Reviews

 

"This highly enjoyable book jumps from one island adventure to another, feeling almost fictional that one individual could’ve witnessed a number of pivotal historical events in just 6 years. There’s something in this book for everyone, even for those who’ve only enjoyed Micronesia through the infamous Island-hopper. Every chapter is an experience worth having for both our leading character and any reader."  -  Otis Aisek, The Fourth Branch (click here to read the full review)

 

"Do I recommend ‘Micronesian Blues’? Wholeheartedly! It is a brilliant piece of travel literature that entertains, enlightens, and educates. You will learn a lot. You will laugh. You will enjoy every single second spent with this book in your hands. And then, after reaching the last sentence, you will want to read it again." - Pasifika Truthfully

"Patrolling paradise sounds like a pretty ideal job. So when former LA street cop Bryan Vila heard that the position of Director of Law Enforcement and Security for the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands was up for grabs, he jumped at the chance.... Unfortunately, the situation wasn't quite as he'd expected: after arriving, Bryan was faced with tribal killings, political uprisings and a prison escape in which the inmates stole a load of guns and attempted to take over the island of Pohnpei."  - Nick Chester, VICE Magazine (click here to read the article)

"If you're looking for the 'bottom line' early on in this review, let me give it to you now — buy it, but be warned, you may not be able to stop reading it until you've read the last page....  Honestly, I can't

remember the last time that I read a book that so fully engaged me."  - Bill Jaynes, The Kaselehlie Press

"This is a highly entertaining travelogue of hot spots throughout the former TT at a time of significant upheaval and political machination from 1978 to the early 1980s....  The book is filled with delightful vignettes....  It's worth reading for anyone who wants an unexpurgated view of the islands in a very interesting period of their political development."  - Giff Johnson, Marshall Islands Journal

 

"Micronesian Blues should be put up as a model of how foreigners might avoid producing conflict in other people's countries…. Well written and vividly described, this book gives the reader genuine insight into the lives of the Micronesian islanders struggling and succeeding to move towards more modern forms of policing and conflict resolution.  An excellent read, I highly recommend it."  -  Naomi James, DBE, author of At One with the Sea: Alone Around the World

"An engaging and personal insight into crime and culture in the Pacific tropics we tend to imagine as idyllic."  -  Bing West, former Assistant Secretary of Defense and author of The Village

"A funny, breezy, richly anecdotal account of a cross-cultural adventure.  I found it that most elusive of manuscripts — a page-turner."  -  Anthony V. Bouza, author of The Police Mystique