Bore Tide

The winds of time sweep across the sea to cleanse away an era of tall ships and civil war ushers in an age of steel and steam. Dutchman Alexander Grafton is Captain of the sailing ship Bore Tide, a privateer and a blockade runner caught up in a turbulent time of greed, war and deceit. To save his lucrative American interests, he strikes a deal with Union forces to disrupt the Confederate economy.

Grafton risks everything for profit, sailing around the Horn to California. There he confronts a French ship, while treachery looms aboard his own vessel and elusive forces on land work to sabotage his mission.

Only one man can ensure his quest will succeed, but first he must be torn from the chains of Southern Bondage. The Captain risks it all to change the destiny of a Black English slave and sabotage the Confederacy in its own heart of Richmond.

The reluctant Captain is pulled into a war by circumstances that are neither his business nor his desire, but the adventure captures and lures him into an odyssey beyond imagination. A place where he finds new beginnings and an inner strength to beat any odds in his reach for the brass ring.

CHAPTER VI
THE FIRST STEP

A novel by

WAYNE L. VANCE

U-Tapao

U-Tapao was an air force base located in southern Thailand during the 1960’s from where the military launched its B-52 bombing campaign against Vietnam. It also served as a destination where many boys became men leaving behind fancies of youth and innocence. U-Tapao is the story of John Bishop, one member of a weapons team who must learn to cope with the hostile environment of a third world country laced with mystery, poverty and prostitution.

It’s a timeless tale from a different era which deals with the rigors of a combat zone where front lines are far removed and not clearly drawn. Thailand is a place where the enemy is only an enigma and the consequence of human tragedy in war is but an echo. Abandoned as a child to his own fate, Bishop must face a private destiny and fnd his way into an uncertain future. Through this journey of self discovery, he encounters friendships, adventure, death, intrigue and a meaning of love greater than one’s self.

U-Tapao was an exotic place where young men fought, then as now, in an unpopular war yet were committed to a cause and each other. From this little known chapter in the struggle of nations; John Bishop finds himself anew and on a quest for a different way of life. Hang on for a wild ride through the treachery, realities and morals of a third world country caught up in the frenzy of war.

A novel by

WAYNE L. VANCE