Author: James Snyder
Publisher: Infinity Publishing.com
ISBN: 0-7414-2320-0

The following review was contributed by: S.V. SWAMY & CLICK TO VIEW S.V. Swamy's Reviews

American Warrior is a novel that deals mostly with the
Vietnam war, which in this case symbolizes the
internal conflict. The hero is abused by a drunk
father, by schoolmates and by local thugs when young.
A half-Dutch and half-Indonesian man named Draeger
rescues him and the two develop an intense soul-level
relationship (as a father and son). Pestered by the
hero, the recluse Draeger teaches the young protégé, a
secret martial art so that he can defend himself.
However, the boy finds that to really master that
martial art, he has to transcend his own ego. When he
dies, Draeger leaves all his property to the young
American, whose drunk father commits suicide. The
young teenager gets into trouble with the law and with
the help of a teacher, who takes paternal interest in
him, gets into military service.

He lands up in Vietnam and gets caught up in the war
and the politicking and machinations of CIA. He runs
away and is caught by the American Military Police. He
survives torture and is again sucked into Vietnam by a
slick talking CIA man who has his own personal agenda.
He finds that his trust in the CIA man is betrayed and
he leaves him behind to his fate in his final escape
to Thailand.

The novel is sufficiently interesting to read that one
continues with it. Some portions of the book are
rather graphic in their description and may cause
distress to readers who are a little squeamish, though
the title itself should alert the potential reader
about the content. However, some of the mysticism,
symbolism and eastern philosophy underlying the story
may not appeal to the average reader. The book has a
strong anti-war message though the hero finds that
when buffeted by much bigger forces, one can't do much
about fighting or not fighting.

I was reminded of another Vietnam war book, "Diverting
the Buddha" by Bob Swartzel, which I had the cance to
read and review a few years ago.

A short biography of the author would have been a good
addition to the book. However, the would-be-reader can
get some information anout the book and the author by
checking out the website, www.americanwarrior.org and
reading the author's interview by Dian Moore.