Sunrise in Saigon

Patrick Greenwood

Description

Struggling with a failing marriage and poor health while wanting to be a dedicated father, Jack Kendall embarks on a journey to meet Linh Ngo, a beautiful Vietnamese woman he met online. After a series of online chats and correspondence, Jack leaves America for a cycling tour of Vietnam while hiding his intentions of meeting Linh in Saigon. Linh, also stuck in a troubled and unloving marriage, accepts Jack's invitation to meet. Both lovers choose to forgo their current relationships when they meet for the first time and share a series of passionately and romantic experiences deeper than both ever expected. On 12-12-2012, Jack and Linh met for the first time in Saigon. As in all things in life, Jack and Linh discover that their time together is not forever. The morning sunrise in Saigon that brought Jack and Linh their special moment together becomes the emotional connection between them for the rest of their lives.

Informations

• Publié par: Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
• Date de parution: 30 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781649796912
• Langue: English

Extrait

Sunrise in Saigon
Patrick Greenwood
Austin Macauley Publishers
2022-11-30
Sunrise in Saigon About the Author Dedication Copyright Information © Acknowledgment Foreword Prologue – 1975 Chapter 1: 2010 Chapter 2: 2012 Chapter 3: Arrival Chapter 4: Passion Chapter 5: Fulfillment Chapter 6: Verve Chapter 7: Adoration Chapter 8: Illumination Chapter 9: Detachment Chapter 10: Confession Chapter 11: Digression Chapter 12: Dishonesty Chapter 13: Cessation Chapter 14: Frontward Chapter 15: Advancement Chapter 16: Envision Chapter 17: Prevailing Chapter 18: Culmination Chapter 19: Reoccurrence Chapter 20: Adversity Chapter 21: Reprise Chapter 22: Dawn Chapter 23: Acquisition Chapter 24: Association Chapter 25: Skirmish Chapter 26: Progression Chapter 27: Realization Chapter 28: Affection Chapter 29: Vanished Chapter 30: Deterioration Chapter 31: Ascending Chapter 32: Forward Chapter 33: Liberation Chapter 34: Settlement Chapter 35: Unplanned Chapter 36: Equivalent Chapter 37: Unite Chapter 38: New Life Reviews
About the Author
A true believer in listening to one’s passion, Patrick Greenwood began writing in early 2020 based on several trips he made while cycling in various countries. In this novel, Sunrise in Saigon , Patrick draws upon several non-fictional events that happened in Vietnam including the war with the US, the last days of Saigon falling, and the chaos at the US embassy. Having remembered these events as a young man, Patrick grew up wanting to travel to Vietnam someday and visit these places for himself.
In 2012, Patrick did make the first trip to Vietnam to find the lost US embassy and the catholic nuns that helped with ‘Operation Babylift’. Patrick followed his passion for cycling by completing several bike tours in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong delta regions.
After military service, Patrick embarked on the 25-year career in the information technology field, working in various roles in sales, engineering, support, and design. Many of his inspirations for writing came via his business travels to places like Vietnam, China, Japan, Taiwan and Portugal.
Patrick holds a BS and MBA in Global Marketing from the University of Phoenix (online) along with completing several post-graduate certificate programs in information security, Internet of Things, and global management from MIT. Patrick is married and resides in Carlsbad, California.
Dedication
Dedicated to the beautiful people of Vietnam for all the kindness and friendship during my travels to this wonderful country. Thank you to Ricky, Trang, Duong, Ms. Ly, Van, and the entire staff at the Renaissance hotel in Ho Chi Minh City for your hospitality and to my translator and my dear friend Phuong for taking every step in the journey to find the embassy.
To my loving wife, Jenny, for all your loving support in writing this wonderful novel. Without you, I could not have finished his book.
Copyright Information ©
Patrick Greenwood 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.
Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Ordering Information
Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data
Greenwood, Patrick
Sunrise in Saigon
ISBN 9781649796905 (Paperback)
ISBN 9781638299998 (Hardback)
ISBN 9781649796912 (ePub e-book)
ISBN 9781638299981 (Audiobook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022914452
www.austinmacauley.com/us
First Published 2022
Austin Macauley Publishers LLC
40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302
New York, NY 10005
USA
[e-mail]
[phone]
Acknowledgment
Thank you to my publisher, Austin Macauley, for your support and guidance in creating this novel. Thank you to my book cover designer, Arash Jahani, for a wonderful collaboration. Also, a huge thank you to all my beta readers for your valuable insight and feedback!
