Review by Hannahchitz -- A Police Action by A. A. Freda

[Hannahchitz]

[Following is a volunteer review of "A Police Action" by A. A. Freda.]

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4 out of 4 stars

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A police action by AA Freda is a beautiful historical novel about the life of Specialist Fourth Class James Coppi when he took part in the Vietnam War. The story starts when this American-Italian from New York is assigned as a draftee and sent to train in Fort Carson, Colorado Springs, with only ten months left on his tour.
On his first day, he meets old friends, like Cardiz and makes new ones like Hall with whom he casts in his lot and together they will worry through to the very end. He launches his money lending business with them and they convince him to go out before the training begins. He meets a bold, dashing girl, Samantha Powers, at the bar and they spend the night together. Sam reveals that she is pregnant with another man’s child and Coppi goes out of his way to help her, even if it means breaking the rules.
Coppi who has had some encounter with war veterans, has more useful knowledge than any other member in his unit and is assigned on a special training for reading maps and terrains. He is not a meek humble soldier; he pushes buttons quite a lot which causes him to make some enemies. He and Sam have a budding romance while he is still in training and he even gets to meet her parents! When it’s time to leave for Vietnam, he leaves no commitment behind with her.
In Vietnam, things slowly escalate from safe and simple to dangerous and deadly. He gets into a lot of skirmishes especially with his platoon leader Sergeant Cambi. Sam back home is fighting for her dignity and self-respect. The War being war, friends die and it is survival for the fittest. Coppi is no saint and sometimes he even approaches villainy and frankly, he would not have survived the war if he were. And when his time is done, he finds that it wasn’t dying he was afraid of but living and there is a girl back home he loves and does not know whether he should spend the rest of his life with her or run away.
This book is full of suspense and interesting characters, who are unique, well developed and full of surprises. There are some who are truly awful and even the good ones do strange things that make one question, if the end really justifies the means. But really, the story would not be complete without them. Its main themes are heroism and friendship. AA Freda has made a very unique hero, who though courageous and brave, is far from being perfect. James Coppi is no angel and it took a while for me to fall in love with Samantha Powers. These are real live people who make mistakes just like everybody else. I have learnt from this book that your very worst enemies are not the ones you shoot at but the ones you shoot with. Freda also wrote compelling war scenes that raised my pulse rate. I had a great time reading the story and I cannot believe even in the face of death, there was still laugh out loud humor. The dialogue was really gripping and the narration very engaging.
I find this book quite well balanced with the right amount of action and dialogue. The narration went smoothly and it was quite engaging. It was really well edited and I simply loved it. I rate it four out of four stars. I recommend the book to historical fiction and romance lovers but they must be a mature audience.

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A Police Action
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[Stephanie Elizabeth]

Great review! I enjoyed reading this book as well, and I have to agree with you that the war scenes the author described definitely had me on the edge of my seat.