HERO HAGGITY

Hero Haggity is a freelance solfier-for-hire.

One of the handful of entries about a character who is not a spy, doesn't want to be a spy, and would stomp on you if you offered, this two-book series is included because of two elements. The first is that both his activities, while more mercenary than espionage related, are international in nature. The second is that. without his knowing it, both have the CIA heavily involved in them.

Hero (yes, that is his real name) Haggity is a giant among men, literally. He stands 6'8 and weighs 280 lbs. With close cropped whitish blond hair, Haggity would have been memorable even without taking into account the eye-patch over his left side hiding the eye that he had lost in combat. Then there is the false right leg he had. And there is also the prosthetic left hand for which he had various attachments.

These physical conditions were as a result of numerous combat experiences he endured for the U.S. government during his 30 years of military service, spanning several decades and three major conflicts (WWII, Korea, and Vietnam). During that time he also received enough medals and citations to make him the most decorated serviceman of all time, including two Congressional Medals of Honor.

Instead of being paraded about as a national hero, however, Haggity was quietly retired with honors during the heat of the Vietnam protest movement because his printed comment about that war ('Vietnam is a lousy little war but the only one we got') didn't play well with the brass. Suddenly on his own after so long with the army, this Special Forces expert became a soldier-for-hire.

One of the elements that makes the series so interesting is that while Haggity gets involved in two missions in which the Agency is secretly very interested in, he takes with him his latest girl friend, the luscious stripper Happy (Tufts) Hondeen. This 5'11 bombshell with a bust more memorable than Haggity himself, is intimately involved in each caper and her reactions to events as well as the participants' reactions to her are worth reading.

While just on the borderline of what I would consider a spy series, the adventures of Hero Haggity are a hoot to read. They are by no means a spoof or a parody but they still poke considerable fun at spies and revolutionaries and despots in a fairly serious context. Hero and Happy are an interesting couple unlike any other I've ever read. I so wanted there to be more about these two.

I loved watching Hero in action. He always seemed in control, if not of the situation at least of himself.

I loved watching Happy, well, in anything!