Dickinson, Richard H.

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Dickinson, Richard H.

PERSONAL:

Married Amy Solomon. Education: Graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Seattle, WA.

CAREER:

Writer. Worked as an air traffic controller and a hurricane hunter, then in the telecommunications industry, including stints as manager of the communications center at the University of Washington, consultant to cellular telephone companies, and a position in the wireless E911 industry. Military service: U.S. Air Force; former pilot.

WRITINGS:

NOVELS

Hurricane Alley, Berkley Publishing Group (New York, NY), 1990.

The Silent Men, Rugged Land (New York, NY), 2002.

The Warlord, Rugged Land (New York, NY), 2004.

SIDELIGHTS:

A former U.S. Air Force pilot, Richard H. Dickinson writes military thrillers. In The Silent Men, Dickinson sets his tale during the Vietnam War and features Jackson Monroe and Tobias Patterson, the only two black snipers in an elite covert group. Their top-secret mission is to track down a North Vietnamese sniper named Dac, or the "Black Ghost." Eventually they end up in the forbidden territory of Cambodia when their mission goes awry, resulting in Monroe being wounded by Dac. Deserted by their superiors, who try to cover up the illegal mission, the two men find themselves on their own, causing Patterson to leave Monroe behind as they both seek their own escape routes. David Pitt, writing in Booklist, noted that the author "has a definite flair for writing about war, and his story is page-turningly exciting." A Kirkus Reviews contributor also praised Dickinson's writing skills, commenting that he "writes convincingly" in a way "that both stimulates and informs."

Jackson Monroe returns in Dickinson's third novel, The Warlord. This time, the aging Monroe finds himself in Afghanistan. Now a four-star general, Monroe has not seen any combat duty for many years but suddenly finds himself thrust in the midst of battle when his political mission is derailed by a warlord's murder, for which Jackson is blamed. Along with a small group of men in the Special Forces, Monroe must escape over difficult rugged terrain. However, his real battle is with himself and his men as he must learn to take orders from others and earn their respect in the process. Robert Conroy, writing in the Library Journal, referred to The Warlord as "a fast and exciting read." A contributor to Publishers Weekly noted that the author "manages to satisfy with a smoothly written and painstakingly researched story."