Hey Reader,

I needed a break from reading about Vietnam, so I picked up a series about an assassin.

As one does.

Since July, I’ve been bouncing between Vietnam histories and novels, with a few other books in the mix. Eventually, I needed something that would let my brain wind down.

Apparently, that something was an Israeli assassin named David Slaton. 😳😂 I think thrillers and espionage provide me with a different kind of stress that I don’t take as seriously as I do when I read nonfiction.

But first, the books that sent me from Vietnam in the mid-20th century to an Israeli assassin traveling the globe and getting his family in the middle of high political drama.

​The Long Gray Line: Rick Atkinson​

This follows West Point’s class of 1966 through their cadet years, Vietnam, and the lives they built afterward. You meet them as young men with plans. Then the war keeps getting closer.

The book brought me back to my own visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. I didn’t know anyone whose name was on that wall. Still, I wanted to touch the names. To feel the letters etched into the stone. To stand back and watch families who had made the trek to Washington.

​The Road Not Taken: Max Boot​

I’ve been dipping into additional histories of the Vietnam War era, trying to understand decisions I’d never examined. I kept rereading the introduction to The Road Not Taken, by Max Boot.

I hadn’t even gotten to page one, and I was already mad. Seriously, I have yet to make it past page xxxix in the book because I’ve read the preceding pages so many times.

In the pre-numbered pages of The Road Not Taken, I learned that Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge backed the South Vietnamese generals who organized the coup.

Boot writes that Kennedy feared giving Lodge a reason to run against him in the 1964 presidential election. Of course, that match-up never happened. JFK was shot on November 22, just 20 days after South Vietnamese President Ngô Đình Diệm and his brother were assassinated during the coup.

​Tree of Smoke: Denis Johnson​

I finished Tree of Smoke, too. I’m glad I read it. I wouldn’t recommend it. The language was deplorable, and there are graphic scenes I skipped. Don’t recommend the book. At all.

So. That’s when I decided it was time for a break from Vietnam in the mid-20th Century.

The David Slaton series: Ward Larsen

Yes, a lot of people get dead. But I found very little foul language, and the books didn’t dwell on the gore that troubled me in Tree of Smoke.

That matters any time of day, and especially at bedtime. I can’t read or listen to something so tense that it winds me up. Thrillers give my buzzing brain enough plot to follow while letting my mind settle down before turning out the lights.

I didn’t love every one of the nine Slaton series books. The last two I read, Assassin’s Edge and Assassin’s Mark, were my favorites. They felt like one big story split into two books.

​Mysteries and Misty the Purple Kitten: Ariel M. Schaper​

Woot! I got to read this one in manuscript form, and it’s such a pleasure to see my friend Ariel’s work become a book. This is her third published book!

Her stories are kind and tender. Emotionally healthy. She’s a wise young human, and I love seeing her express her heart and mind so, so well in what she makes. Plus, she is now officially taller than I am. 🫣😄

After all that war and intrigue, there’s room in my reading life for a purple kitten. Plenty of room.

​Chicken Soup for the Soul: Miracles and Other Wonders: 101 Tales of Hope and Divine Intervention​

Releases October 13, 2026

My friend Kathy Watson has a story in the newest Chicken Soup for the Soul collection coming out this week. I haven’t read her piece yet. She has to 🤫 until release, so I’m waiting along with everybody else.

If you’re nearby, Kathy’s book signing is Thursday, October 15, at 6:30 p.m. at the Fort Smith Public Library’s Main Library. A good week to cheer on a dear friend.

​London: Edward Rutherfurd​

Meanwhile, I’ve stalled out on London again. I made it into the sixteenth century this time, which may be a personal record. 🤷🏻‍♀️

What’s Next?

There’s meaningful baseball to watch, so I probably won’t get too deep into anything until we see a new World Series Champ, but I’m definitely searching for another series to tackle.

Got a series you love? Tell me about it—especially if it holds your attention without leaving your brain buzzing at bedtime.

— Tracy “Shamelessly addicted to thrillers” Winchell