Review of Personal Justice by Richard D. Lee

Personal Justice is the story of retired Marine Master Gunnery Sergeant, William “Dutch” VandeDorff whose beloved daughter, Kate, is killed in the September 11th terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Dutch is overwhelmed with grief at the loss of his only child. That grief is further fueled by his guilt in choosing his duty as a Marine over his wife and daughter’s desire to live a “simple life.”

Dutch is aided by his friend and partner of twenty years, Muhammad, a shadowy Middle Eastern CIA operative who arranges the financing and logistics for this off-the-books operation, and a team of devoted former special ops students who he is reunited with during his time in New York City assisting with rescue and recovery efforts at Ground Zero.

Richard Lee uses his expertise as a retired U.S. Marine and Vietnam veteran to craft a realistic story of a highly trained special operations team that makes its way from New York to Canada to the French Alps, then on to Pakistan and Afghanistan in search of the mastermind behind the September 11th attacks, Osama Bin Laden. Lee’s experience allows him to tell this tale in a way that is realistic to fighting men, but at the same time, coherent for those who have not endured the rigors of battle. Although, lacking the intense background and history that one would find in a Tom Clancy spy thriller, Lee’s story is fresh and fast moving. The reader can feel the urgency of the Snake Eaters, Dutch’s team, and their quest for retribution. Overall, this was an invigorating read. I was in tears from the time the planes hit the twin towers until the Snake Eaters departed for Canada. Lee deals tenderly with the incredible loss of life, grief, suffering, and unthinking heroism. It was as real to me as it was on September 11th when I sat morbidly glued to my television watching it happen in real time. After that, the book is a reading frenzy to the finish as Dutch and the Snake Eaters risk it all to fulfill promises made a continent away and exact their own brand of Personal Justice.

Amazon.com: Books: Personal Justice