Rick DeStefanis – The Word Hunter

    Blondie-My Evan Williams after the attack.
    Blondie Raiding My Evan Williams
    Evan Strikes Back
    Evan Strikes Back

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • Glenn Hates Books by Glenn Conly

    Glenn Hates Books Vol. 1 by Glenn Conly

    First of all, Glenn Conly doesn’t hate books, just poorly written ones. Glen Conly’s book of reviews ranges and rages from one-star vitriolic personal attacks on authors to five-star honest, accurate and insightful observations. If suggesting an author deserves anal or oral rape doesn’t offend you, then this is your five-star compilation of reviews.

    Flash Fiction Stories Three
    Three Novels by Rick DeStefanis

    If you can get past more blatant pornographic exposition and language than the average Marine drill-instructor uses, then this is your book.  I believe this author’s excesses may cause him to miss an opportunity for his work to become a best-selling series. Granted 90% of the self-published works out there offer a fertile bed of manure in which Conly revels with hilarity, but he caters only to sci-fi, dystopian, porn, fantasy, and post-apocalyptic works. I couldn’t help but think what wonderfully hilarious observations he might have of some so-called “literary” works where authors look like Russian gymnasts with wardrobe malfunctions.

    Pat Conroy’s “South of Broad” and  John Green’s “Looking for Alaska” are prime examples where the writing is phenomenal until one realizes there’s this big elephant standing in the room because many of the characters are high school kids talking with the insight and depth of Bohemians on the left bank. Or Ben Fountain’s “Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk,”  where the author opens every jar on the literary spice rack, dumping the entire lot in the mix. Reading it was like watching the aforementioned Russian gymnast perform in a pink tutu with a huge flower in her hair and glow-in-the-dark shoes.

    Glenn Conly could have the high-brow snoots of academia leaping in horror from their ivy walls. I believe Conly has a tremendous opportunity to produce a series of mixed genre reviews with broad appeal if he can minus much of the pornographic description, language, and personal attacks. I believe like many comedians, such as Red Foxx and Richard Pryor who began their careers with sewer-pipe humor, Glenn Conly has an opportunity to reach a new level of sophistication with his humor, thus garnering wider appeal. It is a shame that so many idiots can so easily publish so much crap these days, but I see a new generation of gate-keepers like Conly discarding the politically-correct niceties for more pointed and unbiased reviews. I wish him all the best.

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