I've always been an action-adventure guy. Normal, well-adjusted people may have grown too mature for movies like Star Wars or The Road Warrior; or fictional heroes like Conan, Tarzan or Mack Bolan. Well, that stuff left a permanent mark on me.

So much for being normal and well-adjusted!

My own real-life adventure began as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, at 18 years old. OK, maybe it wasn't such a great adventure, but I'm proud to have served my country, and in an elite unit with such battlefield distinctions. My military escapades eventually led me through experiences in other corners of the US Army, as well as the USMC and Naval Reserve. My travels in life have taken me to the Caribbean; Central America; the Middle East; Alaska; Hawaii and all over the USA. I've traveled on trains, planes, automobiles, helicopters and ocean-going vessels. I've been trained in the use of rifles; bayonets; hand grenades; automatic rifles; machineguns; grenade launchers; anti-tank rockets and missiles. I even got to play with artillery and tanks. I also had plenty of opportunity to observe the behavior of my fellow human beings at their best and worst.

My debut novel, Hell and Gone, is a deliberate throwback to commando tales of yesteryear like The Dirty Dozen. While working on my next novel, I've released some shorter tales...pulp fiction, you could call it...in other genres that tickle my fancy.

I'm only just getting started.

Meanwhile, I blog about fiction, movies and other stuff. Thanks for stopping by and feel free to drop a line some time.

Henry Brown

Website: http://www.hell-and-gone.com
Twitter: Machine Trooper
Facebook: Facebook profile
Blog: http://twofistedblogger.blogspot.com

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• The Seventh Compass Point of Death on Sep. 26, 2010
  
  I'm tempted to classify this book as "hard-boiled," though it's not really a detective novel. It reads like one. The plot unfolds like one. The main character draws as much sympathy as Sam Spade, Phillip Marlowe, Mike hammer or Kinky Friedman. There are clues, surprises and twists... but not a mystery, per se. Still, I hesitate to call it a thriller, despite the terrorist plot and surrounding intrigue. Whatever genre this book belongs to, it is a gripping, fast read. Our hero, Quinn McShane, similar to author Richard Sanders, spent some time as an unwilling guest of state government before moving on to a career in the media. Through a once-casual acquaintance, he is ensnared in a terrorist conspiracy involving key players who are not quite what you expect. McShane is a bit too gullible a few times, as the classic hard-boiled flatfeet are on occasion (and real people like me are way too often). He also commits the cardinal sin of pulling a gun when he's not actually prepared to use it. But he redeems himself with decisive action and gutsy gambits at the point of no return. The terrorists turn out to be a rather pathetic crew--but no less dangerous for their pathos. Not grim, fanatic killers, but more like neurotic delinquents who might have turned to "normal" lives of Big Apple crime, if not surrounded by a powderkeg rivalry between Sunnis and Shiites. Sanders cleverly portrays their ignorance of their own faith, and it is clear that McShane has studied the Koran (or is it Q'uran?) more than they have. In keeping with the hard-boiled tradition (and I should point out here that I don't know whether Sanders intended to follow that tradition), McShane's romantic involvement during the plot is rather devoid of romance. And the point may not have been romance anyway, but just the reasonable development one could expect between two people in the circumstances McShane and Shala find themselves in. There is minimal emotional investment for either character...or the reader. I can't count how many novels I've read that were set in New York City. Few of them, however, made that metropolis come alive for this reader the way Seven Compass Points of Death does. Sanders evidently knows a lot about NYC, and enlightens while painting the backdrop without overwhelming the reader with details. One final note: I seldom find the title of a book to influence me far for good or bad. But this title fulfills a savvy double entendre' that I really, really appreciate. Just one more thing to look forward to when you read this book.