James R Reeves Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Author James R. Reeves works as a mineral exploration geologist. He lives with his wife Leeann, who is a part time college instructor as well as a public school teacher, and their two kids (who are named Shannon and Tom Brian) in the city of Spokane, Washington. Leeann and Jim are both natives of West Texas.

Jim Reeves started writing fiction while he was in grade school, however, “Mekong!” is his first real effort at writing a novel, which was released in the year 1984. The second novel that he wrote, which was titled “Covert Actions”, was released a few years later in the year 1987.

Both of his novels are set in Vietnam and feature the exploits of different Navy SEALs as well as the jobs they have to go on. They are both from the genre of action adventure. Both books were also published by Ballantine Books. His friend James C. Taylor helped Reeves pen both of the novels.

“Mekong!” is the first stand alone novel, which was released in the year 1984. His duty is to seek and destroy under water and on land, within all of the hell zones in Vietnam. In just under one year, this same Naval Special Forces soldier is going to learn all about the brutal ways of hand-to-hand guerilla style combat inside the Mekong Delta’s swamps and jungles.

He is going to become a leader of men and is later going to have to let others face that challenge due to his wounds. He is going to fight desperately to survive and remain sane while fighting in a war that nobody is able to explain in order to go back to an America that does not comprehend it either.

James Reeves penned this gripping and authentic story about the experiences of James C. Taylor, who is his friend as well as an ex-Navy SEAL. The novel is based off of Taylor’s story as told to Reeves in quite a few taped interviews and many conversations the pair had with each other over time. Except for Taylor’s name, all of the names have all been changed. Taylor’s flashbacks and nightmares have been reduced greatly by the telling of the story.

Claims have been made by reviewers of the book that James C. Taylor was not actually a Navy SEAL member at all, nor did he ever step foot in Vietnam to fight in the war. It is said that he was just a mechanic in the Navy that was stationed in America, and any reference to this being based off of his heroic true story are untrue. These come from different US military documents showing his history while in the military. His nightmares and flashbacks being reduced as a result of this story being told would therefore also be untrue.

Some readers have speculated how a story could have gotten past a big publisher like Ballantine Books. Some of these theories on this include: Taylor lied to Reeves, Reeves lying to Ballantine, or Ballantine worked with Reeves (maybe even James C. Taylor, as well) to play up the “true life” parts of the story.

Despite these claims, however, there are readers who do enjoy the book, and do so with the mindset that it is fiction and within the context of a novel. Taken this way, the novel can just be enjoyed as a fictional account and allows for the best possible adventure story to be told.

The book features a lot of violence and at times, the tale gets rather graphic. Either about someone getting garrotted with piano wire or details about a dead Viet Cong that was shot with different weapons is broken down and is told in some rather specific detail. Also disturbing are the scenes of graphic violence that involves booby traps.

This is a fantastic war novel, and it is simply an entertaining read that some readers had some fun with while they read it. The characters of Tyler and Brewster, Poppa and Chief, and Lieutenant Commander Grey are brought to life and resonate well throughout the entire novel. There is a ton of anger, reflection, and action throughout the novel, yet still enough room for some great laughs to be had in different spots. The novel depicts “guys in war” really well, as well as the bad and the good that will come with that. For some, re-reading this after all this time brings back some fond memories, something they are glad they get to experience.

“Covert Actions” is the second stand alone novel, which was released in the year 1987. Tacforce men that are all from the US Navy SEALs. They are the killer elite. These are the special volunteers with a specialized mission.

Their job is sneaking into the camps of the enemy, cutting the throats of the enemy, setting up the explosives. Their method of taking prisoners is to blow everybody away around their targets, splash them with as much brains and blood that they can, and then allow them to hear the bullets snap while they go by their heads. Then they yell out to all of them to surrender.

This mission is straight up kidnapping, however, and right out of the enemy’s stronghold. If they should mess up and fail in any way at all, their families will not even get a body to cry and sing over at during their funeral. It is time to rock and roll.

Readers enjoyed this book, finding a lot of enjoyment in the story and found the world depicted comes to life nicely. As do all of the men that are going into enemy territory. Some readers wished this author had penned more books, as he does a great job of spinning a yarn and taking his readers on an adventure. There is tons of action and an enjoyable adventure that readers could turn their eyes away from for very long. Some are unsure if they enjoyed this book more or the other one that Reeves wrote, they are both that enjoyable.