iUniverse Would Like to Announce the Release of Counters by Tony Taylor
Bloomington, IN, September 27, 2008 --(PR.com)-- New Military Thriller Explores Explosive Lives of Fighter Pilots Swept Up in Vietnam War.
In a new military thriller, the destruction and despair that ran rampant in the steamy jungles of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War serve as a grim backdrop for a young lieutenant’s awakening. Using details from his own experience as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Tony Taylor penned Counters, a novel that draws readers into an explosive world, where not all souls are sacrificed to the war machine.
Lieutenant Steve Mylder was not chomping at the bit for a tour of duty in Southeast Asia, but an unexpected call for a volunteer among his class of flight students aroused the fearless adventurer within him. Before he knew it, Mylder was among 68 pilots fresh from the U.S. Air Force Academy on their way to Da Nang.
The story launches, and Taylor immerses readers in the fighter pilot counter culture. From seedy officer’s clubs to the deadly battlefield in enemy skies, readers ride sidekick with Mylder. As he fights for his life in the air over Vietnam, he battles for his soul against the Red Baron of his imagination.
In writing this story, Taylor wanted to avoid the “rah, rah heroic pilot” concept, instead drawing out the humanistic questioning and self-doubt that torment Mylder on his tour of duty. Taylor throws his “vivid, quirky characters” into “almost surrealistic situations” and supports the breathtaking pace with details only a true fighter pilot could know. The following excerpt demonstrates the tone of the novel.
He pulled the revolver from its holster. He turned it around and around in both hands above his face, fondling it, communing with it. The blue metal was velvet to his touch … Use it or not? There was a trade-off here; he had to decide quickly. Don’t use it. Consequence: a brutal, nearly life-snuffing beating with rifle butts and boots and an infinity of time and torture in the Hanoi Hilton. Live. Maybe. Marginally. Use it. Kill a few of them. Consequence: a brutal, certainly life-snuffing beating with rifle butts and boots and a bullet in the brain at the end. Die. Like an animal.
Recalling the parallels between his own past and the novel Taylor writes, “I wanted to chronicle that slice of history [filled with] flying Phantom fighters out of Da Nang, Vietnam: the dangers, the thrills, the fear, rocket attacks, dogfights, straffing, bombing, crashing and burning.”
For more information about Counters, visit iuniverse.com and CountersANovel.com.
About the Author
A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Tony Taylor flew 150 combat missions over Vietnam and Laos in 1967. During his tour of duty, Taylor also wrote newspaper articles on air combat while stationed at Da Nang, South Vietnam. For nearly 25 years, Taylor navigated NASA spacecraft as an engineer with the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He now works for KinetX, Inc., where he continues his work in navigation. He is the first person in history to have navigated spacecraft to every recognized planet in the solar system and is currently on the team for New Horizons, a spacecraft currently on a mission to Pluto. Taylor wrote two op-ed pieces on the 1989 NASA Voyager Neptune encounter, which were syndicated nationwide by the Los Angeles Times and resulted in a feature story on Taylor in Elle magazine. In 1998, his two-part article on prostrate surgery was published in the Los Angeles Times. Taylor graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science and earned his Master of Science in physics from the University of Arizona.
Available at iUniverse.com, Amazon.com or BN.com
For More Information, Contact:Travis Wilson
Phone:1-800-AUTHORS
Email:Publicity@iuniverse
###
In a new military thriller, the destruction and despair that ran rampant in the steamy jungles of Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War serve as a grim backdrop for a young lieutenant’s awakening. Using details from his own experience as a U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Tony Taylor penned Counters, a novel that draws readers into an explosive world, where not all souls are sacrificed to the war machine.
Lieutenant Steve Mylder was not chomping at the bit for a tour of duty in Southeast Asia, but an unexpected call for a volunteer among his class of flight students aroused the fearless adventurer within him. Before he knew it, Mylder was among 68 pilots fresh from the U.S. Air Force Academy on their way to Da Nang.
The story launches, and Taylor immerses readers in the fighter pilot counter culture. From seedy officer’s clubs to the deadly battlefield in enemy skies, readers ride sidekick with Mylder. As he fights for his life in the air over Vietnam, he battles for his soul against the Red Baron of his imagination.
In writing this story, Taylor wanted to avoid the “rah, rah heroic pilot” concept, instead drawing out the humanistic questioning and self-doubt that torment Mylder on his tour of duty. Taylor throws his “vivid, quirky characters” into “almost surrealistic situations” and supports the breathtaking pace with details only a true fighter pilot could know. The following excerpt demonstrates the tone of the novel.
He pulled the revolver from its holster. He turned it around and around in both hands above his face, fondling it, communing with it. The blue metal was velvet to his touch … Use it or not? There was a trade-off here; he had to decide quickly. Don’t use it. Consequence: a brutal, nearly life-snuffing beating with rifle butts and boots and an infinity of time and torture in the Hanoi Hilton. Live. Maybe. Marginally. Use it. Kill a few of them. Consequence: a brutal, certainly life-snuffing beating with rifle butts and boots and a bullet in the brain at the end. Die. Like an animal.
Recalling the parallels between his own past and the novel Taylor writes, “I wanted to chronicle that slice of history [filled with] flying Phantom fighters out of Da Nang, Vietnam: the dangers, the thrills, the fear, rocket attacks, dogfights, straffing, bombing, crashing and burning.”
For more information about Counters, visit iuniverse.com and CountersANovel.com.
About the Author
A former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot, Tony Taylor flew 150 combat missions over Vietnam and Laos in 1967. During his tour of duty, Taylor also wrote newspaper articles on air combat while stationed at Da Nang, South Vietnam. For nearly 25 years, Taylor navigated NASA spacecraft as an engineer with the California Institute of Technology Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. He now works for KinetX, Inc., where he continues his work in navigation. He is the first person in history to have navigated spacecraft to every recognized planet in the solar system and is currently on the team for New Horizons, a spacecraft currently on a mission to Pluto. Taylor wrote two op-ed pieces on the 1989 NASA Voyager Neptune encounter, which were syndicated nationwide by the Los Angeles Times and resulted in a feature story on Taylor in Elle magazine. In 1998, his two-part article on prostrate surgery was published in the Los Angeles Times. Taylor graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a Bachelor of Science and earned his Master of Science in physics from the University of Arizona.
Available at iUniverse.com, Amazon.com or BN.com
For More Information, Contact:Travis Wilson
Phone:1-800-AUTHORS
Email:Publicity@iuniverse
###
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www.iuniverse.com
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