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Hell & Gone by Henry Brown
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(Call it men's fiction, action-adventure, military thriller or even a war novel...but Hell and Gone is not about Iraq or Afghanistan.)
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Men's fiction/military thriller writer Henry Brown has been a voracious reader for most of his life--especially the first half of it. In addition to devouring fiction of most genres, he has been a history buff from a young age, and a WWII afficinado by the age of 17. That put men's fiction, paramilitary adventure and war novels on the top of his reading list for many years. He joined the Army the summer he graduated high school and volunteered for the Airborne Infantry. Even after active duty, he dabbled in the reserves of other branches of service, and networked with elite warriors from the Army, Navy and Marines. He earned a degree in the arts, but spent most of his college elective credits on martial arts sparring classes and military history. When inspired to create Hell & Gone, he knew the characters would be no problem to write, since he carries them around with him in his memory. Some readers have expressed their desire for a sequel. They may get one some day, but for right now is sporadically working on an alternate history novel.
Some say action/adventure is to men what romance novels are to women. Perhaps that's why action/adventure is sometimes labeled "men's fiction." Genres such as military thrillers, paramilitary adventure, some war novels, post-apocalyptic adventure, westerns, and certain old-school sci-fi and sword & sorcery are placed under the "fiction for men" umbrella. Certainly there are women who read in these genres, just as there are men who read romances or watch soap operas; but in general, "fiction for men" is a pretty apt description.
In the past, men's fiction...particularly much of the paramilitary adventure from the '80s...was poorly written, formulaic, sexed-up, sometimes bigoted, and often just plain stupid. Unfortunately, every author writing in a genre under the fiction for men umbrella suffered guilt by association.
Since the late 1980s/early 1990s, there hasn't been much new men's fiction being published. Some attribute this to the fact that the reading male population has dwindled away to a fringe minority. Some, however, suspect that the cause and effect have been confused: Men read sparingly because not much being offered appeals to them any more. Of course there's factors like shrinking attention spans, tightening schedules, and creeping illiteracy, too.
Of the big names out there whose military thrillers or action/adventures do get published, their efforts to woo female (or feminist) readers range from obligatory to heavy-handed. On average, it's not yet as bad as in feature films, but striving in that direction for sure.
What if fiction for men made a comeback? What if it was intelligently-written and character-driven while still robust with action? What if it neither objectified women, nor pandered to the feminists (be they female or male)? What if the writer(s) marched to the beat of a different ideological drum than those welcomed through the gates of the New York publishing cartel? What if it was convenient to order, in paperback or e-book, from your favorite bookseller or from a link on a website like this one?
Hey--if you read Hell and Gone and liked it, or know somebody who might like it, please help spread the word! Steer folks to this site or have them Google the title. Don't forget to check out Virtual Pulp, too, for adventure-lovers who like their fiction in bite-sized chunks.
If you'd like to contact me, consider visiting my blog and posting a comment. I make an effort to respond promptly to everyone. Thanks for visiting! |
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