The Academy: A Novel of West Point Book

Major Tom Gates - a muddy-boots soldier ill at ease in a spit-and-polish world - is about to face a battle more brutal than any he has ever known. It began with an all-too-human mistake - Gates had too much to drink and pushed a cadet too far - and it will explode into a political firestorm that could leave careers, lives, and West Point itself, in ruins. Senator Lamar Bruckner has his eye on the White House, but his target is West Point. He flagrantly condemns the Academy as a waste of taxpayer money, a military ivory tower - and Gates' momentary lapse of judgment is the first charge in a smear campaign that could propel Bruckner to the presidency. Caught in the middle of Bruckner's manhunt is Wayne Holder, a fourth-year cadet, whose golden surfer looks and reputation as a ladies' man are far from the pristine image of the Long Gray Line. But for Holder to join that line, he faces a private conflict between honor and desire - upon which the ultimate fate of the Academy rests. Now, enemy lines are drawn in a war of political motives and personal emotion that touches many lives...