The Vietnam War is over.
Americans and Vietnamese alike are fleeing the past horrors of war and those that could await them under the new regime.
Among those preparing to leave is Dan Deacon, an American soldier waiting at the Last Fortress America embassy in Saigon, for the appearance of his Vietnamese fiancée Linh-Lan, and their daughter Mary-Mai.
But when they fail to show up at the embassy to claim their priority clearance for evacuation, the future he had planned playing happy families in America is shattered.
Instead he returns alone, trying to forget Vietnam.
But Deacon, haunted by the unknown fate of his beloved, cannot move on.
After failing to reintegrate into suburban American life and a stint in prison, he soon returns to Asia, along with fellow Vietnam vet and drifter, Cream.
His mission - to find out what happened to Linh-Lan and Mary-Mai.
His search takes him from refugee camps to the South China Sea, where pirates roam, attacking and robbing the helpless refugee boats that stream in their thousands from war-torn Vietnam.
Was this the fate that befell Linh-Lan and their daughter?
After becoming embroiled with the Hong Kong underworld, his mission seems increasingly suicidal, but Deacon will not rest until he finds them.
But the question remains if this is a noble act of revenge, or simply evidence that Deacon cannot give up the thrill and violence of war?
Lovers of War takes the reader on a whirlwind adventure of love and war and the paradoxical links that exist between them.
“A book to make the authorities sit up”. - Guardian
“The maniac energy of the writing holds you tight.” - The Times
“Stephen Barlay has jumped into the front rank of thriller writers…Highly recommendable... a story of mounting complexity and excitement.” – Irish Times
“Barlay keeps things steadily on the boil, ending on a note of irony…fine escape reading.” - New York Times
“A book spattered with thrills and surprises and delightfully free from the pseudo-intellectualism which seems to have eaten its way into so much of today's literature. No need to tell you to read it to the end. Once you've started, you can't help doing so.” - Manchester Evening News
Stephen Barlay was an acclaimed writer and journalist. Born Istvàn Bokor, Barlay worked as a radio journalist in Hungary, before fleeing to England in 1956 in the wake of the Hungarian uprising. He quickly rose to prominence as a writer of thrillers. Despite having no English on his arrival, Barlay quickly mastered the language, writing exclusively in this foreign tongue. His son remembers that his relentless smoking matched only his work ethic. Barlay’s other books include Aircrash Detective, Fire, Double Cross, Sex Slavery, Crash Course, Blockbuster and That Thin Red Line .
Americans and Vietnamese alike are fleeing the past horrors of war and those that could await them under the new regime.
Among those preparing to leave is Dan Deacon, an American soldier waiting at the Last Fortress America embassy in Saigon, for the appearance of his Vietnamese fiancée Linh-Lan, and their daughter Mary-Mai.
But when they fail to show up at the embassy to claim their priority clearance for evacuation, the future he had planned playing happy families in America is shattered.
Instead he returns alone, trying to forget Vietnam.
But Deacon, haunted by the unknown fate of his beloved, cannot move on.
After failing to reintegrate into suburban American life and a stint in prison, he soon returns to Asia, along with fellow Vietnam vet and drifter, Cream.
His mission - to find out what happened to Linh-Lan and Mary-Mai.
His search takes him from refugee camps to the South China Sea, where pirates roam, attacking and robbing the helpless refugee boats that stream in their thousands from war-torn Vietnam.
Was this the fate that befell Linh-Lan and their daughter?
After becoming embroiled with the Hong Kong underworld, his mission seems increasingly suicidal, but Deacon will not rest until he finds them.
But the question remains if this is a noble act of revenge, or simply evidence that Deacon cannot give up the thrill and violence of war?
Lovers of War takes the reader on a whirlwind adventure of love and war and the paradoxical links that exist between them.
Praise for Stephen Barlay
“A book to make the authorities sit up”. - Guardian
“The maniac energy of the writing holds you tight.” - The Times
“Stephen Barlay has jumped into the front rank of thriller writers…Highly recommendable... a story of mounting complexity and excitement.” – Irish Times
“Barlay keeps things steadily on the boil, ending on a note of irony…fine escape reading.” - New York Times
“A book spattered with thrills and surprises and delightfully free from the pseudo-intellectualism which seems to have eaten its way into so much of today's literature. No need to tell you to read it to the end. Once you've started, you can't help doing so.” - Manchester Evening News
Stephen Barlay was an acclaimed writer and journalist. Born Istvàn Bokor, Barlay worked as a radio journalist in Hungary, before fleeing to England in 1956 in the wake of the Hungarian uprising. He quickly rose to prominence as a writer of thrillers. Despite having no English on his arrival, Barlay quickly mastered the language, writing exclusively in this foreign tongue. His son remembers that his relentless smoking matched only his work ethic. Barlay’s other books include Aircrash Detective, Fire, Double Cross, Sex Slavery, Crash Course, Blockbuster and That Thin Red Line .
