Vietnam: Ground Zero · #4

River Raid

by Kevin Randle and Bob Cornett. · August 1985

8.5 / 10 average from 2 rated reviews

The North Vietnamese have made the Mekong River a floating artillery base, and Special Forces Camp A-555 is a nest of American sitting ducks. The Scorpion Squad finds itself up to its neck in napalm fireworks and land mines. Its deadly mission: steal a boat, camouflage it, soup It up, and blast Charlie out of the water to kingdom come. Before another unit falls prey to the savagery of the V.C., Mack Gerber's crack team of jungle guerillas must mount and mobilize its own red-hot. . . river raid.

Reviews (2)

The Phantom 9/10 February 24, 2020

Helicopters were the theme of the last book, this time the theme is boats. Almost all of the action, of which there is plenty, takes place on or near rivers. Gerber's team acquires a boat, a funny backstory on that, and renovates it for military operations. A number of battle scenes with the VC building up in the area, leading to the final battle at the end. In between there are the usual interaction of the soldiers and Gerber's trips to Saigon and his personal relationship issues with his girlfriend. A very action oriented title, with more gruesome display of how ruthless the VC could be. The best story since the first book, and the last book published by Pinnacle. Beginning with book five, Gold Eagle takes over for the rest of the series.

Adam Lounsbery 8/10 July 9, 2008

Another excellent entry in the Scorpion Squad/Vietnam: Ground Zero series. Some parts read more like an after-action report than they do a novel, but overall it's involving and well-written. There's a new character in River Raid who joins the Special Forces A-team at Camp A-555, who very well might be a vampire, and who's killed at the end by a VC booby trap; a wooden crossbow bolt through the heart. So that was weird.