|
Permission
to Kill
Author: Brian Wizard
Publisher: Brian Wizard
Reviewer: Bill McDonald – President of the MWSA
THE FIRST OF THE AWARD WINNING “WILL HE
MAKE IT SAGA”
Brian Wizard is one of a kind. He is an artist, a
poet, a novelist, a song writer, singer, an award winning film maker, and
most of all — a Vietnam Veteran. If you want to discover what makes
him tick and why he feels about things then a good place to start is with
his first novel about his war—The Vietnam War. He thinly clothes his
novel, “Permission to Kill,” with his own experiences and memories.
The Huey that he flew on is like the one in his story. The people he
has in this tale are analogous to the many that he has known in his life and
in combat. The realism of this novel is uncanny and will resonate with
those veterans who actually were on flight crews in Nam.
His book which is the first of his trilogy featuring his
lead character Willie Maykett who goes from civilian to a helicopter door
gunner; it is not only a physical journey but one of the spirit as he deals
with the emotions of war and friendship and loyalties. This book will
grab you like no other Vietnam story has. The author uses good
descriptive phrasing to paint a mental image of what is going on. You
will feel as if you are flying with Willie and feel your own heart pounding
a little louder as the action gets heavy.
This book will also educate you about the real world of
those small aviation units that did the bulk of fighting in the war.
What the author talks about is very close to the real thing and in some cases
is a retelling of actual facts covered up as a work of fiction.
Reading this book should logically lead to discovery of the
other two books in his series. The whole series of books was nominated
for the 1998 Pulitzer Prize and the second book in this series was nominated
for a Noble Prize. I cannot make any stronger case for reading a
classic war book than that!
The Will He Make It Saga (trilogy) (contender 1998
Pulitzer prize)
Permission to Kill, 1985
Permission to Live, 1992 (Nobel Prize for lit.
nominee 2000)
Back in the World, 1995
MWSA's 2004 Gold Medal Award
for War Novel
 |
2005
- 2009 MWSA