To Serve and Protect by Wayne L. Vance
Contributed to Make A Scene Magazine by Teresa Ascone
May 21, 2010
Wayne Vance’s latest novel, To Serve and Protect, is a taut, tightly paced crime novel set in Alaska.  The 1980s detective story, told in Vance’s spare but expressive prose with plenty of realistic dialogue, is replete with Vance’s well-drawn characters. It features Detective Sergeant Aaron Stone, an Alaska State Trooper haunted by his horrific experiences in Viet Nam. Stone travels to Nome to investigate a triple homicide, where betrayals, deception, violence and romance ensue.
Plagued by vivid wartime nightmares and flashbacks, Stone struggles to overcome his old guilt as he outmaneuvers shady characters who may or may not be guilty of the crime. Complicating his task (sometimes pleasantly) is nosy news reporter Jennifer Turner, a plucky character who is attracted to Stone but distracted by her desire to get the story.
The reader is first gripped by the author’s realistic portrayal of the unpredictable drama and brutality of war, the origin of Detective Sergeant Stone’s flashbacks. Authenticity slams through with Vance’s use of terse descriptions and dialogue:
“Eject, eject, eject!”  Aaron frantically screamed into his helmet. Lieutenant Newel pulled his handle an instant before Aaron, but unfortunately he never survived the rapid upward thrust. His seat hit the forward moving canopy and the massive top crushed his skull. Newel’s sacrifice was just enough to save Aaron, because it pushed the quarter ton door out of his path.
Before Aaron’s seat departed the floor lock bolts, two fragments of shrapnel blew into the cockpit. One went through his left arm, breaking the bone, and the other went into his back just above his hip.”
The drama unfolds from there and includes passages that are difficult to witness: torture, rape, and other attendant atrocities of war. Stone’s present-time duties are understandably torn and distracted by his old demons, but author Vance handles the transitions adroitly as he toggles back and forth between flashback and present time.
Those readers who are looking for an entertaining and exciting Alaska crime drama would do well to pick up To Serve and Protect. More can be discovered about the author and his books at greyscreekbooks.com.
“Aaron Stone, my main character, like so many of us harbors some deep remorse over past events in life.  These dreams can darken our futures or inhibit our actions, but most people have the capacity to bury this pain and drop into a daily routine of living. Not him, and in his case only the successful conclusion of a homicide investigation in faraway Nome, Alaska can heal the unseen wounds of an unwanted war and bring peace to his vision of torment.” ~  Wayne L. Vance