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Lieutenant Colonel Mark Berent,
USAF (ret.) “served in the Air Force for more than twenty years, first as an enlisted man and then as an officer. He
has logged 4,350 hours of flying time, over 1,000 of them in Combat. During his three Vietnam tours, Berent earned not only
the Silver Star but two Distinguished Flying Crosses, over two dozen air medals, the Bronze Star, the Vietnamese Cross of
Gallantry, and the Legion of Merit.” Lieutenant Colonel Mark Berent said of Eagle Station, Steel Tiger,
Phantom Leader, Rolling Thunder and Storm Flight.
Kirkus Reviews said of Eagle
Station, “Berent's US Air Force saga (Rolling Thunder, Steel Tiger, Phantom Leader) continues, taking
his pilots and commandos into Laos and a late-1968 battle to protect a radar outpost. With only a few weeks to go before the
presidential election, both the North Vietnamese and Lyndon Johnson are working on plans to swing the vote the way they want
it to go. They both like Hubert Humphrey. President Johnson is getting ready to pull the plug on bombing north of the Demilitarized
Zone, and the North Vietnamese are trying to choreograph the ``confession'' of a downed airman with a military action
against the American radar base in Laos that controls much of the sky over their country. Recurring heroes Court Bannister
and Wolf Lochert, pilot and supercommando, respectively, head for the threatened installation, pausing only for a little short,
sweet, dalliance in Thailand. Meanwhile, fellow recurring hero and currently imprisoned pilot Algernon A. ``Flak''
Apple endures near-fatal beatings and psychological torture after almost escaping Hanoi. And Shawn Bannister, radical journalist,
recurring villain and half-brother to Court Bannister, heads for Hanoi, unaware that he is being manipulated by Hanoi and
Washington concurrently. If everything works out the way Hanoi plans, there will be dramatic revelations from the hospital
in Hanoi at the very moment that either the North Vietnamese Army or their partners in socialist solidarity, the Soviets,
overrun the radar. There is, by the way, a pretty but rather loose American lady hanging around the radar controls swilling
gin and ogling the gents. Open your eyes for the flight and fight scenes, close them for the sex and politics.”
On reader of Eagle Station
said, “It's been a number of years since I've read Eagle Station, but I've read all of Mr. Berents'
books and they were spectacular. The detail with which he describes the characters and scenes made you feel as if you were
actually in the field, the enemy attacking you. You could almost hear the gun fire and feel the battle rage. His technique
even let you inside the characters minds and understand what they might have gone through. I met Mr. Berents at a book signing
at Davis Monthan AB in 1990-91. He autographed Rolling Thunder for me, complete with a Jane Fonda toilet paper book mark!
I read Rolling Thunder on the flight to Tucson from Indianapolis. All Mr. Berent's books are great reads, I wish he would
write more!”
On reader of Eagle Station
said, “This is number four of a five book series that follows the adventures of several pilots and special forces personnel
through the war in Viet Nam. For those of us who were pilots in that war, it is the best and most accurate description of
our experiences. Each book of the series seems both historically and otherwise factually accurate. All in all, one of the
best "reads" to be had since Tom Clancy started writing.”
The School Library Journal said of
Phantom Leader, “A fast-paced novel about the 1968 Tet offensive in Vietnam through which
readers come to see the excitement and cruelty of war. Flak Apple parachutes into the midst of the Viet Cong and becomes a
prisoner in Hanoi's Hoa Lo Prison. Toby Parker is taken prisoner after his plane is shot down on a reconnaissance mission.
Court Bannister, a hotshot F4 pilot who violated the Rules of Engagement, is now assigned to set up secret night missions
over Laos. Wolf Lochert, a Special Forces officer, not only fights the Viet Cong, but must also fight for his life against
Washington political action. Berent brings out the contradictions of the war and the political morass that on one hand sent
men to Vietnam and on the other hand constricted their actions to such an extent that victory was never a possibility. The
imprisonment of Flak Apple clearly demonstrates man's inhumanity to man and will bring tears to the eyes of most readers.”
One reader of Phantom Leader
said it “is the third in Berent's five book saga of fighting men in Vietnam. Berent's series gets better as
this author gains experience and insight into the lives of his characters. This book is probably the first one in the series
I would consider a "must read". The reason is the story of Major Algeron "Flak" Apple who is shot down
in his F-4 fighter early in the book and is captured by the North Vietnamese. His story gives the reader a shocking look at
life as a prisoner of war inside the Hao Lo prison, known more commonly as the "Hanoi Hilton". His story continues
through the final two volumes. Berent agonizing portrayal of Apple's life of misery and torture inside the prison is dramatic
and moving. The story also contains the continuing story of Court Bannister, an Air Force pilot that I believe Berent uses
to tell his own story. Wolf Lochert also continues his battle as a US Army Special Forces Lt. Colonel. Berent writes with
a similar style to Tom Clancy. This book is really five separate stories that all intersect at one time or another. Berent's
books are much easier to read and have more action than technical detail. The reader does, however, receive enough explanation
of military terms and acronyms to understand the sometimes complex language used by military persons. This books is a superb
action novel, but what makes it great is the amazing and horrifying look inside a prison camp of North Vietnam.”
Publisher’s Weekly said of Storm
Flight, “In the bitter year of 1972, deep inside Vietnam, American POWs with special knowledge or skills
have been secretly removed from camps, their names hidden from official records. After a daring American raid exposes Soviet
complicity, American airmen must try to free their comrades. In this fifth and final novel in the series that began with Rolling
Thunder , Lt. Gen. "Whitey" Whisenand leads a varied group of men in this mission. Among them are Air Force Lt.
Col. Court Bannister, who must leave his beloved fighters and learn to drive a "bus" (a B-52 bomber); Special Forces
Lt. Col. Wolf Lochert, who designs and carries out a heart-stopping parachute drop; and fighter pilot Capt. Toby Parker. Meanwhile,
Major Flak Apple and his buddies bravely manage to send coded messages from Hoa Lo Prison ("Hanoi Hilton"). The
mission is further complicated by the anti-war movement, Kissinger/Nixon politicking and the men's emotions as they lose
friends in the relentless air war. Genre aficionados will relish the wealth of military detail and the technical explanations;
all readers will be rewarded by the ultimate mission, when planes, men and tactics are tested to the spine-tingling limits.
Berent, whose 20 years in the Air Force included three tours of Vietnam, has developed a loyal following of military aviation
buffs (including many Vietnam aviators) all eager for this conclusion to his saga.”
One reader of Storm Flight
said of, “Following the exploits of Court Bannister, Wolf Lochert, Toby Parker and the gang showed me believable action;
let me observe the transition of young hotshots into responsible adults through experiences with war and life; taught me history,
the real thing I didn't get from the media in the 1960s; focused me on geography, with which I'm getting better. Not
so very different from the young people I see at our USO where I volunteer each week. Most of all, it let me come to some
resolution and peace in my own mind about Vietnam. Those young men I knew in the 1960s who willingly went to serve were right
in their intent, despite an Administration and press who failed to support them. Those who didn't come back did not die
in vain, and are remembered fondly. My only regret is that it's the last of the series. I hope Mark Berent is not finished
writing! More! More! Another series! Something!”
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