John M. Del Vecchio's books have sold more than 1.3 million copies, and many consider him to be a major voice of the Vietnam Generation—a generation now in their 70s. Visit our Peaking At 70+ store for books and related products.
Contact us at john@peakingat70.com.
Mr. Del Vecchio is available for speaking engagements.
Demise: A Novel of Race, Culture Wars, and Falling Darkness
“...a stunning and insightful masterpiece, as timely as tomorrow’s news.”
—Al Santoli, author of Everything We Had
This is the story of two young men, best friends who grew up in the sixties—one white, one black. One went to Vietnam, the other avoided the draft.
Their worlds begin to disintegrate when a freak accident disrupts the peaceful Connecticut town where they have settled. Events force them together again, while careers, families, and decades-old tragedies tear them apart.
Del Vecchio has created a beautiful, penetrating novel of men struggling with their demons, a town struggling with tragedy, and families struggling to stay together.
Autographed copies available. Please email the author: john@peakingat70.com.
The 13th Valley
“Powerful . . . There have been a number of excellent books about Vietnam . . . but none has managed to communicate in such detail the day-to-day pain, discomfort, frustration and exhilaration of the American military experience in Vietnam as well . . . Del Vecchio has made the jungle real and terrifying.” —The New York Times Book Review
A work that has served as a literary cornerstone for the Vietnam generation, The 13th Valley follows the strange and terrifying Vietnam combat experiences of James Chelini, a telephone-systems installer who finds himself an infantryman in territory controlled by the North Vietnamese Army.
Spiraling deeper and deeper into a world of conflict and darkness, this harrowing account of Chelini's plunge and immersion into jungle warfare traces his evolution from a semipacifist to an all-out warmonger.
For the Sake of All Living Things
“Harrowing….[Del Vecchio] has added another memorable book to the literature of the Southeast Asian conflict.”
—The New York Times Book Review
In this unflinching and unforgettable epic saga, Del Vecchio re-creates the violence and horror of Vietnam’s parallel tragedy—the Cambodian holocaust—as seen through the eyes of a Cambodian family and the American adviser whose fate becomes irrevocably linked with theirs.
A sweeping tale of savagery and survival that pits parents and children against both the North Vietnamese invaders and the unprecedented ferocity of the Khmer Rouge, For the Sake of All Living Things is an unrelenting, ultimately inspiring chronicle of conflict and redemption in the killing fields.
Carry Me Home
“Carry Me Home completes a trilogy begun by The 13th Valley, and deals, much like James Jones' Some Came Running, with veterans trying to adapt to civilian life....in the end they gain a frightening power from Del Vecchio's accretion of utterly authentic detail.”
—Booklist
In Vietnam they had fought side by side, brothers in arms. Now in the face of personal tragedy and bureaucratic deception, they would create a more enduring allegiance, an alliance of the spirit and the soil.
In its scope, breadth, and brilliance, Carry Me Home is much more than a novel about Vietnam and Vietnam veterans. It is a testament to history and hope, to hometowns and homecomings, to love and loss, to faith and family. It is a novel about two decades in our collective lives and the cleansing of our spirit—an inspiring and unforgettable novel about America itself.
The Bremer Detail: Protecting the Most Threatened Man in the World
An action-packed memoir by a high-level private security contractor who worked in Iraq just after the fall of Saddam Hussein.
In May 2003 President George W. Bush appointed Paul Bremer as presidential envoy to Iraq. Bremer banned the Ba’ath party and dismantled the Iraqi army, which made him the prime target for dozens of insurgent and terrorist groups.
Assigned to protect him during his grueling sixteen-hour days were Blackwater security expert Frank Gallagher and a team of former Marines, SEALs, and other defense professionals. As the insurgency gathered strength Bremer and the men who guarded him faced death daily. Though not in the military, Gallagher and his team were on the front lines of the Iraq War—and memoir takes the reader deep behind the scenes of a highly dangerous profession.
Code Word: Geronimo
The leader of SEAL Team 6 uttered, "Geronimo", and the world let out a sigh of relief. The symbol of ultimate evil was no more. "Code Word: Geronimo" is the amazing, moment-by-moment story of the clandestine raid on Osama bin Laden's compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. Told by military insider and Hollywood consultant, Captain Dale Dye (USMC, Ret.), with Dr. Julia Dye, Ph.D., this historic tribute details the bravery and valor of SEAL Team 6 as it descends into a foreign land and achieves the near impossible