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Programmed To Kill
This is a story about four Vietnam Veterans who though they have long since left the arm remain close friends. During their army training they made a pact to support each other for life, promising to come to the aid of each should their lives or those of their families ever be in danger. Many years later one of their number asks the other three to honour that pact when his life is threatened and his family kidnapped by a crooked lawyer and his underworld associates.
When in the army the four had been trained as an elite Special Forces unit. In reuniting again to aid one of their number they will call on many of the skills learnt during their army training. Thrown in the mix is a dedicated police inspector, who although a Vietnam Veteran himself will not hesitate to pursue and arrest anyone who breaks the law, no matter what their background or justification.
When in the army the four had been trained as an elite Special Forces unit. In reuniting again to aid one of their number they will call on many of the skills learnt during their army training. Thrown in the mix is a dedicated police inspector, who although a Vietnam Veteran himself will not hesitate to pursue and arrest anyone who breaks the law, no matter what their background or justification.
322 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 9, 2015
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6 people want to read
About the author
David J. Murray
1 bookI grew up in Mosman, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. My parents divorced when I was 4 leaving my mother to bring up my sister and I. As a result I became the man of the house at a rather young age.Consequently I spent a lot of my youth doing jobs around the house that in my mates homes were usually done by their fathers. I did however have a rather free run during the times that I wasn't mowing lawns, painting parts of the house or doing the household shopping for my mum who, due to the divorce had been forced to work full time. My free time was spent; billy cart riding, fishing, tree climbing (there wasn't a tree surrounding Mosman oval that
I hadn't climbed), participating in rock fights and surfing. On most summer mornings, before school, I'd run the two kilometres from home to Balmoral beach accompanied by my two dogs, have a swim and run back home. These regular workouts were probably the reason that I was School swimming champion during my final two years as a student at Mosman High School. Three years after graduating from same high school I was conscripted into the Australian army and spent much of 1967 fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. Upon my discharge from the army in 1968 I won a Teaching scholarship and in 1971 began working as a Health and Physical Education Teacher. In 1975 my wife and I spent a year touring around Australia in a campervan and the following year backpacking around Asia and Europe. Teaching was one of three occupations that occupied my working life. For 7 years I worked as a full time Professional swim coach after gaining the highest pass possible in a course conducted in Canberra during the 1970's. In the late 1980's I undertook an Advanced Certificate course in Real Estate studies and Strata Management at Crows Nest TAFE and after winning the State Medal for top student in the state, I worked in Real Estate for a number of years before eventually returning to teaching. After retiring from the workforce at age 58 I continued a fitness regime that had served me well for most of my life and in 2012 rode a push bike three quarters of the way around Australia, a distance of around 8000 kilometres before a road train travelling at close on 120 KMPH hit me on the Nullarbor Plains, between the towns of Penong and Ceduna. A broken Pelvis and badly injured right hand put paid to the ride and resulted in a 5 week stay in hospital. It was almost 2 years before I recovered from the accident at which time a mate and fellow Vietnam Veteran, Clarence Ormsby phoned me with the offer "Dave, if you'd like to complete the ride around Australia, my wife and I would be happy to accompany you in a support vehicle." It took me less than a second to take the Ormsby's up on their offer and on the 18 August 2014 I set out from the site of the accident 30K's east of Penong and rode the three thousand kilometres to Sydney via Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra, at age 69. On route we me some wonderful people and had a good time. We even had morning tea with the Governor General and a number of Federal Parliamentarians whilst in Canberra, and raised approximately $17,000 which went towards Landmine and UXO clearing in South East Asia. Not one inclined to sit idly bye during retirement, some years back I became an Indigenous Community Volunteer and over the past 8 or so years have completed 10 assignments ranging from 10 days to 10 weeks helping the indigenous people, mainly in remote areas of Australia. This work has been a wonderful experience for me and provided me with insights into Aboriginal culture that very few non aboriginal possess. Currently recovering from rotator cuff(shoulder) surgery, I'm looking forward to a few months down the track, when I can resume my voluntary work.
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I hadn't climbed), participating in rock fights and surfing. On most summer mornings, before school, I'd run the two kilometres from home to Balmoral beach accompanied by my two dogs, have a swim and run back home. These regular workouts were probably the reason that I was School swimming champion during my final two years as a student at Mosman High School. Three years after graduating from same high school I was conscripted into the Australian army and spent much of 1967 fighting in the jungles of Vietnam. Upon my discharge from the army in 1968 I won a Teaching scholarship and in 1971 began working as a Health and Physical Education Teacher. In 1975 my wife and I spent a year touring around Australia in a campervan and the following year backpacking around Asia and Europe. Teaching was one of three occupations that occupied my working life. For 7 years I worked as a full time Professional swim coach after gaining the highest pass possible in a course conducted in Canberra during the 1970's. In the late 1980's I undertook an Advanced Certificate course in Real Estate studies and Strata Management at Crows Nest TAFE and after winning the State Medal for top student in the state, I worked in Real Estate for a number of years before eventually returning to teaching. After retiring from the workforce at age 58 I continued a fitness regime that had served me well for most of my life and in 2012 rode a push bike three quarters of the way around Australia, a distance of around 8000 kilometres before a road train travelling at close on 120 KMPH hit me on the Nullarbor Plains, between the towns of Penong and Ceduna. A broken Pelvis and badly injured right hand put paid to the ride and resulted in a 5 week stay in hospital. It was almost 2 years before I recovered from the accident at which time a mate and fellow Vietnam Veteran, Clarence Ormsby phoned me with the offer "Dave, if you'd like to complete the ride around Australia, my wife and I would be happy to accompany you in a support vehicle." It took me less than a second to take the Ormsby's up on their offer and on the 18 August 2014 I set out from the site of the accident 30K's east of Penong and rode the three thousand kilometres to Sydney via Adelaide, Melbourne and Canberra, at age 69. On route we me some wonderful people and had a good time. We even had morning tea with the Governor General and a number of Federal Parliamentarians whilst in Canberra, and raised approximately $17,000 which went towards Landmine and UXO clearing in South East Asia. Not one inclined to sit idly bye during retirement, some years back I became an Indigenous Community Volunteer and over the past 8 or so years have completed 10 assignments ranging from 10 days to 10 weeks helping the indigenous people, mainly in remote areas of Australia. This work has been a wonderful experience for me and provided me with insights into Aboriginal culture that very few non aboriginal possess. Currently recovering from rotator cuff(shoulder) surgery, I'm looking forward to a few months down the track, when I can resume my voluntary work.
i
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
November 17, 2017
This is a read that I have mixed feelings about. There were moments that I thought were exciting, and then not so much. Then, there were a plethora of errors. Due to the amount of errors here, it took away from the pleasure of reading, especially as I was trying to figure what some sentences even meant.
First things first, the plot definitely had some peaks and valleys. There were moments when the four men had their revenge, and though kind of gross and a bit much, added to the intensity to the plot. However, long-winded dialogue and some backstories of secondary characters dragged the plot a bit. For instance, the officer Oliver and his story of dating a prostitute and the relationship they built did not add very much to the plot. On a more positive note, the plot was easy to follow.
Though it is easy to sympathize for David when his wife and daughter were kidnapped and horribly abused, many of the characters were not developed and was hard to feel anything toward them. Aside from David, Oliver, and Wells, it was extremely hard to keep track of the rest of the men in the story. They all had similar voices and blended into each other. Since there were so few women here, it was easier to keep track who was who.
Aside from the plot and lack of character development, there were so many errors. Highlighting the errors on my kindle, I counted nearly 200! That is way too many for any book. The names of characters were changed (i.e. Rachel vs. Rachael; Wells vs. Welles), homophones were used incorrectly (i.e. here vs. hear; your vs. you’re), and even the spelling of the metric system units were inconsistent (i.e. both meter and metre were used throughout). There was punctuation missing, incorrect words being used, and dialogue between two character in the same paragraph.
Also, there were several instances of odd phrasing or misused words. Here are some examples:
“Friday week was too far away.” – loc. 1509
“God what a sigh!” – loc. 2468
“You’re going to be kidding me.” – loc. 2541
With this many errors, it is clear that this book was not edited well or even at all.
Overall, this potentially could have been a strong read, but with the flaws mentioned above, especially the lack of editing, I’m afraid I cannot give it a higher rating.
As a warning there are scenes of violence, violent raping, murder, and torture that may disturb some.
For those who can overlook a plethora of errors and don’t mind lack of character development, this might be a thrilling ride.
https://bookloverblogs.com/2017/11/17...
*This was part of the OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day Program*
First things first, the plot definitely had some peaks and valleys. There were moments when the four men had their revenge, and though kind of gross and a bit much, added to the intensity to the plot. However, long-winded dialogue and some backstories of secondary characters dragged the plot a bit. For instance, the officer Oliver and his story of dating a prostitute and the relationship they built did not add very much to the plot. On a more positive note, the plot was easy to follow.
Though it is easy to sympathize for David when his wife and daughter were kidnapped and horribly abused, many of the characters were not developed and was hard to feel anything toward them. Aside from David, Oliver, and Wells, it was extremely hard to keep track of the rest of the men in the story. They all had similar voices and blended into each other. Since there were so few women here, it was easier to keep track who was who.
Aside from the plot and lack of character development, there were so many errors. Highlighting the errors on my kindle, I counted nearly 200! That is way too many for any book. The names of characters were changed (i.e. Rachel vs. Rachael; Wells vs. Welles), homophones were used incorrectly (i.e. here vs. hear; your vs. you’re), and even the spelling of the metric system units were inconsistent (i.e. both meter and metre were used throughout). There was punctuation missing, incorrect words being used, and dialogue between two character in the same paragraph.
Also, there were several instances of odd phrasing or misused words. Here are some examples:
“Friday week was too far away.” – loc. 1509
“God what a sigh!” – loc. 2468
“You’re going to be kidding me.” – loc. 2541
With this many errors, it is clear that this book was not edited well or even at all.
Overall, this potentially could have been a strong read, but with the flaws mentioned above, especially the lack of editing, I’m afraid I cannot give it a higher rating.
As a warning there are scenes of violence, violent raping, murder, and torture that may disturb some.
For those who can overlook a plethora of errors and don’t mind lack of character development, this might be a thrilling ride.
https://bookloverblogs.com/2017/11/17...
*This was part of the OnlineBookClub.org Book of the Day Program*
Displaying 1 of 1 review