Harold Coyle, a master of military fiction, has created yet another vivid and all too possible scenario: A reunited Germany with a fanatically anti-American chancellor has seized control of nuclear weapons, and intends not only to threaten Germany's neighbors but to humiliate the American army in the process. Not only does Germany intend to keep the nukes, but he intends to disarm the American Forces in Germany and send them home in disgrace. So, the commanding general of the American army in Germany decides to march through Germany to the sea, taking on anyone who stands in their way. Several characters from Coyle's previous books are back, including the irrepressible captain Nancy Kozak and the unforgettable Scott Dixon, as well as Ed Lewis, the former National Guardsman now congressman, and General "Big Al" Malin (all five foot three inches of him). Moving skillfully from the battlefields of the inner chambers of power within the two opposing governments to the actual battlefields on the plains of Germany, the triumphs, tragedies, and horrors of sustained modern armored combat are described in vivid and sometimes graphic detail. This book does an excellent job of putting a human face to a tale of modern warfare.

The Ten Thousand returns author Harold Coyle to high-tech warfare since Bright Star. In it, the US with the cooperation of Russia confiscate nuclear weapons from a belligerent Ukraine. The weapons are then placed in Germany for safekeeping where a Chancellor sees the opportunity to steal them and threaten the world. Suddenly, Germany is not a good place for Americans to be in and they must fight their way and get the nukes back.

In this book, Coyle introduces even more women and in different aspects of the war. The infantry leader, medic, reporter/soldier's wife and the commander-in-chief. They are credited to giving a more humanizing effect on the male soldiers. It may not be realistic but it's definitely idealistic portrayal.

Most of the American characters are back. And for those who've read Coyle's previous books, it's a treat to see two Russian characters return. It's also interesting to see that a Russian finds himself in command of a group of American Rangers. The German characters could use some more depth however. None of them are very memorable unlike most non-American characters in previous books (except Bright Star). They're either against the war or are anti-American. I do wonder what Coyle thinks of the US military's future. In one chapter he mentions that the Airborne Division is being scrapped as part of the "new model Army". Yet, they are used in the book for a vital operation. A re-evaluation is sorely needed.

Overall, Harold Coyle has another winner.

Most days, I don't think Harold Coyle could write his way through a Dick & Jane story.

But this time... wow. Taking some ancient Greek history and twisting it into a modern plot, Coyle has written one fine military page-turner. I dare ya not to laugh out loud when a German officer states, "My position has become untenable..."

Great stuff.

Do not waste your hard earned money on this book. I bought it thinking short stories about WWII would be a great easy read book with very exciting story lines. In no way was this book even close. The only thing that keeps you going to the next story is the hope that the next one will be a little better than the last, which never really happens. Out of all the writers there is one or two that keep your attention but for the most part the writers have done a very poor overall job. You buy this book thinking you will be reading about hero's of WWII and you get stories about a little boy who helps in an aircraft hanger building an experimental aircraft. Not to spoil the ending the little boy turns out to be an alien and goes back to his home planet via a bicycle space craft. "WOW GREAT STORY"

They really aren't around anymore, but from the 1930s through the 1970s, there was a proliferation of what became known in the trade as "adventure" magazines. These ranged in quality from the semi-respectable (Argosy) to the not so respectable (a veritable slew of titles, such as Stag and the right-out front For Men Only). They featured stories of spies, derring do and jungle intrigue, but they primarily contained war stories. Lots and lots of war stories. The covers often told the tale regarding the type of quality you could expect within; this was particularly true of Stag, which featured damsels who were either in distress (especially with respect to the state of their undergarments) or inflicting distress upon U.S. soldiers who were tied to chairs and doing their best to appear panic-stricken. All of these magazines, alas, are long gone, or at least don't seem to have the circulation they used to. I was reminded of them, however, by the publication of a mammoth volume of war fiction titled VICTORY.

VICTORY is a companion volume to COMBAT, both of which are edited by intrigue-meister Stephen Coonts. VICTORY is a doorstop of a volume, weighing in at well over 700 pages and consisting of ten previously unpublished pieces by masters of the war story. The stories in VICTORY range in length from fifty to over one hundred pages; if they had appeared in any of the adventure magazines, they would have been serialized. Most of the stories in VICTORY would or could have found a home in Argosy, though one --- "Blood Bond" by Harold Robbins --- is definitely Stag material. More on that in a minute.

The stories in VICTORY do not glorify war. Far from it. All of the stories are set during World War II, with the exception of "Honor" by Ralph Peters, set immediately thereafter. It is difficult to pick an immediate favorite; the average reader may have several, for different reasons. Coonts's own "The Sea Witch," which opens VICTORY, begins as a fairly predictable tale with an unpredictable ending and that utilizes an unexpected technique to catch the reader flatfooted.

"Blood Bond" is typical Robbins. It is a spy story, dealing with a plot to kill Hitler, and stands apart from the other tales due to its unrelenting scatological narrative. Robbins writes the way James Bond really thinks. Though Robbins, gone for several years now, had his share of detractors, he never inflicted boredom on his audience, and this previously unpublished work continues his streak, even in his absence.

David Hagberg's "V5" concerns the German rocket that could have turned the tide of World War II and the Allied military and espionage components that feverishly work together, though at some distance, to ensure that the project never makes it off the ground.

Peters's "Honor" deals not with Americans in the war but with a German officer in the war's aftermath, trudging through the nightmarish ruin that is postwar Germany as he tries to return home to his wife. The conclusion of "Honor" is predictable, almost from the first paragraph; it is the journey, not the close-to-foregone destination, that is important here.

The biggest surprise in VICTORY may be "The Eagle and the Cross" by R.J. Pineiro, a tale of an American pilot who is sent to the Eastern front to train Russian aviators during the final months of the Battle of Stalingrad. The bittersweet ending is perhaps the most haunting of any tale in the book.

With VICTORY Coonts again demonstrates that his talent as a writer is matched by his editorial abilities. While this volume is aimed at a more narrowly defined audience, the quality of the stories involved should, for the most part, satisfy the more discerning reader of any genre. Recommended.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub