Military Science Fiction
The Two Wars of Lieutenant Hannigan
The first war in space won’t be fought with hyperdrive or force fields. It’ll be fought a few hundred kilometers from the surface of the Earth, with technology not too far advanced from our own But Space Force Lieutenant Chatan “Chuck” Hannigan has to fight two wars. One involves a hostile foe determined to drive U.S. Space Force’s manned reconnaissance spacecraft out of Earth orbit. The second is within his own service. Like aviators in 1914, he must go to war in a vehicle unsuited for combat, devising tactics as he goes, while being led by commanders ignorant of the realities of space warfare and skeptical of his solutions. Chuck is a “short timer”—not much time left before he leaves the service. Will he survive long enough to make it back to civilian life?
Young Adult Historical fiction
The Key to Honor
Published by Royal Fireworks Press
Young Nate Lawton’s bravery in combat aboard the U.S.S. Constitution in her famous victory over the H.M.S. Guerriere has earned him midshipman’s rank, but he hides a guilty secret: he deserted his post during the battle. Although everyone saw him save the Constitution’s captain, no one saw him hide from the rest of the fight. Nate is determined to regain his honor, and it looks as though he will soon have his chance. He has been assigned to the Chesapeake in Boston Harbor. A pair of British frigates, led by the H.M.S. Shannon, blockades the harbor, and the Chesapeake’s captain is under heavy pressure to deal with the blockade and reopen Boston’s vital trade. But first Nate must figure out what honor is. Does it lie in the senseless duels fought by his superior officers? The arrogant leadership shown by his fellow midshipmen? Overcoming the contempt of the experienced seamen directed toward him as their fifteen-year-old leader? Nate discovers the answer during one of the shortest battles of the early U.S. Navy. The Key to Honor is well-researched and filled with maritime action and images, including details about the ships, Navy rules and protocols, and the historic final battle.
The Price of Command
Published by Royal Fireworks Press
It has been a little more than three months since the naval battle between the U.S.S. Chesapeake and the British H.M.S. Shannon. Now Midshipman Nate Lawton has been sent to Lake Erie to help man the rough frontier fleet built by Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry.
To his initial delight, Nate finds that a shortage of officers places him in a much higher position than his limited experience would normally bring. The fortunes of war catapult him to an even higher rank: the acting first lieutenant of a brig of war. But command has its price. Nate’s captain is unwilling to pay it, and he uses Nate as a scapegoat for the dirty work. The captain thinks nothing of bending the truth to glorify his own career and to ruin Nate if he speaks out. Now Nate is caught between the rocks of naval discipline and the shoals of his superior officer’s unbending ambition, and he must decide what to do.
This is an excellent novel about the Battle of Lake Erie, with accurate details about the ships and the battle.
To his initial delight, Nate finds that a shortage of officers places him in a much higher position than his limited experience would normally bring. The fortunes of war catapult him to an even higher rank: the acting first lieutenant of a brig of war. But command has its price. Nate’s captain is unwilling to pay it, and he uses Nate as a scapegoat for the dirty work. The captain thinks nothing of bending the truth to glorify his own career and to ruin Nate if he speaks out. Now Nate is caught between the rocks of naval discipline and the shoals of his superior officer’s unbending ambition, and he must decide what to do.
This is an excellent novel about the Battle of Lake Erie, with accurate details about the ships and the battle.
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Death Under the Wire
Scheduled to be published by Royal Fireworks Press
It’s November, 1942. Lieutenant Louis Tonelli, USN, in a Luftwaffe Prisoner of War camp during WWII, is becoming “wire happy” (ready to take major risks to escape). He has wire cutters, forged documents, and civilian clothing ready, when another prisoner is found buried in a cave-in inside an escape tunnel under construction. As the chief of security among the “kriegies” (POWs), Tonelli delays his escape to investigate. But his discovery that American Lieutenant Fields had been murdered in an escape tunnel under construction stuns his senior leadership. At the same time, they discover that a German spy is operating in the camp. Tonelli is ordered to put his escape attempt on hold until he finds both the murderer and the spy—assuming they are not the same man. No one in the camp has any criminal investigation experience, and there’s no laboratory for examining evidence. Since Lieutenant Fields’s body is infused with sand (from the tunnel collapse) they cannot tell the Germans that the man is dead. Nor, because of the spy, can they even tell the other kriegies of Fields’s death—which makes Tonelli’s investigation more difficult. Complicating the matter is the fact that “Lieutenant Tonelli” himself is an impostor....
About the Author
Award-winning author Ron Wanttaja has piloted vehicles ranging from homebuilt submarines and homebuilt aircraft to Air Force satellites. He recently retired after a forty-year career as a Space Systems Engineer, during which he’d helped design, develop, or operate eighteen satellites, both in the military and in private industry. Two are non-fiction, Kit Airplane Construction and Airplane Ownership. They are published by McGraw-Hill, and have both been in print, in multiple editions, for more than twenty years. He has also written well over one hundred articles for aviation magazines, including KITPLANES, PRIVATE PILOT, SPORT PILOT, and FLYING. When it was first published, Kit Airplane Construction received a journalism award from the Aviation/Space Writer’s Association. Wanttaja also received the “Bax Seat Trophy” from the Experimental Aircraft Association, which is given to EAA members who “…perpetuate the Gordon Baxter tradition of communicating the excitement and romance of grassroots aviation.”
