Full Dress Gray

Rating:
Summary: Full dress repeat.
Review: As a fan of Truscott's Dress Gray and a big backer of USMA, I was originally thrilled to see a sequel. That was as far as the thrill went... Truscott has taken Dress Gray and given it a completely unwelcome PC revamping. It's the same story... Slaight realizes there's something fishy and sexual about the death of a fellow cadet, and goes to fix it. The only difference is that this time around, young Cadet Slaight is female, as is the dead cadet. Read the first one. Forget that there is a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: Full dress repeat.
Review: As a fan of Truscott's Dress Gray and a big backer of USMA, I was originally thrilled to see a sequel. That was as far as the thrill went... Truscott has taken Dress Gray and given it a completely unwelcome PC revamping. It's the same story... Slaight realizes there's something fishy and sexual about the death of a fellow cadet, and goes to fix it. The only difference is that this time around, young Cadet Slaight is female, as is the dead cadet. Read the first one. Forget that there is a sequel.

Rating:
Summary: so bad I returned the book
Review: As soon as he was introduced, I recognized the arch villain in this novel. How? Truscott describes him as 'conservative,' talking about 'valor' and 'honor' and 'the warrior culture.' A Southerner, he once drove a car with a Confederate Battle Flag license plate and, horror upon horrors, had relatives who attended VMI and even ... The Citadel!

In Lucian Truscott's world, women are heroic and men are weak and flawed (except our hero Ry Slaight and, interestingly, non-combat arms Army types like pathologists and lawyers). Men who oppose political correctness or question placing women in combat are, ipso facto, sexist/racist/homophobic hypocrites, and probably rapists and murderers too. No doubt it makes life easier to see things this way, but it doesn't leave room for a well-crafted novel. (For example, feel free to skip over Chapter 21 entirely. It's an anti-Republican screed that adds almost nothing to the storyline.)

Truscott's background and experience allow him to create a vivid atmospheric portrait of the West Point setting. But the statues on the Plain are more three-dimensional than the characters in this novel. For a responsible (non-fiction) balance to Truscott's political agenda, I recommend 'The Kinder, Gentler Military' by Stephanie Gutmann (Scribner, 2000).

Rating:
Summary: Dishonest and intended to mislead. A "PC" primer.
Review: Basically, this book is intended to push a Politically Correct point of view. It does so relentlessly, to the point that the so-called "plot" (I am charitably assuming that there is one) is submerged between various "PC" diatribes. Essentially, Truscott is out to trash anyone who opposes gays in the military, women in the front lines of infantry units, etc. Everyone who holds traditional or conservative views as regards the foregoing is a mindless ogre, and that is what the book is about.

Essentially, the book is dishonest. The real Army is nothing like the way Truscott portrays it, and Truscott knows it. I didn't attend West Point, but we may safely assume that Truscott's portrayal of West Point is equally dishonest.

Don't get me wrong. I could have handled the "PC" point of view of the author if there were an interesting story buried in here. There is not. Truscott has no time to tell a story about anything. He is only interested in pushing his Leftist politics at you.

Truscott's book "Dress Grey" to which this is a sequel was a decent if not brilliant read. All of Truscott's books since then are ghastly and militant diatribes pushing Truscott's PC agenda at the expense of plot, realism, or truth. Avoid this novel and this author.

Rating:
Summary: Dishonest and intended to mislead. A "PC" primer.
Review: Basically, this book is intended to push a Politically Correct point of view. It does so relentlessly, to the point that the so-called "plot" (I am charitably assuming that there is one) is submerged between various "PC" diatribes. Essentially, Truscott is out to trash anyone who opposes gays in the military, women in the front lines of infantry units, etc. Everyone who holds traditional or conservative views as regards the foregoing is a mindless ogre, and that is what the book is about.

Essentially, the book is dishonest. The real Army is nothing like the way Truscott portrays it, and Truscott knows it. I didn't attend West Point, but we may safely assume that Truscott's portrayal of West Point is equally dishonest.

Don't get me wrong. I could have handled the "PC" point of view of the author if there were an interesting story buried in here. There is not. Truscott has no time to tell a story about anything. He is only interested in pushing his Leftist politics at you.

Truscott's book "Dress Grey" to which this is a sequel was a decent if not brilliant read. All of Truscott's books since then are ghastly and militant diatribes pushing Truscott's PC agenda at the expense of plot, realism, or truth. Avoid this novel and this author.

Rating:
Summary: so bad I returned the book
Review: I bought this book while stationed in Korea. I enjoyed reading "Dress Gray" while I was a cadet and I was excited to see that Truscott had written a sequel. I read the entire book, but ended up being so disappointed that I took it back to the bookstore and got my money back. I am tired of books that insinuate that women at a mostly male school equals a scandal. See also, "A General's Daughter." Hey guess what--I was a female cadet in my opinion and West Point isn't some mysterious old boy network where crimes get shoved under the rug--it goes completely against the principles that the academy stands for.

Don't waste your time on this one!

Rating:
Summary: Shame!
Review: In Lucian Truscott's world, women are heroic and men are weak and flawed (except our hero Ry Slaight and, interestingly, non-front-lines Army types like pathologists and lawyers). Men who oppose political correctness or question placing women in combat are, ipso facto, sexist/racist/homophobic hypocrites, and probably rapists and murderers too. No doubt it makes life easier to see things this way, but it doesn't leave room for a well-crafted novel. (For example, feel free to skip over Chapter 21 entirely. It's an anti-Republican screed that adds almost nothing to the storyline.)

Truscott's background and experience allow him to create a vivid atmospheric portrait of the federal academy setting. However, the statues on the Plain are more three-dimensional than the characters in this novel. For a responsible (non-fiction) balance to Truscott's political agenda, I recommend 'The Kinder, Gentler Military' by Stephanie Gutmann (Scribner, 2000).

Rating:
Summary: EXCELLENT! TRUSCOTT DOES NOT DISAPPOINT!
Review: This is a tautly written, high caliber thriller. It is set in West Point Military Academy and the descriptions of the places and the characters are very accurate and very convincing. I used to live near West Point, so it was a treat to read about familiar places. The characters are rich and real, the scenery and routines of the military academy effective and convincing. Like "Dress Gray," this one will keep readers on edge wanting to see the conclusion of this first rate thriller.