Never Say Die

"My mother's never accepted it. She needs a body to bury."
General Kistner sighed. "Of course. The wives. It's always the wives. There were so many widows, one tends to forget."
"She hasn't forgotten."

Set in the shadow of Vietnam, FMC travels to Vietnam to discover what happened to, claimed KIA, father, for her mother who is dying from cancer. She's bitter against her father, feeling he put his love of flying and daredevilry ahead of his family. She meets the MMC, who works as a sort of bounty hunter for the government for remains of soldiers or find out if they decided to change identities and stay in Vietnam. When he hears her last name, he realizes one of his files is about her father, who might have been a traitor to USA and has a show more big bounty, so he decides to convince her that they should work together.

They didn't exchange a word; just that look, that sad and knowing smile between women, was enough.

I think this didn't age the best, there's a bunch of trying to work through and weigh the cost of the Vietnam War and CIA workings in Laos but there were sure were some cringe ways of speaking about the people of Vietnam and Laos here too. This leaned a little more towards the thriller mystery with the romance having that push/pull of I hate you/I want you. Grappling with the cost of war and how it's viewed/spoke of is always the most interesting part of the books for me. show less

Twenty years after her father's plane crashes in the jungles of Southeast Asia, Willy Jane Maitland is finally tracking his last moves. Willy knows she can't proceed without the help of ex-army officer Guy Barnard. But in a place where truth has many faces, she suspects even Guy has hidden motives. What she is prepared for are the shocking secrets and undeniable attractions.

My Thoughts:

The book wasn’t too bad. Straight away you could tell it was going to have an element of romance as the two main characters fell for each other very early on. The plot was a bit thin and very perdictable but still a quite good quick read.

A romantic suspense from Tess Gerritsen. I think I much prefer her Maura and Jane novels.

I bought this book in a 2-pack (in combination with Whistleblower) after I read the 10 Rizzoli & Isles detectives. And to be quite honest, in the beginning I thought that I could better skip this one... a story about the Vietnam war? OMG? But although there was a lot of talking about the war in the 70ies the most important part was the story of Willy Maitland, a young woman who is looking for her father, a pilot who got lost during the war. Occasionally I could have done with less damsel in distress and more independent woman, but what the h..., then there wouldn't be the chance of that sweet romance with ex-army officer Guy Barnard who is looking for mister Maitland, too. And while all those secret adversaries try to hinder and kill show more young Willy, Guy is determined to safe her. So, in fact it's a love story, dipped in a sauce of mystery and murder. Why not. show less

It's border line between 'ok' and 'didn't like it'. I opted for 'ok' based on the fact it was easy to read and essentially the plot was of Jack Higgins standard.

Basically Willy has a very famous father, a pilot carrying something that needed to be kept secret. The plane is bombed, he and the cargo is presumed dead and 20 years later Willy is convinced he isn't and goes searching for him. She meets Guy, who is responsible for getting dead soliders identified. Very predictably they fall in love. What a surprise!

The whole story is around them finding out the truth. Lots of death and gore on the way. If this is the first Gerritsen book you've read then you are in for a treat as they get better, much better. If you've read her before and show more looking for a change of direction then still try it. It is 'ok'. Easy Sunday afternoon reading, comfortably sat on the sofa with a few cups of coffee! show less

This is one of Ms. Gerritsen's earlier books which falls into the category of romantic suspense. Willy Maitland is looking for her father who was downed in Viet Nam twenty years earlier while flying for Air America. Guy Barnard is also looking for Wild Bill who is suspected of being a traitor to the USA known as Friar Tuck.
I vaguely remember a movie called Air America with Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr, and that's all I know about the company which flew supplies (legal and illegal) into Southeast Asia for the CIA. Willy and Guy are personable enough but I did wonder about their propensity to leave the people who aided them behind, usually dead. It seemed like they should be a bit more aware of involving others in their search for show more Willy's father.
The suspense part was pretty good though it wasn't as good as Ms. Gerritsen's later works. It's a quick and interesting read. show less

Geen hoogvlieger. voorspelbaar.
Maar wel nooit vervelend. Best wel leuke vakantielectuur.

Good if you like Nora Roberts type books. TG's earlier books are more romancy and no where near as good as her medical mystery ones.