The Girl with a Silver Necklace

by Allen Cates

The carnage, lies, and deception related to the Vietnam War and Laos almost killed Brian Vincent. He came home wounded and broken, and he was in danger of losing his soul, but he fought back and settled down in south Louisiana to everyday life.Almost. It takes a particular person to cope with combat flying operations and adapt and improvise as necessary to get the job done. The CIA knew Brian Vincent was that person. All they needed to do was convince him to fly into harm's way for a worthy cause. Brian Vincent fell into the warriors' trap years earlier and became addicted to the adrenalin rush associated with combat. It didn't take too much convincing. Along the way, Brian met someone with more zeal than he and a strong desire to set the record straight. A girl, no less. More rigid than steel and a resolve harder than stone. Together, they found enough trouble to last a lifetime, and both almost died as a result. The Girl with a Silver Necklace is a war-laced thriller. Its outcome will chill readers to the core.

148 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 13, 2021

Reviews

[Marc]

The Girl with a Silver Necklace is author Allen Cates' third book, which references his time as a US Marine Corps helicopter pilot in Vietnam and for Air America in Laos during the Vietnam War. It provides readers with an intriguing inside look at what was deemed the "Secret War" in Laos and its sad and terribly unfortunate aftermath. While there is a plethora of both nonfiction and fiction books available about both the Vietnam and Cambodia connection to the war in Indochina, very little is known about Laos' connection to the war. Mr. Cates fills that void expertly. Through The Girl with a Silver Necklace, we learn, not only of the tragedy of the American experience in Southeast Asia over 50 years ago, but the very underreported brutality imposed on the Lao people and the indigenous Hmong hill tribes people at the hands of their communist Pathet Lao overlords. The Girl with a Silver Necklace does so on a very human level, I highly recommend this book.

Marc Phillip Yablonka
Author
Vietnam Bao Chi: Warriors of Word and Film

[Thomas Frost · Rating 5 out of 5]

Allen Cates did it again. From page one on, he effortlessly whisked me away from now to a time and place I know about but have never been. While reading this I thought I was witnessing post April 1975 Laos and Vietnam emotions and experiences from three feet away. Stories that capture and hold my attention are few and this is one of those stories.

The strategies thought out and used by Brian Vincent to accomplish a series of herculean objectives are beyond my comprehension. Yet these were every bit believable.

This is not a love story but the development of the soul mate connection between Brian Vincent and Cai was in the stratosphere. And the description of reeducation camps is one that few know about. It needs to be told.

The author did an excellent job comparing the hoax and tragic consequences of communism in Laos and Vietnam to what could happen in America. The parallel is vivid and remains true to this day.

If you read this for no reason other than pure enjoyment, you will find a thriller and a page turner from beginning to end.