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There Comes a Time
THERE COMES A TIME in every life when one must make a stand. All previous experience leads up to this moment when one's true character is tested. How six young men faced their moment during the incandescent 1960's is revealed in... THERE COMES A TIME.
307 pages, Paperback
Published January 23, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 1, 2020
I highly recommend this sequel to "Vietnam Remix." For someone too young to having a working memory of that time period, this pair of books really makes history come alive in a way that feels authentic and relatable. It's interesting, funny, and completely engrossing.
May 22, 2020
As the Vietnam War disappears into the pages of history books, it becomes more important to preserve the voices of those who served. One such voice is that of Jack Nolan.
In his novel There Comes a Time, Nolan debunks the adage that one should avoid becoming close to others during wartime. Instead he introduces us to the Greyhawk Six, a rogues gallery of American originals who bonded while in Army Military Intelligence from 1967 to 1969. The hometowns of the Six are as diverse as their personalities. They hail from from the heartland to Harlem with the drawl of the deep South heard as well.
What distinguishes There Comes a Time from other novels about Vietnam is that the main characters are not combatants in the usual sense. They do not carry M16s, go out on night patrols searching for Charlie or engage in deadly firefights. In fact, the Greyhawk Six don their Army uniforms only towards the end of the narrative. They wear civilian clothes, drive pastel painted jeeps and man far flung field stations, cultivating Informants. Instead of camouflaging them in jungle fatigues, Nolan does an outstanding job of preserving the unique personalities of the Six, of Rick Singleton the Harlem minister’s son, of Zachary Rosenzwieg who becomes immersed in the street life of Saigon, of Rene Levesque who poses as a Catholic brother while trying to sort out his true vocation, of Mark Babineaux and Braxton Hood, more entrepreneurs and con artists than intelligence officers, and of John Francis Mulcahey, the piano playing Mad Dog.
While Nolan’s depiction of the Tet Offensive reminds us that we are in a war zone, the Vietnam he describes focuses on the back alleys of Saigon, the survival skills of its people and their split loyalties. In addition, the author employs a “show, don’t tell” style that visually captures the coastal beauty of a land ravaged by civil war.
Ironically it is the time spent “In Country” that prepares the Greyhawk Six to defend the basic tenets of democracy on their return stateside. In There Comes a Time, Jack Nolan provides an intelligence report from 50 years ago,
In his novel There Comes a Time, Nolan debunks the adage that one should avoid becoming close to others during wartime. Instead he introduces us to the Greyhawk Six, a rogues gallery of American originals who bonded while in Army Military Intelligence from 1967 to 1969. The hometowns of the Six are as diverse as their personalities. They hail from from the heartland to Harlem with the drawl of the deep South heard as well.
What distinguishes There Comes a Time from other novels about Vietnam is that the main characters are not combatants in the usual sense. They do not carry M16s, go out on night patrols searching for Charlie or engage in deadly firefights. In fact, the Greyhawk Six don their Army uniforms only towards the end of the narrative. They wear civilian clothes, drive pastel painted jeeps and man far flung field stations, cultivating Informants. Instead of camouflaging them in jungle fatigues, Nolan does an outstanding job of preserving the unique personalities of the Six, of Rick Singleton the Harlem minister’s son, of Zachary Rosenzwieg who becomes immersed in the street life of Saigon, of Rene Levesque who poses as a Catholic brother while trying to sort out his true vocation, of Mark Babineaux and Braxton Hood, more entrepreneurs and con artists than intelligence officers, and of John Francis Mulcahey, the piano playing Mad Dog.
While Nolan’s depiction of the Tet Offensive reminds us that we are in a war zone, the Vietnam he describes focuses on the back alleys of Saigon, the survival skills of its people and their split loyalties. In addition, the author employs a “show, don’t tell” style that visually captures the coastal beauty of a land ravaged by civil war.
Ironically it is the time spent “In Country” that prepares the Greyhawk Six to defend the basic tenets of democracy on their return stateside. In There Comes a Time, Jack Nolan provides an intelligence report from 50 years ago,
April 6, 2020
A terrific story well told with great writing
There are many books out there that tell a good story, but very few are written so well that when you finish, you return it to your bedside table to re-read for the pleasure of the prose. There Comes a Time is one of those books. TCAT is a story of fiction that takes place in Vietnam during the war, but if you have had the opportunity to talk to anyone who served in the military, you will understand that no matter how incredulous the account, it is no farther from the truth than a man’s shadow. The author’s firsthand experience as an intelligence officer stationed in Vietnam comes through full force with descriptions of the land and those living on it, friend, foe, and the rest who just want everyone gone so they can get on with their lives. TCAT’s story line, a follow up to Vietnam Remix, is engrossing from start to finish and the characters so well drawn that you’d like to sit down and have a beer with anyone of them, which is my personal test of character believability. I read the book in two days, stopping only to re-read descriptions and dialogues that brought a smile to my face. There are passages draped in ethereal light that fly off the page and absolutely sing, and I can imagine the pleasure Jack Nolan had during those moments of inspiration. This is a smooth, intelligently written book about intelligent men charged with gathering war-time intelligence while seeking sanity and a little peace-of-mind during their time in Vietnam and the completion of their tour of duty back stateside. TCAT is a book I would take on vacation to reread as I do with Joseph Heller’s’ Catch-22 and anything written by Kurt Vonnegut. If you enjoy reading a good story and are a fan of the English language put to its best use, this book is for you. Personally, I’m in it for the prose and this is one of the best.
Bob Sherman
There are many books out there that tell a good story, but very few are written so well that when you finish, you return it to your bedside table to re-read for the pleasure of the prose. There Comes a Time is one of those books. TCAT is a story of fiction that takes place in Vietnam during the war, but if you have had the opportunity to talk to anyone who served in the military, you will understand that no matter how incredulous the account, it is no farther from the truth than a man’s shadow. The author’s firsthand experience as an intelligence officer stationed in Vietnam comes through full force with descriptions of the land and those living on it, friend, foe, and the rest who just want everyone gone so they can get on with their lives. TCAT’s story line, a follow up to Vietnam Remix, is engrossing from start to finish and the characters so well drawn that you’d like to sit down and have a beer with anyone of them, which is my personal test of character believability. I read the book in two days, stopping only to re-read descriptions and dialogues that brought a smile to my face. There are passages draped in ethereal light that fly off the page and absolutely sing, and I can imagine the pleasure Jack Nolan had during those moments of inspiration. This is a smooth, intelligently written book about intelligent men charged with gathering war-time intelligence while seeking sanity and a little peace-of-mind during their time in Vietnam and the completion of their tour of duty back stateside. TCAT is a book I would take on vacation to reread as I do with Joseph Heller’s’ Catch-22 and anything written by Kurt Vonnegut. If you enjoy reading a good story and are a fan of the English language put to its best use, this book is for you. Personally, I’m in it for the prose and this is one of the best.
Bob Sherman
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews