Mekong Delta Blues by James Ballard is basically a story about love in the face of war. It is inspired by the author's wartime experiences as a medic. Murder, love, death, chaos, drug abuse, betrayal are some of the themes in the story.
As the Vietnam War escalates, the counterculture arrives in 1960s California. Johnny Ornowoski and his girlfriend, Cecelia, are immersed in the changing times and their newfound love. When these currents collide, the young lovers are confronted with a bad set of options. Their lives are irrevocably disrupted.
No longer able to avoid the draft, Johnny is inducted into the army. After training as a medic, he is assigned to an infantry platoon in Vietnam. Uncertainty amidst the violence dominates Johnny's world.
Will he survive the war? Will his girl wait for him? Bonds are formed with the young men in his platoon as they cope with their tours and come to place their trust in Johnny as their medic.
As Johnny struggles to cope with the war, unexpected repercussions from his past trap him in a complicated web. Surviving Vietnam isn't the only obstacle to returning to the normal life he yearns for.
Additionally, through language, imagery, and tone, the author takes the reader to:
1960s California, immersed in hippie culture, and 1960s Vietnam, immersed in a tragic war.
For more info on the author, visit, james-ballard.net

After graduating from high school in 1967, James Ballard came of age as the US escalated its involvement in Vietnam.Trained as an army medic, by December of 1968 he was in the war zone. Coinciding with the Ninth Infantry's Operation Speedy Express, he began his tour while the Mekong Delta remained a bloody battleground for control of Vietnam's major rice-growing region.The author saw much of the Delta during his tour. As a medic, he not only treated his fellow soldiers, but Vietnamese civilians caught in the crossfire. His experiences altered the course of his life. James has spent a lifetime exploring the pervasive consequences war has on its participants and the innocents ensnared, with effects rippling through societies at large.After attending the University of Alberta in Edmonton, James immigrated to Canada in 1975. Establishing a commercial beekeeping operation in the Peace River Region of the province, James spent the next forty years on his bee farm. Staying in touch with some of the men from his tour, he continued to follow events in Vietnam and among his fellow veterans."If I had to describe my work in one phrase it would be an examination of the 'consequences of war, ' which extend far beyond the timelines of the immediate conflict and the individual soldiers on the field of battle."More about the author and his work can be found at james-ballard.net, where James further explores the subject matter of his novels.