Virtual Book Tour and Giveaway: Jungleland (White Hawk Aviation Stories #2) by M.T. Bass

Welcome to my stop on the virtual book tour for Jungleland by M.T. Bass. This tour was organized by Goddess Fish Promotions. On my stop, I have an excerpt from the book as well as a guest post from the author. There's also the tour wide giveaway for a chance to win a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card. Be sure to visit the other stops on the tour for more content. Enjoy!

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Title: Jungleland

Series: White Hawk Aviation Stories #2

Author: M.T. Bass

Publisher: Electron Alley Publishing

Publication Date: October 22nd 2020

Print Length: 221 pages

Genre: Adventure Fiction

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“There are only two types of aircraft: fighters and targets.” ~Doyle ‘Wahoo’ Nicholson, USMC 

Sweating it out in the former Belgian Congo as a civil war mercenary, with Sparks turning wrenches on his T-6 Texan, Hawk splits his time flying combat missions and, back on the ground, sparring with Ella, an attractive young missionary doctor, in the sequel to My Brother’s Keeper.

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EXCERPT:

I slid back the canopy. The woman wriggled out from around the mechanic’s blocking move and headed towards me.

Sparks shrugged his shoulders at my hand motion query. He folded his arms over his chest to watch the show.

The woman didn’t even walk around the wing but stooped to cut underneath to take a more direct line towards me. She disappeared under the leading edge and appeared at the aileron, then followed the trailing edge back to the fuselage, looking for the handhold to get herself up on the wing.

I turned in the cockpit and watched her step up onto the wing and climb the incline up to me. I started to slide myself up to get out, getting my butt up on the back of the seat, but she got to me and blocked my way out. 

“Just who do you think you are, mister?” she barked with the authoritative voice of a medical professional at the very top of the heap. I had heard that tone in my brother’s voice more than a few times.

I just pulled off my helmet but left my mirrored Ray-Bans on. From safely behind the lenses, I carefully surveyed her gorgeously animated face—even in anger, her lips wrinkled in a bit of a smile as if this was half-show, half-genuine indignation. Her red hair was neatly pulled back in a ponytail, showing a freckled, fair complexion that had not yet been weathered and tanned by the sun, so she was new in country. Most of us outsiders knew each other well, but I didn’t recognize who this was. I had heard about a new doctor at the mission, though never imagined it might have been female.

“You’re not from around here, are you?” I asked.

“What?”

“I mean originally—not born and raised.”

She scowled and punched my arm with her fist…hard.

“Ow!” I guessed she had at least one brother.

“Was that you—of course it was. Who else would it have been.”

I unscrewed the plugs from my ears, and the volume level on her voice got louder. Over her shoulder, I saw Sparks shake his head and smile.

“Listen, mister—”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa there,” I finally interrupted, holding up my hand, palm out like a cop stopping traffic. 

She stopped talking and stared hard at me. She punched my arm again…

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

M.T. Bass is a scribbler of fiction who holds fast to the notion that while victors may get to write history, novelists get to write/right reality. He lives, writes, flies and makes music in Mudcat Falls, USA.

Born in Athens, Ohio, M.T. Bass grew up in St. Louis, Missouri. He graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University, majoring in English and Philosophy, then worked in the private sector (where they expect “results”) mainly in the Aerospace & Defense manufacturing market. During those years, Bass continued to write fiction. He is the author of eight novels: My Brother’s Keeper, Crossroads, In the Black, Somethin’ for Nothin’, Murder by Munchausen, The Darknet (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #2), The Invisible Mind (Murder by Munchausen Mystery #3) and Article 15. His writing spans various genres, including Mystery, Adventure, Romance, Black Comedy and Techno Thrillers. A Commercial Pilot and Certified Flight Instructor, airplanes and pilots are featured in many of his stories. Bass currently lives on the shores of Lake Erie near Lorain, Ohio.

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GUEST POST:

- What song do you believe could be the theme song to your book? Why?

I did not write this book with the idea of having a specific theme song, but it definitely traces its title from Bruce Springsteen’s “Jungleland.”

And I guess the themes of the novel do fit together with the lyrics—in a metaphorical way. At their roots, the story and song are both romances:

The rat pulls into town, rolls up his pants
Together they take a stab at romance

It’s clear when Hawk meets Dr. Mickleson in chapter one, there is at least some attraction for her on his side:

“I guess she told you, doncha know,” Sparks said when I came up beside him. He smiled an evil, knowing grin.

“You know, I think I feel a fever coming on.” I put the back of my hand to my forehead.

“Maybe you should have that looked at.”

“Hmmm. Maybe you’re right.” We watched Ella get swallowed up by the jungle.

And in the song:

The kids round here look just like shadows
Always quiet, holding hands
From the churches to the jails
Tonight all is silence in the world
As we take our stand
Down in jungleland

…are just like the kids there in the mission where Ella works, who are caught in the middle there too:

Even though I had to take it extra slow, since I had boxes of pharmaceuticals and medical supplies in the back, I got there around three, and kids swarmed around me like flies on a wildebeest. Chocolate didn’t really work too well in the heat so close to the equator, but licorice did, so I passed sticks out from a bag until they had all run off with their prizes.

Ella watched from the door to her clinic, but I studiously ignored her.

In Springsteen's words, a life and death struggle plays out:

Outside the street's on fire, in a real death waltz
Between what's flesh and what's fantasy
And then the poets down here, don't write nothing at all
They just stand back and let it all be

And the reality of civil war in Congo is harsh and brutal:

“And the mayor there, Bond…Bondess…Bondekwe or something. I don’t know, but they stripped him down completely naked and stood him up in front of a mad, mad crowd of rebels.”

I waited. “And?”

Eric shook his head.

“And?”

“And they carved his liver out—while he was still alive.”

I could feel my face squint in repulsion.

“Yes, while he was still alive.”

“Alive?”

“Then they cut it up while it was still hot and—and—and they ate it in front of him as he died.”

Casting its dark, dark shadow over romance:

And in the quick of the night
They reach for their moment
And try to make an honest stand
But they wind up wounded, not even dead

Tonight in Jungleland…

Jungleland by Bruce Springsteen on YouTube

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GIVEAWAY:

M.T. Bass will be awarding a $50 Amazon or Barnes & Noble gift card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter. To increase your chance of winning, leave a comment at a different stop on the tour each day.

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