Vacation Gone South: A Novalla (Part I,II, and III!))

[SilverBullet432]

Review posted, absolutely ****i*ng insane! Awesome work ! Loved it.

[WillBrink]

Not much time for reading lately but I suppose I could make some time to give your story a shot. I'll go on Amazon soon and give it a go.

Sent from my SM-G900T using Xparent BlueTapatalk 2

Will Brink graduated from Harvard University

Wow!

I will read it.

Purchased.

I have rather large stack of papyrus to wade through for work, but will try and read it soon, and post a review.

Thanx gents! Remember, it's novella length (long article or very short book) so not a major time commitment.

[WillBrink]

Review posted, absolutely ****i*ng insane! Awesome work ! Loved it.

Thank you sir! Fast paced, leave the reader wanting more. That was the goal.

[WillBrink]

Here's the first review from an established author. Jason is also retired SOF who became a successful sci fi/fantasy writer.

"This is an ironic title to me. The intent was a review of the novella written by a friend of mine with the title, Vacation Gone South. The sentiment is happening to my family as I write this – my wife and children are on a mini-vacation helping to bring my in-laws back from Florida and allergies, strep throat, a smashed finger, pinkeye (in both eyes) and exhausted children have made it a trying time for them.

But that’s not why we’re here. This is about Will Brink‘s book, Vacation Gone South. The book is about a former elite Special Operator trying to enjoy a vacation with a work buddy in Panama when things go suddenly and wildly wrong. Bullets fly, people are getting hurt, and mixed throughout is the perfect dose of humor and educational introspection.

I’m going to be the first one to admit that I was pleasantly surprised. Oh sure, I know Will has a history of training and working with all sorts of military and paramilitary organizations in his role as an exercise and nutritional guru (in fact, that’s how I met him), but I wasn’t sure how writing fiction was going to work out for him. To my delight, he delivered a solid hook with the first sentence and the story just kept on swinging until the bell was wrung.

To me the go-to writers for espionage and action and intrigue are people like Robert Ludlum. Mix in some Tom Clancy and Clive Cussler for good measure and there are some quality stories to be read. Vacation Gone South keeps the entertainment value on par with those guys and adds in some tradecraft and basic “howto” style tips along the way in an internal running dialogue. It made for a light, fast paced, and very fun read that I had a hard time putting down.

My recommendation? Try it out! You won’t be disappointed. Sure, I may count the man a friend and that might make me biased, but you wouldn’t believe the number of stories I am asked to read that I just can’t make it past the first few paragraphs on. Vacation Gone South delivered the entire way through. In fact, I think I only found one typographical error throughout, which proves that he really took this seriously and got a quality copyeditor.

I’m looking forward to more in this series – there are unanswered questions just begging a sequel… or many!"

To learn more about Jason Halstead visit his website to read about him, sign up for his newsletter, or check out some free samples of his books at http://www.booksbyjason.com.

[WillBrink]

I know this genre is almost exclusively a male readership, so it warmed my dark testosterone infused heart to have a gal leave a review:


"Hits you like a blast from a Kalashnikov. Brink's writing style sucks you right in to the story from the opening paragraph and does not let up until the final page. Once you get to the end, you will find yourself wanting more. Will Brink, we are waiting on you, sir." - Renee Micellion April 10, 2015


Renee is clearly my kind of lady

[Ned Christiansen]

Started it on the way home for the NRA Show in Nashville, and loving it, Will! Especially since I know Via Argentina and the surrounding area.... you put me right back there with your descriptions. Will leave a review.

[WillBrink]

Started it on the way home for the NRA Show in Nashville, and loving it, Will! Especially since I know Via Argentina and the surrounding area.... you put me right back there with your descriptions. Will leave a review.

You know that area? Very cool. My condo is just off Via Veneto. Look forward to your review! Hope the NRA show was GTG.

[WillBrink]

UPDATE: I will be donating proceeds from this book to the H.E.R.O. Child-Rescue Corps. The H.E.R.O. Child-Rescue Corps trains vets to track and help capture those who abuse children. There's a very powerful vid people can watch to get a better idea of what they do and how they do it. Hopefully I can send solid donations to them.

Get info on this Org HERE.


Two, reviews continue to be very positive, which makes me happy as it's my first published fiction attempt. I have plenty of half finished unpublished stuff sitting on my comp, and this experience motivates to get part II of this story done and actually get the others actually finished.

[WillBrink]

Folks, I just sent my first donation of the proceeds for this book to the he H.E.R.O. Child-Rescue Corps per above. I wish it was far more! The book is doing well, and reviews have been even better than I expected (see some HERE), but at .99 cost, and profits to me of .35, well, you have to sell a lot of books to accumulate some real $$.

I hope you'll check it out and I'm looking forward to feedback from a number of members out there still reading it. Here's what the team at sent me, which is far more than I expected:

[Ready.Fire.Aim]

Sir,

I enjoyed the story and will buy future installments, nice job creating "a hook". I want to know more.
I was disappointed when it ended.

IMO, at times too heavy pushing skill-sets & gear, could tone that down a bit to let the story flow. It pushed me out of being immersed in the story. I felt like I was reading a Sgt Rock comic book in some paragraphs.

I enjoyed the gunfight scene towards the end, well done, I found myself re-reading it to absorb how well you made it flow, very nice pace. Also liked the slight twist having DSGE pick him up, I didn't expect French in Panama.

I did like the character's self-awareness of human vulnerability moments you created. Even Billy Badass can have bad karma & catch a bullet or get his butt kicked. That was an aspect in Richard Marcinko's first book that created character depth, the big tough operator splitting his nose on a door-jamb, I remember that vivid paragraph.


Looking forward to the next installment.

Respectfully
RFA