Heart of War

June 1997

With his newest novel, Heart of War, Lucian Truscott introduces a memorable and brilliant heroine, Major Kara Guidry of the United States Army. Maj. Guidry is a JAG lawyer, committed to her career in the courtroom and in the military, and because of that commitment is willing to withstand the very prominent sexism in the army that lurks just out of the public eye. Once turned down for a leadership position in a helicopter squadron despite her superior qualifications, Kara now fears for her future for a new and controversial reason: she has fallen in love with a sergeant, Mace Nukanen, and their courtship violates the strict code of behavior that prohibits officers from associating with enlisted men outside of military duties. The affair is a secret.

Upon returning from a weekend getaway, Kara and Mace discover the body of a young woman who appears to have drowned. Upon further investigation, it is determined that she was stabbed to death. Rumors are flying that the young woman was having an affair with a married officer when Kara is assigned to investigate the case. Suspicious of her fellow top brass, Kara believes that the officer in question may be none other than the base commander, General William Beckwith. Beckwith is career-driven enough, Kara believes, to kill to protect his reputation. Soon, another woman is dead, this time an officer, and all of a sudden a conspiracy is ripe for uncovering.

Maj. Kara Guidry is up against the "boy's club," the inner circle of men in the army who refuse the notion of allowing women into bona fide positions of command. Gaining clues is difficult. As the situation grows more tense, Kara chooses to defend Randy Taylor, Beckwith's assistant who has been framed for the murders but in actuality, has an alibi: like Guidry, Taylor was having an affair of his own, but with another male general. Determined to bring justice to the murdered women -- and at the same time protect her defendant, her lover, and herself -- Kara Guidry places General Beckwith on the witness stand, and the truth proves shocking to all.

Truscott has twice before delivered accurate and engaging military fiction with his bestselling Dress Gray and Army Blue, and now in Heart of War, he again combines gripping suspense with realistic depiction of the very real discrimination that women and homosexuals face in the military. In an age without a clear external enemy, the U.S. Army has had no choice but to turn on itself and in doing so, expose the various forms of prejudice that lie therein.