Publishers Marketplace: Peter Green

Dad's War with the United States, Marines, 2005

"Crimes of Design" is my first novel in the Patrick MacKenna series, while a second, "Design for Disaster," set in St. Louis during an earthquake, is in the works.

"Crimes of Design:" In flood prone St. Louis, under siege from the biggest inundation since the Great Flood of 93, someone is attacking the flood protection and river infrastructure. When Architect Patrick MacKenna finds the body of the city manager, whose skill was needed to win approval for his riverside new town project, in the well of the project’s storm water pumping station, he becomes a suspect, while he and his daughter are targeted by the murderers. He must outwit both police and the FBI to uncover the plot of the killers before he and his beleaguered city are overtaken by further catastrophe. But he is haunted by a troubling secret, whose meaning is hidden even from him, about the circumstances leading to the death of his beloved wife, which clouds his judgment and stands in the way of his solution to the crimes.

This 85,000-word mystery-thriller races through unexpected plot twists with heart-pumping romantic suspense as Patrick, his new developer’s liaison Meg Stewart and tough, sexy FBI agent Bobbi Romano scour St. Louis’s underbelly and chase through Mexico and the Mississippi valley to run down the perpetrators and uncover the plot. In the process Patrick learns the bitter lesson that the built infrastructure’s worst enemy is not nature, but man himself.

"Dad's War with the United States Marines:" my first published book, is a new kind of World War II memoir—-a family narrative that relates the exploits of a low-ranking but resourceful nonconformist whose talents were lost on the military bureaucracy. In the spring of 1944 Ben Green enlisted in the Marine Corps with the intent of assisting the war effort as an officer in combat intelligence. He was 35 years old and left behind a wife and two small children. The vagaries of war, however, did not result in his anticipated officer training. Instead, Dad found himself training in the Marine infantry along with tough, angry kids, half his age.

"Sure to inspire the reader to thoughtful reflection given current demands on the American military arising from the 'war on terrorism,' Dad's War with The United States Marines is very highly recommended to all general readers and a welcome addition to the growing library of military memoirs and biographies."

–James A. Cox, Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA)

"An architect in University City has a family stake in Sunday's 60th
anniversary of V-J Day, the day Japan threw in the towel to end WorldWar II. In the home office of the architect, Peter Green, sit six thick ring-bound notebooks- They're filled with the wartime letters of his father,Marine Pfc. Benjamin Green. And in a letter written from Guam on Aug.14, 1945, the elder Green tells his family that he scooped the world on getting out the big news of Japan's surrender."

–Harry Levins, St. Louis Post Dispatch (on the 60th anniversary of V-J Day,
August 14, 2005)

“This highly recommended read places the operation of a wartime AFRS
Pacific Ocean Network outlet in the context of the family story of Ben Green, plucked from his senior radio advertising industry job in Chicago and going through Marine bootcamp before becoming 'the highest ranking private on Guam' and running WXLI.”

–David Ricquish, Chairman, Radio Heritage Foundation,
Wellington, New Zealand

This book is a chronicle of discovery in the World War II experiences of Ben Green, but creating it was also a journey of discovery for me. Through the experience of writing and researching this book, I learned that a father I had respected but never fully understood, nor knew how to love, was my mentor and my best friend. Based on the letters and writings of my parents, two talented journalists who wrote each other daily, as filtered through my own family experience, this narrative describes one family’s struggle when swept along in the tides of the world’s biggest war. The book is further documented by my mother’s biographical script for a 48th “This Is Your Life” surprise birthday party for Ben. Also included are six humorous, short sketches, worthy of Mac Hyman’s "No Time for Sergeants," entitled, "My War with the United States Marines," that Dad wrote and presented to the Chicago Literary Club in 1965. It is also viewed, first through my eyes as a six-year-old, and then from my contemporary perspective as a survivor of the mayhem. The book is illustrated with Dad's drawings, sent home in his letters for me at age five, images of Ben and Guam and a few family and celebrity photographs.

I'm a licensed architect and certified city planner, hold a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Yale University and have both a Bachelor of Architecture and a Certificate in Creative Writing from Washington University in St. Louis. After a long career as an architect and principal of architectural and engineering firms, since 2004 I have continued as a writer and consultant in writing, marketing and construction. My published works include company newsletters, magazine and newspaper articles and the nonfiction family memoir, "Dad’s War with the United States Marines," published by the Seaboard Press, 2005, an imprint of James A. Rock & Co. Publishers, Rockville, Md., in the American Voices Series, ISBN 1-59663-501-0. Reviews, the book's Foreword and author's resume are available online at:
www.dadswar.net

This writer is looking for an agent.