David Stinson, The Traynor Legacy

The Traynor Legacy

David Stinson

Five Star, Apr 2005, $25.95

ISBN: 1594142858

The injuries in Viet Nam ended his military career, but former Brigade Commander Jonathan Traynor is not ready to go desk side. He has a concept for a different type of human Intel, but no one listens to a veteran whose better years have passed. That is no one until his college roommate Sandy Colburn is named Director of the CIA. Sandy buys Jon's pitch of a covert operation to handle affairs where the government cannot afford a trace of a taint. Jon recruits his best officer Hackler Staley as his agent.

Almost three decades later, their partnership a success, Hackler is nearing retirement. He completes a mission, but someone betrayed him. He has been caught by the enemy, but wonders just who his foes are. Could Traynor the man he trusted for years have betrayed him as a Cold War relic liability? Or is it someone else whose secrets he learned back in Viet Nam when he obtained evidence that Air Force Lieutenant Robert McGowan attempted murder, but won a Silver Star for his action; McGowan is running for President and nothing must stand in his way.

This is an intriguing political espionage thriller that grips the audience the moment that Hackler is abducted at the French airport and never slows down until the final courtroom drama is played out. Hackler is an interesting protagonist whose twenty-eight years in the cold deserve their own tales. His efforts to learn who wants him eliminated serve as a counterpoint to McGowan's run for the Oval office. Though the plot seems a bit over the top, readers will enjoy David Stinson's exciting tale.

Harriet Klausner