Books by J F Cronin

This book had its genesis in conversations with people who felt they had no voice. Each of these people had a story that could be related to issues facing society today. Hopefully, this book gives them a voice.

Pete Barre is young, intelligent, and idealistic -- a bad combination of traits for a person serving in the Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. Unable to sit back while lies are being told, he bucks the system and it bucks back. He is assigned hazardous duties without the support any soldier might expect. Scrambling to survive, he finds Dana Cohen, a doctor at a Catholic Hospital in Laos. She provides a lifeline, enabling him to endure the pressures placed on him by his countrymen. Her closeness to him is seen as a problem by the Americans, and her aid is cut off. With no place to go, help comes from and unlikely source. A French opium dealer, a remnant of the First Indochina war, intercedes in their behalf. Pete and Dana escape to become persons without a country.

In the final days of the Watergate scandal, it was hard to determine who was in charge of the government. Power brokers, sensing a dying presidency, cared little about the office and worked to cut themselves the best deal in Washington. For all the right reasons, the President undertakes a wartime mission in opposition to his critics and his own policies. Amid the infighting, LtCol C.P. Doggett, USMC, is assigned to carry out the President's plans. He is thrust between agencies seeing him as an impediment. As such, Doggett's life becomes a commodity, and he has to survive by outwitting those who want him out of the way.

Airline pilots are often considered as cultural icons: focused, precise, and reliable. What airline passenger doesn't feel a sense of assurance when the confident informative voice of the captain issues out over the P.A. system? But what if your captain greeted you with these words: "Good morning ladies and gentlemen. This is Captain Carlin. We have a routine flight plan today, but I'm totally strung out. You see, I couldn't sleep last night, haven't been able to sleep for over a month now. The mess I'm making of my life depresses me. I've screwed up my life, and I feel everything is falling apart. I really think I'm going crazy. Now, sit back and relax. If you have any questions don't hesitate to ask." Suddenly the "friendly skies" take on an air of turbulence. "Mental problems" and "cockpit crew" are two phrases that should not share the same sentence. This book takes a hard look at an issue rarely discussed in the airline industry.