David L. Robbins (1) (1954–)

Broken Jewel by David L. Robbins is a story of survival, war and love set in the Philippines during WW II as MacArthur’s forces have returned to liberate these islands. The retreating Japanese had a policy of leaving no witnesses behind and had already killed many civilians and prisoners. Concern was mounting for the internees housed at the prison camp of Los Banos, and in a daring rescue, American Forces joined with several guerrilla outfits to go behind Japanese lines to save these show more people.

The story is centered on Remy Tuck and his son Talbot who have been in the prison camp for years. Tuck has grown almost to manhood behind the barbed wire. Remy has worked and plotted to save many of his fellow prisoners from starvation and illness and tries to always keep his son safe from the vicious punishments that are given for the slightest of missteps. Overseeing the camp is the comfort station and a young Filipina, Carmen is kept there. Kidnapped and forced into sexual slavery as a comfort women, Carmen watches Tal from afar with admiration as he is a brave and forthright young man, outsmarting and defying the guards at every opportunity. Tal is also very taken with Carmen who handles her situation with grace and courage, passing on the information she is able to gather to the guerrillas.

The author excels in his research and his attention to historical detail really helped to place the reader in this time and place. The story of deprivation and cruelty contrasted with the warm bonding of father and son, and the blossoming love between a man and a woman. I found Broken Jewel to be an excellent read, a perfect combination of great storytelling loaded with suspense, action, and historical information. show less

What an exciting adventure combining military and medical thriller elements! It takes place in the Rub’ al-Khali, the world’s largest desert (“the empty quarter”), which occupies most of the southern third of the Arabian Peninsula. People are scarce there, except for the ones you most do not want to meet.
It’s a multiple point-of-view novel, told mostly from the perspectives of members of a U.S. Air Force pararescuemen (PJs) team. PJs’ combined military-medical mission is show more personnel recovery, and they use both conventional and unconventional combat rescue methods. The motto of this branch of service is “That Others May Live,” and Robbins effectively describes the team members’ dedication to that mission, despite their differences in personality and temperament.
We also read the point of view of Arif, a middle-aged Saudi man whose wife Nadya is a member of the Saudi royal family. Her father, Prince Hassan bin Abd al-Aziz is the country’s head of security. Arif has fallen out with his father-in-law, and he and Nadya are in hiding in the tiny Yemeni town of Ma’rib. Robbins portrays their mutual devotion quite movingly. A third key point of view is that of Josh Cofield, a former Army Ranger, assigned to the American Embassy in the Yemeni capital Sana’a. Everyone, the ambassador included, erroneously believes Josh is CIA, because he is “awkward as a diplomat,” a bit of a bull in a china shop, but a skilled speaker of Arabic.
When an attempt is made on Prince Aziz’s life, he mistakenly blames the exiled Arif. He wants his son-in-law dead and his daughter returned to him, and he wants U.S. help in achieving these goals He cannot get it, however, unless an American life is threatened. A plan begins to take shape in diabolical minds.
A wild nighttime chase across the desert occupies the last half of the book. Part of Robbins’s skill is in avoiding making any of the principal players obvious bad guys. They’re complex characters with conflicting goals, and all doing their best to resolve an impossible situation. I appreciated that the book includes helpful maps. Not as helpful—and something readers are bound to object to—is the frequent use of military abbreviations and acronyms. While Robbins defines a few of these in footnotes, it might have been better to have a list in an appendix or to retain the abbreviations in speech, but not rely on them as much in the narrative. It would be a shame if readers abandoned a top-notch tale because of the resulting confusion. Robbins has 10 other novels under his body armor. I’ll be reading more of them! show less

I am a fan of author David L. Robbins and I knew that The Low Bird is set in Vietnam and would be a gripping military story. A pilot is shot down over a heavily defended valley and rescue becomes the number one priority of the American forces. Meanwhile the VC cadre is using the downed pilot as bait to bring other American planes within reach of their guns. A helicopter is also shot down, bringing another American into the valley.

The author changes the viewpoint of the story between these show more two Americans and that of the VC cadre, Loh. He also brings Minh, a North Vietnamese woman who loves the cadre into the story and we get a well rounded view of both sides, as she travels with the troops as a singer. I would have liked a little less of the military jargon and detailed information about ordinance and equipment which I found a little overwhelming and, for me, made the story rather disjointed, but I do know that many military and ex-military personnel read this author and like to have these details given.

The story moves at a fast pace and depicts the teamwork that enabled many downed pilots to be rescued from certain death. The author excels at describing battle conditions and in particular the bravery that had these helicopter rescue crews flying over the Ho Chi Minh Trail to spot and save a pilot in peril. show less

I greatly admire this book. Robbins transcends the mystery genre with language as sweet and rich as a mint julep on a starry night.

A child is born to a black man and a white women in a small Virginia town. The child dies, and is buried in the Baptist church cemetery. But the elders insist on unearthing the child, because only whites are allowed in their cemetery. The night after the child is exhumed and moved to the black cemetery, the church burns down. The father of the child, a black show more man, is arrested for the crime, and claims he is innocent.

Nate, a heart-bruised lawyer returns to his home town to defend this man accused of burning down a church. When a charred body is found in the rubble, Nate finds himself with a murder case on his hands. As Nate peels back layers of history, grudges and racism, he encounters his ex-wife (with whom he is still in love), a corrupt prosecutor, a psychologically tortured priest, and a sheriff with a huge reason to see this black man put to death.

It's not your grandmother's crime novel. Sit beneath a magnolia tree, and enjoy. show less