Alone in the Valley

Book excerpt: “This first novel by a disabled Vietnam veteran compassionately examines a year in the life of a combat infantryman during that conflict” (Publishers Weekly). Alone in the Valley tells the story of nineteen-year-old Daniel Perdue and his year as a grunt, pursuing an elusive enemy through the steamy jungles of the Central Vietnamese Highlands. From the moment the boy solider touches down until he is airborne on his way home again, author Kenneth Waymon Baker makes sure the reader hears every sound, sees every sight, feels every emotion as his young hero faces the rigors of war. Daniel is changed forever, a man who will return with the instincts of a warrior. If you only read one book about Vietnam, make it Alone in the Valley. It will leave you touched and changed. “A well-written and unassuming debut novel whose very artlessness is its principle virtue. Though his voice is unique, Baker tells it exactly as it was.” —Kirkus Reviews