A Line Through the Desert, Led Zeppelin, Heavy Metal

I thought I'd take this opportunity to talk a bit more about my novel, A Line Through the Desert.

It follows one young soldier, Sgt. Jake Bloom, and his travails in the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment during the First Gulf War.

Jake's got a girl back home, though she broke his heart before leaving for college. His folks, over protective Jewish parents, never approved of him joining the army. They wanted him to go to college, despite his C- average and utter hatred of school. Jake loved the army and loves being a soldier, he's found the purpose and brotherhood he's always yearned for.

Readers may recall I wrote a post a few weeks back which quoted some Iron Maiden songs. Yes, I'm a metal head, and have the class of 1992 photos to prove it. Jake's a metal head too. Like me, his favorite band is Led Zeppelin. Sgt Bloom listens to them in the barracks, out of maneuvers, and during the 100 hours in Iraq. In an act of brotherhood and kindness, Jake's driver, who likes working on low rider cars, stencils their unit designation Dragoon, Ghost,2, G-53 in the form of Led Zeppelin's rune symbols on the turret of their M-1.

Jake's favorite album; Houses of the Holy, favorite song; Over the Hills and Far Away. I did notice that he seems to listen to Led Zeppelin II a lot. Ten Years Gone, from Physical Graffiti, means a lot to him too.

In the coming weeks I plan to post some more on music and heavy metal, and I'll argue that metal is greatest incarnation of rock and roll and that Zeppelin, of course, is the greatest rock band ever (sorry folks, until about 1966 the Beatles were a boy band, there will be more on this too.)

Will's novel, A Line Through the Desert: The First Gulf War may be purchased at Amazon.