Jade Rooster: An Asiatic Fleet Thriller, Paperback/R. L. Crossland

Two Americans, a naval petty officer and a shipping agent, are drawn into the undercurrents of early 20th-century Yokohama, Inchon, Manilla, and Shanghai as they investigate four grisly beheadings and a missing sailing ship. Smoldering insurgencies in Korea and the Philippines backlight USS Pluto 's course between violence, betrayal, and hope. Blending the historical authenticity of Patrick O'Brian with the crackling dialogue of Raymond Chandler, Crossland establishes himself as a unique voice in nautical fiction. About author(s): Captain Crossland served as a Navy SEAL platoon officer in Vietnam in 1971. During his combat tour in Cà Mau, An Xuyên Province, Vietnam, he participated in Phoenix operations (the abduction of high level Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army leaders) and Britelight operations (the rescue of American P.O.W.s). Immediately following his Vietnam tour, he served as an advisor teaching unconventional warfare tactics to the South Korean Underwater Demolition Teams in Chinhae, Korea. On completion of his active duty, he elected to attend law school and remain in the naval reserve. As a reserve officer he received orders to South Korea on nine additional occasions. In 2002 he was mobilized as a reserve officer for duty with Naval Special Warfare Group One Afghanistan and elsewhere in Central and Southwest Asia. In 2005, Capt. Crossland retired with 35 years commissioned service, active and reserve, as a SEAL officer.