Kickers: A Novel of the Secret War Paperback – January 16, 2014

In Kickers, Patrick Lee weaves a vibrant and compelling tale of brotherhood and international intrigue, reminiscent of Stephen Ambrose’ s Band of Brothers. Throughout this fast paced novel, the young smokejumpers’ spontaneous courage, camaraderie, and light-hearted humor appears in stark contrast to the convoluted machination, strategic plotting, and unfeeling brutality of the international policymakers, the CIA covert operations agents and professional military secretly assigned to Laos.Kickers exposes the reader to a little known and officially disavowed part of American history. In it, Lee presents the full portion of life’s joy and tragedy with plenty of nail biting moments, starting with the “unnatural act” of jumping out of an airplane. Lee adroitly captures and characterizes the human element – we share the paralyzing fear, rush of exhilaration, and breath-taking relief of that first parachute jump, the boredom and frustration of a slow fire season, the desperate isolation of the POW.Long before this novel ends, Dog, Thanasis, and Charlie will have become dear friends and loyal brothers to the reader. Through Kickers their story and their contribution lives on. This is a great read and I highly recommend it!Anne Gwynn

The author is a first-rate attorney who has practiced law for well over 30 years. That does not necessarily mean that anyone holding a law degree is automatically qualified to hold a gavel in the literary world. A good novelist speaks with a loud voice about the art, the craft, the isolation and the unknown. From the opening the author spoke loud and clear about the unknown, shining light on the under-reported world of the smokejumpers. Looking through the eyes of well-developed characters called Thanasis, Charlie, and Dog, we get to see inside these three young men performed their duty and performed well until the CIA's real mission was uncovered. The untold story of the smokejumpers parallels in many ways to the story of the Tuskegee Airmen who fought for equality and only gained recognition in recent years. First they integrated the Armed Forces, then a whole nation and did it with competency, skill, valor, and courage in combating the enemy abroad and racism at home. Because the Tuskegee Airmen and the Smokejumpers stood tall, fellow Americans are the better for it. This was an excellent read, inspirational and educating. Highly recommended.

The people in Pat Lee’s “Kickers” are just barely fictional, and the situations in which they exist may be not at all. Hard to tell, because Lee’s own smokejumper experience, deep on-the-ground research, and careful structure so completely inform this “novel” of the secret war in Laos. The story is compelling, but not easy. You know and think you understand Thanasis, Charlie, “Dog” and others, sometimes from childhood on. But our Charlie and their “Charlies” are not so differently motivated. Connected by time, place, and circumstance, some head up and down the Ho Chi Minh trail, some try to stop the traffic. All are linked. Complicated people and complicated times This book is a ride back to recent history filled with fully imagined characters based in part on Lee’s own experiences as a smokejumper and evident deep familiarity with the land and people of the Viet Nam War and its Laotian fringe. It is sometimes hard to stomach the truths, futility, and losses of this story – personal, historical, and symbolic – but even harder to ignore them or forget.

This is worth the read, More for 50-70 age group to appreciate what the book is about and what went on during that war, Younger generations should read this book though so they have a clue about life. Liked the book need too stay with it so you do not forget where the story is at.

DON'T HAVE ENOUGH WORDS TO TELL YOU HOW BAD THIS AUTHOR WAS. I WAS HOPING IT WAS THE PATRICK LEE THAT WROTE SOME OTHER BOOKS THAT WERE REALLY GOOD. BUT IT CAN'T BE THE SAME GUY. THIS ONE IS BAD.

The Smokejumpers were the first (behind the scenes) supporters of General Vang Pao's Hmong, gorilla army in Laos. As with Air America, they were the first ones in and the last to leave that shattered country after fighting a 13 year war that three U.S. presidents denied ever happened. This book, though written as a novel with fictitious characters, tells a story that is based on actual events - first in the realm of airborne firefighters in the western USA, and later, on the front lines as gorilla fighters fighting an invading North Vietnamese army in Laos during the Vietnam War. Until this book was written, there has been little published, in fact or fiction, about the the sacrifices made by former Smokejumpers in this bloodbath known as the "Secret War". Nine jumpers died there between 1961 and 1975. Thanks to Patrick Lee, a former smokejumper himself, some light has finally been shed on the role Smokejumpers played in the jungles of Laos during the Vietnam War.

I am a baby boomer. This is the first novel I have read in which the subject matter was the Indo-China conflict in the 1960s and 70s. The book is well written, the primary and secondary characters are well devoped. The reason it was not enjoyable was it revealed, with considerable subtlety, all that was wrong about the conflict in Southeast Asia. Government duplicity, indifference to humanity, non-acknowledgement of youthful sacrifice, anger at the utter waste of the conflict re-emerged. If one has family members, loved ones or acquaintances who did not return from Southeast Asia avoid this book. If one is so young that the conflict is, for you, part of a history book, read it. It is an excellent portrayal of the folly of military adventurism.