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The Amerasians by Donald E. Zlotnik is a well-crafted espionage in the tradition of the popular stories of the Cold War by LeCarre. In fact, the protagonist and lead character of The Amerasians is named LeBlonde, and I don’t think that it’s a coincidence that LeBlonde is so much like LeCarre’s most famous creation, a quiet, brilliant, master spy called Smiley. It has been years since I read those books but they were great and left an impression on me. As I read The Amerasians it slowly dawned on me that I was reading a writer that has read a lot of the great spy novels and has developed a style and technique that is both a tribute to the greats but unmistakably his own. In fact, there is a dead character in The Amerasians whose name Lieutenant Bourne and I can’t help but think this is in homage to a Robert Ludlum character that many consider the greatest fictional spy ever.

I like the subject that this novel is built around. It’s a question really. What happened to all of the mixed children of American soldiers and Vietnamese women after the Americans left? There were thousands, but visitors to Vietnam can attest, they are simply not there now. What happened to them? How might they have been used against the country of their fathers? Donald E. Zlotnik explores these questions in an intelligent and humane story that never lets us forget that there are very painfully human consequences for wars and hubris. This story is character driven. LeBlonde, Joshua, Bobby Braverman, these are characters you come to know, admire, like, and even love. Even the government bureaucrats who make up the majority of the antagonists are drawn in a realistic way that helps you understand them even when you cannot approve of them. The characters are everything in this novel. And yet, there is a real plot, a realistic plot that could have been ripped from the pages of today’s headline. I’m not going to give it away. I give The Amerasians a four-star rating. In the genre of spy thrillers, it doesn't get much better than this. The writing is crisp and clean. The dialogue is great. There is action but it is well done not overdone. If you know who Smiley is, if you know who Jason Bourne is, then buy this book. You will not be disappointed. Mr. Zlotnik is a name to look for in the spy genre. A Great read awaits you.

First--Ray315200, I wish you guys would use your real names! You tickle me with comparing the novel to something LeCarrie might write. I served with a top secret Special Forces unit in Vietnam and worked closely with CIA field operatives--thus the character LeBlonde. As for Lieutenant Bourne--he is the protagonist in my first novel EAGLES CRY BLOOD. LTC Spencer Barnett is the protagonist in another one of my novels POW in the Survivor of War series. I LOVE to bring characters from my other books back as cameos in novels. Those following my novels also like to see characters reappear. In THE AMERASIANS, I "tuck away" both LeBlonde and Barnett. I get a lot of 4/5 star reviews on my novels but you are one of those who actually "get it!" Thanks. There is no greater compliment to an author.

-- 22 Dec 2015, 16:31 --

"Ray," ironically, I wrote the plot for the novel before 9/11 seeing our civilian airlines as a very weak link. There are three major themes for the novel that I cover using a few "insider" documents I've read over the years. 1. What did happen to all the Eurasian (French fathers)and Amerasian (American fathers) children? 2. During the Vietnam War, heroin, cocaine and marijuana was cheaper for our troops to buy than it was to produce it. (Did North Vietnam subsidize it?) 3. We know for a fact the North Vietnamese held back American soldiers from the POW exchange in 1973. The ONLY Americans they released were those who had compromised themselves (mostly under torture) to the enemy. Many returned to the USA as dedicated communists ad traitors. Those Americans who did NOT break were held back as assurance Nixon would keep his promise to pay billions in reparation. Nixon reneged, so what happened to them? In addition to the LOYAL Americans--what happened to all the American drug dealers who took discharges and stayed in Vietnam as civilians? When the country fell--they could not get out.

Obviously, I can only guess--based on KNOWING the North Vietnamese and how they operated during the war; all of them were executed. I know the North Vietnamese desperately wanted a trade agreement with the United States that Clinton and McCain offered them--and they knew an American soldier could NEVER walk out of Vietnam after they told us they were NOT holding any.

The novel is to get the reader thinking...obviously you are, Ray!

It was a great read and the whole premise makes sense to me. Good job!