Melody Hill (The Vietnam War Series)

It is said war can bring out the best and the worst in men, and certainly that proved true in the Vietnam War. In Melody Hill, Rick DeStefanis shows us young American men serving alongside the South Vietnamese. Mainly draftees, these young men were still in their teens, and the first experience they had beyond high school was the horror of fighting in Vietnam.
DeStefanis’ character Duff Coleridge hasn’t had an easy life, growing up in the hills of East Tennessee without a father and in a way, acting as father as well as brother to his sister Lacey and a boy only a year younger than himself, Brady Nash, who is an orphan. Both these young men have hunted for food in their mountains since they were ten or so, and as a result Duff is a crack shot who quickly rises in the ranks and becomes a sniper, recognized for his skill.
Unfortunately, he eventually comes under the influence of a man we know only as “Spartan,” a member of a Special Operations Group … part of the CIA’s Phoenix Program … who is as ruthless and amoral as Duff is moral and ethical. Duff accepts his duties as a soldier but learns there are things he is asked to do that push him beyond what he can bear.
DeStefanis’ writing is engrossing and the scenes of the war are very real. More than once I found myself holding my breath watching Duff take skillful aim at a target, and pushing with his team to get to a PZ for extraction from a difficult situation. The author gives the reader a chance to leave the war occasionally with chapters about events back home in Melody Hill, Tennessee … the home Duff longs to return to someday with a young woman he has fallen in love with, Lynn Dai Bouchet, a French-Vietnamese woman who holds a government position.
DeStefanis’ characters are people we come to know and care about, especially Duff and Lynn Dai. Even Spartan we recognize as the kind of person we avoid at all costs in real life … yet here he is, in a position of authority, those under his command at his mercy.
Part war story, part love story, part thriller, DeStefanis has written a book that’s hard to put down. There are unanswered questions that I hope to find some resolution to when I read the next book in the series, The Gomorrah Principle. I would urge anyone who isn’t familiar with the Phoenix Program to do some supplementary reading. Not everyone who served in Vietnam was a hero. That war still haunts us.

I have now read ALL of DeStafanis’ three novels. And I love them all. MELODY HILL and THE GOMORRAH PRINCIPLE both stand alone, so the reader can read either one first. DeStefanis has written now three Vietnam-era books of fiction that are on par with the best of James Webb, del Vecchio, Tim O’Brien, and Josiah Bunting. His descriptive writing is so realistic, the reader knows and feels that the author is a veteran “who has been there.” I myself was commissioned after the War in Vietnam was just over, but DeStefanis’ story rings true with the many stories I heard from friends and veterans just a little older than me, stories of corruption of Vietnam’s puppet government and the CIA and the US military often caught in the middle. The author’s description of combat are vivid, and his writing is so descriptive that the reader can feel and smell the muck at the bottom of the ever-present rice paddies. I am so glad that this author chose to become an author. The current group of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans will appreciate the honest and accurate story-telling of this author.

Well written historical fiction, I felt I was there. Never did during my four years in the Air Force, '66-70. From country boy to front line. To illegal selling of American weapons. Having been there author lived some of the scenes as written. Exciting real life.

Rick writes about Duff Collridge and his involvement in VIetnam. He goes from the early phase of disbelief and fright from being there but ends up in a world of greed, corruption and murder that he cannot escape. It's a story about Vietnam and the hell many men lived through. ANd about the behind the scenes strings peing pulled by the puppet masters.

Very well written book. Rick develops the characters and makes the whole storyline believable and easy to follow. I enjoy reading books that combine fact & fiction. This book takes alot of fact and adds just enough fiction to make it believable. Can't wait to read "The Gomorrah Principle"

First time reading Rick Destefanis and he puts you there!!

Great book. Enjoyed reading it. Can’t wait to read book 2

I just read Melody Hill after finding out that it is the prequel to The Gomorrah Principal, a book I read previously but never wrote a review about. Actually, I just re-read The Gomorrah Principal too as it had been a couple of years since I read it. These are two fine books, both are set in East Tennessee and Vietnam. It is obvious that the author knows a lot about the Army and Vietnam but he also does a good job of including home and family in both books. I would highly recommend buying both books and I would read the prequel "Melody Hill" first.

Because of my reading history, I was asked by the author to read this book which was provided free. Normally, I do not read novels about Vietnam any more. Having lived through that period and having been drafted, I already knew a lot about it without having had the bad luck of being sent there. That said, it is hard to refuse a free book, even if it is on a subject that is familiar

The story follows the protagonist from his life just before the Army and on into Vietnam. His expertise with a rifle Leads him into specialized territory for which he is not prepared and in which many surprises await him and you, the reader. The war in Vietnam occurred before the advent of personal computers and social media. As such, it was fertile ground for all kinds of nefarious opportunities for those inclined to take advantage. What occurs in this novel is plausible and that is what makes it compelling. In addition, the military details are accurate and not over dramatized. There is plenty of tension, sufficient action and a realistic feel to the flow of the book to make it a desirable read for those interested in the Vietnam genre. It is nicely done and I recommend it on that account.

From the peaceful hills of Tennessee to the sweltering heat and dangers of the jungles of Vietnam, Melody Hill takes us along on the journey. As a prequel to The Gomorrah Principle this new thriller by author Rick DeStefanis delivers on its task. Once again we are swept away into a world of war and peace. From a Friday night football game surrounded by the people and mountains that you love to a day of corruption and black-ops terrorism in a jungle surrounded by death and destruction. I started and finished the book in a single sitting. You won't put it down.