Close Combat by Jack Ehrlich

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Close Combat (1969) by Jack Ehrlich


I recently discovered and developed a deep appreciation for author Jack Ehrlich through his remarkable western, The Laramie River Crossing. Ehrlich writes hard-edged, gritty books with painfully realistic characters navigating tricky plots while fighting their own base desires for violence and moral decay. 

Such is the case with Close Combat, a Vietnam-set tale that starts off deceptively resembling a straight-up “men on a mission” war adventure. Our main character, J.J. Hogan, is hand-picked to lead a force into the jungles of Cambodia to destroy The Monster, a top-secret radar installation that is decimating US air power in the region. The task is likely a suicide mission, but critical to the US war machine. The catch is that every aspect of the mission has to remain deniable for the US government, whether successful or not. 

This geopolitical hot-button issue fuels the second half of the book which veers significantly into unexpected territory from where it starts. In fact, the mission proper is accomplished within the first quarter of the book, followed by the team’s harrowing escape through hostile territory. Eventually finding a volatile transitory peace with primitive tribal rebel forces deep in the Cambodian jungle, the team must either be rescued or allowed to be killed to hide their involvement. 

J.J. Hogan proves to be a tough protagonist to like, let alone support, but he is a full-blooded and believable human being with noble leanings undercut by seriously deep character flaws. The last quarter of the book escalates into a suspenseful nail-biter that far exceeds the narrow confines of most men’s adventure fiction. 

The best I can say about Ehrlich is that I am now on a quest to acquire everything he published. He is (in my opinion) an unheralded giant of hard-boiled 20th century literature, capable of transcending each genre in which he dabbled. Highly recommended!

Review by Steve Carroll

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