A Newsletter Update From Rick DeStefanis

Posted on October 23, 2023 by rickd

If you received this email letter, it’s because you signed up on my website. Or it could be just because I love you and added you myself. Anyway, as always, you can simply unsubscribe below if you no longer wish to receive my newsletter.

I’ve been MIA (missing in action) for quite some time and apologies are probably warranted. Consider them offered. My goal is to do better in the future while continuing to avoid flooding your inbox with unnecessary emails. Right now, I want to update you on the last year or two and my most recent books for those who may have missed their publication.

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The Ghost, Rumors from the Highlands of Vietnam

In 2022 I wrote and published the seventh book in my Vietnam War Series. Titled The Ghost, Rumors from the Highlands of Vietnam, it is more of an adventure/war story than my past works. With a current Amazon rating of 4.5 out of 5 stars it has been well received. You can read more about it on Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/Ghost-Rumors-Central-Highlands-Vietnam-ebook/dp/B0BBDF4YZS.

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The Road to Yellowstone

In 2023 I changed the Rawlins Trilogy to the Rawlins Saga and published a fourth book in the series titled, Rawlins, The Road to Yellowstone. And, as an aside and in answer to a reviewer who mentioned similarities of Book #1 of the Rawlins Saga (No Longer Young) to the Yellowstone 1883 television series: My works were written and published well before the TV series. The similarities, however, are uncanny. I’d go on strike too if my television series was so well copi…excuse me, I mean written. You can read more about Book #4 The Road to Yellowstone at: https://www.amazon.com/Rawlins-Road-Yellowstone-Saga-Book-ebook/dp/B0C5W9HVX1.

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Coming Next Spring 2024

Specter of Betrayal

Book #2 of The Ghost

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I’m working on a sequel to The Ghost, Rumors from the Central Highlands. This is Book Two and titled for now as Specter of Betrayal. The sub-title is yet to be determined and may be announced only when the book comes out in the spring of 2024. However, the cover image will not change, and here it is.

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If you’ve read any of my books, liked them, and haven’t written a review on Amazon or Goodreads, I would be especially appreciative if you did. It doesn’t have to be War and Peace, but a few lines on why you liked it would help both me and other readers. Each book review on each book that you read builds readers’ confidence in how they spend their hard-earned money.

I’ll try to act with more diligence and send another update next month. Thanks for reading my stories, and please remember our military veterans. They’ve earned a special recognition that we should award them all. And to my fellow paratroopers, “AIRBORNE, ALL THE WAY!”

Valley of the Purple Hearts is Out!

Posted on August 1, 2017 by rickd

Valley of the Purple Hearts

Book #4 in the Vietnam War series, is now available in both print and Kindle e-reader formats on Amazon.com at http://amzn.to/2tQzJIa. Classified as historical military fiction, Valley of the Purple Hearts is a story about a squad of paratroopers with the 101st Airborne in Vietnam in the months following the 1968 Tet Offensive. Buck Marino, a naive boy fresh off the farm, quickly finds his yearning for adventure becomes a struggle for survival as he faces the horrific realities of war.

The story of an infantry squad in Vietnam.

I have addressed the inevitable cliches of such a story through the deeper development of the characters, their psyches, and relationships. And, as with Book #3 in the series, Raeford’s MVP, Valley of the Purple Hearts explores the aftermath of war and its effects on the individual combat veteran. Be sure to read the review comments by Army Brigadier General (retired) Robert Enzenauer, a paratrooper surgeon who served two tours in Afghanistan with the 19th Special Forces Group. Not even officially recognized by the military until 1981, “Post Traumatic Stress is,” as Doctor Enzenauer explained, “not a disorder, but a very normal human reaction.” Great effort was taken to embed this reality within the story.

There is also included in the story a strong underpinning of the “Vietnam experience” depicted through both allegorical and direct reference to Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass, primarily as seen through the eyes of squad leader Sergeant Rolley Zwyrkowski. I feel this helps a reader better understand the bizarre nature of what was the Vietnam War, its lack of coherent strategy and the actions of the military leaders during that time. It also adds a certain much needed comic relief to the story.

Because of its current relevance, Valley of the Purple Hearts is not a light read, but I have taken care to make it a rewarding one. As with my other novels, Valley of the Purple Hearts has a strong female secondary protagonist represented by Army nurse Janie Jorgensen. And, as it seems to be my unavoidable nature, I have written a romantic thread into the story. After all, where would any veteran be without the strong support of a mate?

For those of you who have read this far into this blog post, I am also making a special offer effective through Saturday, August 5th, 2017. Anyone who will commit to writing and posting an honest review of Valley of the Purple Hearts on Amazon and Goodreads.com can receive a free copy of the Kindle e-reader edition of the book. Simply send me your email address via the “contact” screen on the www.rickdestefanis.com website. I will purchase a copy (not even I get them for free) and have it emailed from Amazon to you or your Kindle device. Amazon also offers free downloadable e-reader apps for other devices, including cell phones, thus enabling Kindle books to be read in virtually any format.

Best Wishes,

Rick DeStefanis

You may also enjoy: Melody Hill and Rawlins: No Longer Young

Coming Soon: Valley of The Purple Hearts

Posted on March 12, 2017 by rickd

Valley of The Purple Hearts

Below is the cover for, Valley of The Purple Hearts, the next novel in my “Vietnam War Series,” along with a very brief story summary. The cover is designed by Todd Hebertson at http://bookcoverart.webs.com/. You will notice this one will be a departure from the first three books in the series in as much as it is a more “conventional” story about one young soldier’s experience, without the intrigue of espionage. It does, however, have that inevitable love story—something I somehow seem unable to avoid having for all my protagonists. Think of it as a Vietnam War version of Farewell to Arms and Alice in Wonderland all rolled into one—no disrespect intended for Hemingway or Lewis Carroll. I think they will forgive me. I just hope my readers can.

So here is the story summary:

When eighteen-year-old Buck Marino first meets Rolley Zwyrkowski, he little realizes the young sergeant and their next year together in Vietnam will change his life forever. The months following the 1968 Tet Offensive and the battles of the 101^st Airborne between Hue and Phu Bai, and westward into the A Shau Valley, provide the backdrop for a story about boys becoming men in a paradoxical war. And when he meets Army nurse Janie Jorgensen, Buck believes he has found the love of his life only to crash into the reality that the war has left his heart and soul lost in a futureless void.

Historical military fiction, Valley of The Purple Hearts follows the men of Second Squad through the shadowy jungles and mountains of I-Corps as they fight main force Viet Cong and NVA regulars. With constant enemy contact, booby-traps, sniper fire and all-out firefights, Buck and his buddies follow their squad leader, Rolley, who puts the lives of his men first. As Rolley faces the young and inept Lieutenant Mallon, Buck realizes his squad leader is becoming jaded and has lost his sense of humor. When the young sergeant sacrifices his safety for that of his men, Buck must step up to face Mallon in the heat of battle, and try to save his friend.

With a little luck, I hope to have it out by late summer. Meanwhile, if you have read any of my other books, liked it, and not left a written review on Amazon, please do. Reviews are an immediate measure of a book’s worthiness that readers depend on. Fewer reviews often equate to fewer readers taking a chance on a book. Therefore your help will be very much appreciated.

Rick

You may also enjoy: Rawlings: No Longer Young and Raeford’s MVP