Frag's Ass

The year, 1982, San Diego. A decade before a medical scandal involving Vietnam vets almost erupted at nearby Balboa Naval Hospital during Reagan's tenure as governor, these initiated by a shadowy high ranking now ex-military man who now has a stake in Reagan's presidency. Three of the novel's characters, who played different roles at Balboa, live at the Juniper Manor near the park--a halfway house for a colorful gaggle of loonies, Nam burnouts and alkie/druggies--presided over by Chancey, a tyrant with the most to hide from Balboa days. The book opens with another Balboa grad flipping out and disappearing to the VA Hospital psych ward.. Enter John, a man with a dark past. He meets Tom, another angry cynic. When two of their friends are committed, they begin a series of pranks against the psychiatric community. John uses these to cover his agenda--one he's been hired for by a mystery man who figures highly in the events years ago. Mark, the third Balboa alumni--(as psych tech, patient, thwarted whistle-blower) -colludes with John early to get the CO at Balboa. Mark, too, has an agenda. Enter Carol, a disillusioned married Yuppie shrink, with whom John falls in love. Meanwhile Senate Confirmation hearings are airing on TV for a new Reagan appointee. Black humor, total irreverence, gritty dialogue, good action, some insight. A well-placed pall over the flowers and love of the Sixties. Dark, but cosmically humorous.