Review by Shally_xx -- A Police Action by A. A. Freda
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Shally_xx
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Review by Shally_xx -- A Police Action by A. A. Freda
[Following is a volunteer review of "A Police Action" by A. A. Freda.]
A. A. Freda’s A Police Action is a beautiful romance story of two young adults set during the Vietnam War. Coppi joins the army on a quest to prove something to himself and Samantha leaves home at nineteen because she can no longer stand her preacher father and his strict rules. Perhaps it is fate or coincidence that leads these two young souls to each other, they are without doubt unquestionably loyal and committed to each other but the big question lies in how deep their commitment runs and how far they are willing to go to sustain their love.
A few weeks before his deployment to Vietnam, James Coppi meets Samantha, a nineteen-year-old teenager at a bar in Colorado Springs. Somehow, something that was probably supposed to be a one-time hook up ends up turning into a lifetime commitment of love and romance. He finds out that she is pregnant with a stranger’s child and is without a decent home or a stable job. Coppi feels sorry for her and decides to help her out with some of the money he made from his loan business. Things progress very quickly between them and when the time finally comes for Coppi to leave for Vietnam, they are both faced with the hard choice of whether to let go of each other or to hope that their love can stand the test of time and thousands of miles.
To be honest, A Police Action is not the kind of book that I would typically pick to read but I decided to review it because the description said it was a coming-of-age Vietnam War-era romantic novel. I was excited about the romance but I was quite unsure about the war aspect. I was almost certain that although I might enjoy the romance, the war part was going to bore me to death and might completely overshadow the entire book but surprisingly that didn’t happen. I was intrigued throughout and I finished reading it in a day. How ironic!
I laughed a lot while reading this book which again wasn’t something I expected to happen. James Coppi is quite the character and his interactions with other soldiers mostly resulted in a good laugh for me. This is reasonably strange but pleasant because I expected a war novel of this sort to convey a very tense atmosphere regardless of the romance but this book had me cracking up a lot. Another thing that I like is the fact that the book contains a decent amount of information on military operations. Not that it matters a lot but I feel it gives the book more authenticity. The characters are what I like most in this book. They are very real and original. James Coppi is a very intelligent and calculated guy. He is undeniably smart, talented and has a strong dislike for soldiers whom he likes to tag ‘lifers’. Sam, on the other hand, started at the beginning as a helpless person but as the plot progressed, her character grew into a very independent woman who is not afraid to go after what she wants and is capable of standing up for herself.
My only concern with this book is the way it ended. The ending was no surprise to me and is probably what a lot of readers would expect but I couldn’t help but feel as though it was a bit forced. To be clear, there is no direct problem with the way the story concluded rather my concern lies in the way the author went about achieving it. I won’t go into details to avoid giving any major spoilers but I wish the end plot could have had a more natural approach to it. It’s not a major concern but since this is an honest review, I thought it best to mention it. Most readers may be fine with it; some may not even think of it as an issue.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because it deserves nothing less. This book surpassed my expectations and turned out to be an amazing read. It is professionally edited and is devoid of major grammatical errors. If you love romance stories involving a military or war background, you can’t possibly go wrong with this book.
******
A Police Action
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
A. A. Freda’s A Police Action is a beautiful romance story of two young adults set during the Vietnam War. Coppi joins the army on a quest to prove something to himself and Samantha leaves home at nineteen because she can no longer stand her preacher father and his strict rules. Perhaps it is fate or coincidence that leads these two young souls to each other, they are without doubt unquestionably loyal and committed to each other but the big question lies in how deep their commitment runs and how far they are willing to go to sustain their love.
A few weeks before his deployment to Vietnam, James Coppi meets Samantha, a nineteen-year-old teenager at a bar in Colorado Springs. Somehow, something that was probably supposed to be a one-time hook up ends up turning into a lifetime commitment of love and romance. He finds out that she is pregnant with a stranger’s child and is without a decent home or a stable job. Coppi feels sorry for her and decides to help her out with some of the money he made from his loan business. Things progress very quickly between them and when the time finally comes for Coppi to leave for Vietnam, they are both faced with the hard choice of whether to let go of each other or to hope that their love can stand the test of time and thousands of miles.
To be honest, A Police Action is not the kind of book that I would typically pick to read but I decided to review it because the description said it was a coming-of-age Vietnam War-era romantic novel. I was excited about the romance but I was quite unsure about the war aspect. I was almost certain that although I might enjoy the romance, the war part was going to bore me to death and might completely overshadow the entire book but surprisingly that didn’t happen. I was intrigued throughout and I finished reading it in a day. How ironic!
I laughed a lot while reading this book which again wasn’t something I expected to happen. James Coppi is quite the character and his interactions with other soldiers mostly resulted in a good laugh for me. This is reasonably strange but pleasant because I expected a war novel of this sort to convey a very tense atmosphere regardless of the romance but this book had me cracking up a lot. Another thing that I like is the fact that the book contains a decent amount of information on military operations. Not that it matters a lot but I feel it gives the book more authenticity. The characters are what I like most in this book. They are very real and original. James Coppi is a very intelligent and calculated guy. He is undeniably smart, talented and has a strong dislike for soldiers whom he likes to tag ‘lifers’. Sam, on the other hand, started at the beginning as a helpless person but as the plot progressed, her character grew into a very independent woman who is not afraid to go after what she wants and is capable of standing up for herself.
My only concern with this book is the way it ended. The ending was no surprise to me and is probably what a lot of readers would expect but I couldn’t help but feel as though it was a bit forced. To be clear, there is no direct problem with the way the story concluded rather my concern lies in the way the author went about achieving it. I won’t go into details to avoid giving any major spoilers but I wish the end plot could have had a more natural approach to it. It’s not a major concern but since this is an honest review, I thought it best to mention it. Most readers may be fine with it; some may not even think of it as an issue.
I rate this book 4 out of 4 stars because it deserves nothing less. This book surpassed my expectations and turned out to be an amazing read. It is professionally edited and is devoid of major grammatical errors. If you love romance stories involving a military or war background, you can’t possibly go wrong with this book.
******
A Police Action
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: A Portrait of Mommy by JL Coston
