Facts and Circumstances — John H. Lehman

In this tightly constructed first novel by a retired Air Force officer, Maj. Gen. Gary Veliotis is forced to relive events of the Vietnam War when the president appoints him to lead an MIA task force. Using his Vietnam journal, Veliotis relives the events of 1968 at the U.S. air base in Vietnam, where he was sent as a flight navigator. He quickly became embroiled in two investigations, however: the first into the suspicious murder of a U.S. officer, the second into the equally mysterious explosion of a plane on the runway. Lehman chronicles the progress of Veliotis's investigations in clear, often humorous prose, fleshed out with plenty of convincing details about life on the base. Though Veliotis is a thoughtful, likable hero and the minor characters are equally well drawn, Lehman fails to create the steady tension of immediate danger essential to a thriller. It is only in the final chapters that the reader feels excitement and fear, a real drawback in this otherwise well-told story. (Feb.)