Proceeds from the sale of this novel will benefit the ‘Helmets for Kids’ program by Child Health Initiative’s regional NGO partner, AIP Foundation, in Vietnam and Cambodia. In both countries, thousands of children receive subsidized helmets and road safety education through AIP Foundation’s award winning schools-based ‘Helmets for Kids’ program.
Press Release: July 30th, 2022. Carlsbad, California
CyclewriterLLC Publishing and author Patrick Greenwood announced today that proceeds from the upcoming novel Sunrise in Saigon are due to release in late 2022 and proceeds from his coffee company, cyclewriter3espresso.com will be donated to the AIP Foundation's Helmets for kids in Vietnam program, a campaign benefiting children in Vietnam by providing cycling helmets and safety classes.
About AIP Foundation
AIP Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives on the roads and increasing access to safe, equitable, and sustainable mobility for all. We envision a world with zero road injuries and fatalities. Beyond empowering the underserved road user communities, AIP Foundation tackles injustice related to youth engagement, workers’ rights, gender equality, and environmental issues. As global citizens, we all deserve safe and equal access to education, work, transport, and above all, healthy and green cities and livable neighborhoods around the world
Proceeds from the book sale will help raise money and community awareness of road safety. Not only do these interventions ensure that students can get to school safely; but in the long-term, these healthy habits will serve to improve the entire road system in Vietnam.
Cyclewriter Publishing, cyclewriter3espresso.com, and Patrick Greenwood proudly support this noble cause.
For more information, please go to www.cyclewriterllc.com for more details.
Foreword
Patrick Greenwood’s debut novel, Sunrise in Saigon , sheds light on an important question we all ask ourselves in one way or another—What makes one’s journey worthwhile? The author eloquently marries the question with one’s pursuit of the truth surrounding the Vietnam war, inviting the reader to ponder upon the question both in personal and historical contexts.
The story spans from the fall of Saigon, which sparked eleven-year-old Jack’s curiosity about the tragedy of the Vietnam war. Even though he knew the war led to millions of lost lives, thousands of orphans, and nationwide poverty, some of his questions remained unanswered. Decades later, Jack sets out for his trip to Vietnam looking for the answers to his childhood curiosity, hoping he could also find a way out of his troubling marriage and poor health.
In Vietnam, Jack constantly faces situations where he must make difficult decisions. In every single situation, Jack aligns his decision with what he is seeking: truth, happiness, and redemption. He pursues truth by following his incessant curiosity about the blurred parts of the Vietnam war, including Operation Babylift when Catholic nuns helped over a thousand orphans fly to America. He seeks happiness by confronting his family problems and pursuing a true passion, whether that is a precarious romance with a Vietnamese woman or cycling on triple espressos. In pursuit of truth and happiness, he strives for redemption by following the words of God and helping the ones who are most in need.
Throughout Jack’s journey, Greenwood provides rich contexts behind the complex nature of Jack’s circumstances and invites the reader to see the world through his lenses. Greenwood has the special ability to remove barriers between the characters and the reader, even when they are from different walks of life. His belief in owning up to one’s decisions shines through the protagonist, who continues to move on despite heart-wrenching loss and disappointment.
As someone writing about mental health and cultural experiences, I had the pleasure of learning about the obscure parts of history and rethinking the values that make my journey worth pursuing. In the end, Jack may or may not have found everything he was looking for, but he stays true to the values close to his heart. Then, regardless of the outcomes, his decisions are well-made, and that makes his journey worthwhile.
Yujin Kim
Author – A Place To Take Root
December 27, 2021
Prologue – 1975
On April 30, 1975, eleven-year-old Jack Kendall lay in his bed, listening to a radio program discussing recent events, which included President Nixon’s departure from the White House the year prior, gas storages, and protests over the long-lasting Vietnam War. “This is WIEE 1310 AM radio—we have confirmed that Saigon has fallen. The Vietnam War has finally ended after ten years. Thank God!”
This newsflash caught Jack by complete surprise. Still, he had no idea how this event would shape the direction of his life, setting a lifelong journey in motion, driving a desire to understand what happened to the Vietnamese people before and after the war.
Jack began to dig into several media sources, including the Washington Post and NBC News. He studied images of people climbing over the US Embassy wall in Saigon. Many people tried to climb the fence to get a seat on the last helicopters leaving Vietnam. The pain and di