Strike at The Heart

About the Book

SYNOPSIS FOR - STRIKE AT THE HEART - THE RESCUE MISSION

Colonel John Harris, U.S. Army Special Forces, goes back in time to retrieve the men he left behind - especially Captain Jerome Roundtree, his Lakota Sioux blood-brother. He must retrieve or replace Nomi’s handmaids by order of Mutwa, the tribal shaman. But someone or something is preventing them from getting past Mount Kenya. Some blame it on the ghost of Harris’s adversary, Mhalglami. Some blame it on the land gone wild. Either way he must get everyone to the extraction point IF he is to see Nomi again in this world.

Usa, born of the rape of her Teri mother by a Masai warrior, longs for a world where her mixed heritage does not matter. Although promised from childhood to N’Grundbligimi, their marriage is blocked after the murders of her parents. She longs for a world where she can be free to pursue her dreams. But does such a world exist?

N’Grundbligimi, almost beheaded as a boy, grows to become the Teri War Chief and protector of the King’s cattle. Although forbidden to marry Usa by powerful forces from both within and outside the tribe, he is determined to follow her to a world where they can be free to marry - even if it means his life.

Judges Comments From London Book festival 2007 (Winner of the Genre Based Category):

I found the premise intriguing and the writing crisp. This old-fashion page-turner that sucks you in.

I definitely feel like I want to see the movie. The author has obviously traveled a bit and has a good eye for scene-setting and plot development. It’s not easy to do and involved plot like this, but the author carries it out w/ aplomb.

Judges Comments From Hollywood Book Fair 2006 (Honorable Mention in General Fiction Category):

Film worthy, and definitely worth checking out. A page-turning read.

I enjoyed this from start to finish. What a vivid imagination.

About the Author

Born in Davenport, Iowa, L. W. Berrie was educated in California. Graduated from California State University of Los Angeles with a B.S. in mathematics and science in 1966, he worked twenty-three years in the aerospace industry. He went back to school in the Legal Assistance Program at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) and graduated with a perfect 4.0 grade point average in 1992. He took additional writing courses at UCI to improve his skill as a writer. The UC library system provided the research materials for the story.