Eric Helm

I love reading good military fiction and this ranks right up there with the best I've ever read! I don't know how I missed Eric Helm, I've never seen his name mentioned on any of the recommendation lists I routinely scour trying to find something new to read, but I certainly am glad to have found him. For once the Amazon recommendations suggested something I'd actually read and I was unable to put Body Count down till I'd finished it. What a rush! This book has everything I look for in a good military fiction book, great action, believable dialogue, brave fighting men facing overwhelming odds. And the most dangerous villains are the ladder climbing senior officers in your own army. Helm created 3 dimensional characters to root for as well. Here's some of my favorite military fiction reads, if you like any of them you'll probably like Eric Helm's books: Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo, Term Limits by Vince Flynn, Combat Ineffective by William Peter Grasso, Termite Hill by Tom Wilson, Invasion Alaska by Vaughn Heppner, and Team Yankee by Harold Coyle (to name a few).

Thankfully Eric Helm was a prolific writer, I've got several other books from his Vietnam fiction writing to look forward to...… (meer)

I'm disappointed with SNIPER by Eric Helm. I've ready many of his other books and those within this series and found this one to be out of place, as if it were written by somebody else. In this book, the chapters seem too long, unlike the other books where the scenes changed quicker.

The story started out with action and then settled in to long drawn out discussions...the middle half of the book was like this and I almost stopped reading it on several occassions because it was so boring. The last 25% was the actual mission with non-stop action. The only reason I kept going was because I liked the main characters and wanted to see how it all played out. There is one more book left in this series and I will get it to see how the series ends. Hopefully it is better than this one. Oh, and I did come across several typos in the story which is something I didn't see in the author's other books.… (meer)

I thoroughly enjoyed reading EMPIRE by Eric Helm (the 4th book in the series) as it kept me engaged from the very first page.

In this story, Capt. Gerber and MSGT Fetterman and their detachment have gained the trust and adoration of the general in charge of the SOG group. He offers them a carte blanche for any resources needed to complete his task. They first reopen a former SF camp right in the middle of the NVA infiltration route into South Vietnam and then repel repeated attacks in attempts to overrun them. Defeated, the NVA escape to Cambodia to rest and regroup.

Capt. Gerber decides to take the fight to the enemy and devises a plan to cross into Cambodia and wipe them out in their staging area. It would be totally unexpected.

The former SF leader, General Crenshaw, returns to his former position in Vietnam and forces all the resources that are supporting Gerber's mission in Cambodia to immediately cease and return to their base camps. This leaves the SF detachment stranded in Cambodia without any support. Do they survive? Can General Crenshaw get his revenge?

The message of this story is to show that the military could win the war if the government allowed them to fight it to win without boundaries or other restraints. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. As a Vietnam Vet, I recommend this book and the entire series.… (meer)

I enjoyed reading STRIKE by Eric Helm - the 3rd book in the series. In this book, the author writes along four different storylines: The senator and his group who want to discredit the military and vows to prove that NV was victorious during the TET offensive, the NVA lieutenant, newly arrived from the North and content in staying in the caves, the American lieutenant who is confident about the build-up outside of Nui Ba Den, deciding to take it upon himself to prove it, and Capt. Gerber / SFC Fetterman who try to prevent a disaster.

I was with the 25th Division after TET and the Black Virgin Mountain was always predominantly seen anywhere within our area of operations. At that time, it was said that the mountain is so honeycombed with tunnels and caves that a large bomb in a specific place would collapse it all into a pile of dirt.

The author does a wonderful job at telling each of the four stories and then having them all come together at the end...each to its own fate. The story is a real page-turner and worth reading. This is the 3rd book of the 5-book series, and I enjoyed each of them so far. Book 4 is now downloaded and ready to continue the saga. Recommended for anyone interested in the Vietnam War and special operations during the war.… (meer)