The Advisor (Cô-Vân)

The Advisor happens to be set during the Vietnam War, but its message is universally applicable — the characters could be State Department, Peace Corps, or soldiers in Bosnia.

What sets The Advisor apart from many other novels written about Vietnam? This provocative story deals with the complexities of being an advisor to foreigners in wartime: a clash of cultures, combat action and political intrigue. Played out through Viet Cong as well as American and South Vietnamese characters, the book narrates both sides of that strange war.

More than just an action-adventure story, The Advisor is driven by historical intrigue, gripping drama, and haunting romance suffused with the mystery and seduction of the orient. It begins in the summer of 1972, the last year of the war, before the U.S. military left South Vietnam, and ends in 1975 when the last Americans are evacuated. This metaphoric novel challenges the Domino Theory — the premise of the Vietnam War, while spinning a tale of protecting the Long Tau Channel, the most strategic waterway in the campaign.