Former TAC Missileers Newsletter Editor Gary Sand has recently released a novel titled In Dreams. He summarizes it as follows:
There is no shortage of books written about fighter pilots, and even a few about SAC bombers and missiles, but as far as I know, former launch officer Carlo Croce’s novel, Launch Enable, a cold war thriller about the Mace B, is the only novel written about our old Martin-made birds. Not many people are even aware that Air Force tactical missiles were part of the nuclear triad in the 1960s. We know because we lived it, and as someone who was there, it only seemed natural to incorporate parts of my missile experiences into the plot of my first novel. My cold war time in the Air Force will never be forgotten, and for that I’m thankful as I would never want to forget anything about it, especially the people with whom I served. So many of them left an indelible impression on my life and as a result my fictional characters acquired bits and pieces of their personalities from those real people.
In Dreams touches only lightly on the subject of the TAC missileers and their mission, but the main characters early Air Force experiences mirror our own as he is assigned to Lowry and Orlando, and finally to an operational missile site in Germany. His Air Force time sets the scene, but the story is about a young airman and a young woman, that begins on a summer day in Denver in 1959 and takes up again forty-seven years later when the retired NCO returns to Denver to find her. It’s also a story about a classic car and the role it plays in his hopes to renew a relationship with his former fiance.
In a world so filled with inexplicable violence, anger, mistrust, and fear of the known and the unknown, I felt compelled to write a story that would recall life in the fifties and early sixties, and how the passage of time has affected and changed those of us who were young then. Should you choose to read it, I hope it will evoke as many memories for you, as writing it did for me.
If anyone is interested, the book is available at Amazon.com in both Kindle and paperback versions. Copies are also available at the publisher’s website in all downloadable formats and in paperback. The print version is less expensive from the publisher: http://www.wings-press.com/
Thanks,
Gary
In Dreams by Gary Sand
325 pages (paperback)
Cover art by: Richard Stroud
It’s been a decades-long guilt trip and Greg Cole believes the only way to ease his conscience is to find his first love to explain why he abandoned her just weeks before their wedding, but though some sins might be forgiven, things are not always the way they seem.
From: Charles Marty Martin
Sent: Tuesday, September 20, 2011
To: Russ Reston
Subject: TAC Missileers “Contact Us” Submission – “In Dreams” by Gary Sand
I have just finished reading Gary Sand’s novel, ”In Dreams”, and I highly recommend it to everyone. It did indeed bring back a lot of memories – some, like the girl I left waiting in Denver in particular. I am really proud of Gary. It is a very well written book, and an easy and enjoyable read. I too love to write, and for years I have been working of a book about my Air Force experience. Gary has inspired me to get to work. However, I am not as gifted as Gary, and my book is more like an Air Force ”M*A*S*H”. If I am fortunate enough to finish it, guys will be standing in line to kick my a–!
Submitted by,
Charles ”Marty” Martin