Body Count

Scorpion Squad #1

by Eric Helm, Kevin D. Randle, Robert Cornett

GERBER'S A-TEAM WAS LOOKING TO BUY TIME. BUT CHARLIE OWNED THE CLOCK!

One morning there was nothing but hot, thick jungle and steaming swamp. And the Viet Cong.

The next morning there were three hundred sweating, groaning men chopping and chain sawing a hole in that particular hunk of hell. And that's where Captain Mack Gerber and his Scorpion Squad were going to set up shop.

Right in the VC's backyard.

Gerber's orders were simple: Let the VC know they didn't own the delta anymore; let them know they were in a lastditch fight; and make sure it was the last thing they'd ever know. But Victor Charlie had their own plans. A clock was ticking. Soon all hell would break loose and there wouldn't be enough survivors left to do a ... body count.

Genres: Military Fiction, Action

212 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 1, 1984

Reviews

[Abibliofob · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been interested in reading about this time in history and Body Count is a great fiction story with a good understanding of the conflict. I really liked Eric Helms book and will look forward to the next installment in this series. I must thank #SapereBooks and #Netgalley for giving me this Arc. Although it is a fiction story it gives you the real feeling about some of the action and events int the war.

[mills · Rating 1 out of 5]

Disgraceful

Outright plagiarism. Watch the films Zulu and The Green Berets. See if you can spot the lifted dialogue and characters, even the names. It's really embarrassing just to read it, I would be ashamed to admit writing this,even the plot is second-hand. Not the finest novel of the Vietnam war, nowhere near the standard of Matterhorn or The Thirteenth Valley. Now they were quality novels.

[GMan59 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love reading good military fiction and this ranks right up there with the best I've ever read! I don't know how I missed Eric Helm, I've never seen his name mentioned on any of the recommendation lists I routinely scour trying to find something new to read, but I certainly am glad to have found him. For once the Amazon recommendations suggested something I'd actually read and I was unable to put Body Count down till I'd finished it. What a rush! This book has everything I look for in a good military fiction book, great action, believable dialogue, brave fighting men facing overwhelming odds. And the most dangerous villains are the ladder climbing senior officers in your own army. Helm created 3 dimensional characters to root for as well. Here's some of my favorite military fiction reads, if you like any of them you'll probably like Eric Helm's books: Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy, A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo, Term Limits by Vince Flynn, Combat Ineffective by William Peter Grasso, Termite Hill by Tom Wilson, Invasion Alaska by Vaughn Heppner, and Team Yankee by Harold Coyle (to name a few).

Thankfully Eric Helm was a prolific writer, I've got several other books from his Vietnam fiction writing to look forward to...

[Ann-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Captain Mack Gerber has a very difficult job ahead of him. Build a camp quickly, defend it from the Viet Cong, protect the men & women who live in the camp, deal with a General in Saigon who is obsessed with body count and thinks the camp should be sited somewhere else anyway, win the hearts and minds of the locals and, oh yes, stay alive. This book is full of fascinating detail on how camps were built, how they were defended using orthodox and unorthodox methods, how and why patrols were carried out and how the Viet Cong attacked camps. I really enjoyed the characters and the story, so why only 3 stars? Answer - it has all the makings of a really good read but for me the writing lacked energy, it was too pedestrian and, sadly, didn’t engage me. But still well worth reading for the detailed knowledge of the era.

Thanks to Sapere Books for a review copy.

[Josh Hitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this story of a small fire base built literally overnight almost, in the middle of Viet cong country. A small group of Americans as advisers, led a few hundred mixed Vietnamese Regional Forces and Tai tribesmen. This force ends up having to protect an unfinished camp against many times their own numbers. All while the American Captain has to battle with incompetent brass for equipment and breathing room.

All the characters are well written and come to life, however they are a lot of characters to remember which is typical of the genre. Though there is a cheatlist at the beginning so you can more easily keep up. Overall recommend this quick read.

[John Podlaski · Rating 4 out of 5]

Body Count: A Special Forces Thriller Set in the Vietnam War by Eric Helm kept my interest from start to finish. It was riveting, allowing me to finish it in two sittings. Mack and his team were heading for failure, especially with a General who was not supportive unless he benefited from it. The second half of the book is difficult to put down.
I have read many of the author's books, and although the storylines are interesting, the books are filled with typos. Body Count, on the other hand, is the first of his books that I've read where the author finally appears to have invested in an editor. Great job, Eric. Keep it going!

