Synopses & Reviews
Somewhere in Vietnam's remote Cheo Reo province, opium fields are funneling millions into the Viet Cong war chest. On a covert mission to destroy the operation, Army CID officer Erik Rider encounters hard-pressed soldiers, indigenous tribespeople, spies, and profiteers of all stripes.
Hidden in the nearby hills, a North Vietnamese force grows larger by the day and threatens to overrun the area. The Viet Cong are on to Rider's game and have placed a bounty on his head. As he hunts the opium fields, skirmishes with enemy patrols, and defends the undermanned US base against nighttime assaults, Erik makes a disturbing discovery: someone close to home has a stake in the heroin smuggling ring--and will kill to protect it.
Written by a master, and as authentic as Matterhorn or Going After Cacciato, Red Flags is a riveting new addition to espionage fiction.
Review
"
Jurjevics' 'Nam seethes with conflicted loyalties...a caldera of conflict that Jurjevics depicts with an anthropologist's eye for customs and interrelationships...
This tight-wound thriller drips with historical detail in all its cruelty...hard-boiled realism... [a] splendid contribution to the body of fiction written about Vietnam."
--Kirkus "...intriguing...Jurjevics (The Trudeau Vector), himself a Vietnam veteran, is best when describing the details of daily life during war, particularly those involving the abuse of the huge native tribal population of Montagnards."
-Publishers Weekly "Red Flags is not only an espionage thriller but a fascinating and extraordinarily authentic look at the Vietnam War through the eyes of a wry intelligence officer. You will hear the thumps of the Chinook rotors and feel the Kalashnikovs bullets buzzing past."
- Keith Thomson, New York Times Bestselling author of Once a Spy "In Red Flags, Juris Jurjevics has brilliantly accomplished a feat that is becoming a major characteristic of 21st century literature: the seamless combining of a genre form with the deep resonance of literary art. This is a book that is thrilling to read for both its narrative drive and its insight into the human heart."
- Robert Olen Butler, author of Hell "To step onto the pages of this intriguing spy tale and haunting war story is to feel the swelter of the rain forest, the menace of enemy patrols, and the maddening duplicity of supposed allies. Red Flags is a richly rewarding hitch in harrowing territory. Enlist immediately."
- Dan Fesperman, author of Layover in Dubai "Juris Jurjevics has achieved the seemingly irreconcilable by bringing the Vietnam War back, and simultaneously making it new. He has found new dangers in Vietnam--like it needed them. Its a great thriller, and a great heartbreak, like its subject matter."
-Jim Morris, author of War Story "Red Flags is a gripping tale of adventure and mystery set in the backdrop of the complexity and corruption of the Vietnam War. Jurjevicss extensive research and first-hand experience in Vietnam result in a story that is both amazing and, at the same time, believable. A great read!"
-Doug Bey M.D. 1st Inf.Div Vietnam 1969-1970, author of Wizard 6
Synopsis
A novel of soldiers and spies in the Highlands of Vietnam Army cop Erik Rider is enjoying his war until hes sent to disrupt Vietcong opium fields in a remote Highland province. Rider lands in Cheo Reo, home to hard-pressed soldiers, intelligence operatives, and profiteers of all stripes. The tiny U.S. contingent and their unenthusiastic Vietnamese allies are hopelessly outnumbered by infiltrating enemy infantry. And theyre all surrounded by sixty thousand Montagnard tribespeople who want their mountain homeland back. The Vietcong are on to Riders game and have placed a bounty on his head. As he hunts the opium fields, skirmishes with enemy patrols, and defends the undermanned U.S. base, Rider makes a disturbing discovery: someone close to home has a stake in the opium smuggling ring—and will kill to protect it. Written by a master, and as authentic as Matterhorn or Dog Soldiers, Red Flags is a riveting new addition to espionage fiction.
Synopsis
In the remote central highlands of Vietnam, Army CID officer Eric Rider confronts drug-running and corruption that crosses enemy lines and divides loyalties.
Synopsis
Army cop Erik Rider prefers to fight his war in the saloons and streets of Saigon, so he is less than thrilled at being sent to a tiny American outpost in the remote wilderness of the Central Highlands to take down a Viet Cong opium operation hidden in the jungle. When Rider lands in Cheo Reo, things get complicated. Viet Cong battalions are gathering in the surrounding hills like storm clouds, while the corrupt South Vietnamese commander and his troops sit idle. And sixty thousand Montagnard tribespeople want their mountain homeland back.
Soon Rider is entangled with the local CIA man and an alluring doctor serving the indigenous tribes. As he closes in on the opium fields, he learns the hard way that that not all enemies are beyond the perimeter; someone in Cheo Reo wants him dead. Easy enough in a combat zone where killing is common and loyalties are for sale.
Red Flags is a masterly novel of soldiers and spies grappling with forces beyond their control and striving for the most basic goal in war—survival.
About the Author
Juris Jurjevics was born in Latvia during WWII and grew up in Displaced Persons camps before emigrating to the US. A fixture in American book publishing, he is cofounder of Soho Press and author of The Trudeau Vector.