[Bob Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable Vietnam war story, early days in the war and Gerber and his team have to set up and maintain an outpost on the Cambodian border. With the General responsible for the region voicing his opinion against having the outpost positioned where it is Gerber is in for a tough time. How tough a time is the tale of the story along with some of the men he had to lead. Pro American Vietnamese, Thais and a group of relatively inexperienced, newly deployed American Green Berets make for a great adventure.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an excellent story. I reserve my 5 stars for the best books and this was one of them.
I have found a new genre. I have always been interested in the Vietnam war being a young teenager when it was fought and as we were in the UK it was portrayed more of a local bit of banditry than a full scale war.
This book depicts the best and the worst of what was going on at the time. The horror of it specifically.
I DEFINITELY RECOMMEND IT and will be buying Book 2 when it is ready in Kindle format.

[Greg Kerr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good Action and Tactics

The book starts off feeling sterile, like an after-action report. Full of information about the tactical inventory and its placement in the new hilltop location. As the story continues there is humor combined with suspenseful battle action, but still not a lot of character development other than a few senior leaders, and even they lacked a backstory. Overall the book displays a solid knowledge of the tactics and weaponry used by the US Advisors in the early days of Vietnam.

[John Monaghan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Body count, how we measure how efficient we were during the war

I thought this is a great book, it went into the thinking that a lot of our soldiers had in mind when they went to Vietnam to win a war. The author does a great job of pointing out that there were those, high-ranking senior officials, who were more interested in great press than they were in winning the war. I thought it was a great book.

[Holly Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book the first of the Scorpion Squad series it follows Captain Mack Gerber as he builds an A Team in the jungles of Viet Nam. It shows the real struggle some went through both fighting the enemy and at times fighting "the Brass" in Saigon. Putting Camp A 555 right in the middle of area controlled by the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong armies means Mack and his team along with the Tai Strikers and ARVN soldiers will be sure to be in the thick of battles.

[Bill Leonard · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have read the entire ground zero series by this author and enjoyed reading them all. Some of course were better than others. But all were worth reading. I must say Body Count rates right up there with the best of them. I like the characters in this book. It has a good story, lots of action, and keeps me wondering what's next. Fetterman is my favorite character. I also like the way a little normal life is thrown in with Gerber and Fetterman. I have already started book 2.

[Tom OConnor · Rating 5 out of 5]

Body count

Read slot of Mr. Helm s books and this one does not disappoint you with the amount of action and research put into his books. Great book for anyone who likes military works.

[KERRY MIDDIS · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, I look forward to the next in the series.

[Darren Bourn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome look at the actions of the Green Berets in Vietnam. Other than a few typos,this was an excellent novel. Would highly recommend it.

[Robert Lewter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

This is a great combat story about the Green Berets in Vietnam. Action from the first to the last page.

[Connie Hamby · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book

I really enjoyed reading this book I like books about Vietnam thanks to Eric Helm can't wait till the next one comes out

[Chris Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book

I thought this was a great book. It's full of action, great characters and great writing. I highly recommend this book and can't wait to start the next one.

[Ev · Rating 5 out of 5]

Body Count

It hit the point that the Special Forces are basically crazy and hard fighter’s. They deserve a lot of credit for the determination.

[ED Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent read but was not happy with ending. Left to much hanging. Should have had a follow-up on what eventually happened to the dumbass idiot General. May be in the next volume I suppose.

[Bobby H · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not much of a plot. Plenty of action. Writing seemed authentic. Name "Scorpion Squad" never used in book that I recall.

[Jack Rilkoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a very good read. There was action throughout with very few lulls.

[Robert L Baxley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It all begins here. How a few Special Forces men can build and defend a camp. I had read the entire 27 book collection Ground Zero series. This is the men that started, it.

[Adam · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd give this book 2.5 stars if I could. The prose is at best workmanlike and the characters are mostly two-dimensional, but it does deliver a good story in a brisk and effective fashion. Ed Gorman called the Vietnam: Ground Zero series (which is what The Scorpion Squad series metamorphosed into after four books) "Some of the most riveting war fiction written..."

Ed Gorman's not exactly Harold Bloom, but his opinion still carries some weight, so I'm looking forward to reading more of the series and seeing if it gets better. Judging only by the first book, this is a pretty standard mid-'80s men's adventure series, albeit one based more in historical reality than the Executioner or Destroyer series. (Body Count is set in the Mekong Delta a few months before the Gulf of Tonkin incident.) On the plus side, however, while this novel is unsurprisingly pro-American, it still does a decent job showing how dedicated the Viet Cong were, as well as how disorganized and ineffectual the ARVN were, giving a certain sense of futility to the U.S. Special Forces' and LLDB's climactic victory.