"My advice to writers is always 'Let the pictures tell the story,' and in Richard Stevens's The Trail to Redemption, the 'pictures' are vivid, unforgettable, and go straight to the heart. The woman he calls 'the Vietnamese Annie Oakley', Hoang Thi Nu, is a superhero for our times. Her life, as it becomes entwined with her 'enemy' (Stevens), is like no other story. Read this book: You will see love and war in a new light."
- David F. Oyster, Documentary Filmmaker; Cosmos (Carl Sagan), The Astronomers
"Move over Apocalypse Now! Richard Stevens' memoir is powerful, moving, and rare amongst the primarily macho accounts of the Vietnam War. He develops understanding and respect for the bravery of the enemy, and especially for Ho ng Thi Nu, a young woman Via»t Cong being tracked by his unit. By telling his story, Stevens courageously bears witness to the forgotten and shameful history of US torture during the Vietnam War."
- Sherry Buchanan, author of On the Ho Chi Minh Trail: The Blood Road, The Women Who Defended It, The Legacy
"The Trail to Redemption is an unforgettable memoir that traces Richard L. Stevens' journey from war to peace in Vietnam. Stevens, who works side by side with Vietnamese personnel who purportedly support the U.S. presence in Vietnam, is immersed in a shadowy world of double agents whose loyalty and intentions are always in doubt. Stevens navigates uncertainty with a deep empathy for the Vietnamese."
- James Janko, author of What We Don't Talk About and Buffalo Boy and Geronimo
"This is a well-written, even poetic memoir by a young American advisor during the Vietnam War. It is a fast-paced, real-life adventure story that captures the frenzied and fearful flavor of a war in which it was difficult to know who was on your side and who was the enemy. Above all, it is a story of personal courage, respect and love in a time of war. This book provided the perspective of a principled contemporary who enthusiastically sought out the adventure of war and embraced it. It is a book of many surprises."
- David Krieger, President emeritus of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and author of many books
"Richard Stevens became one of the few Americans to ever penetrate into that Asian Heart of Darkness-the Ho Chi Minh Trail. That almost impossible feat became an even more improbable pursuit of war and love in this remarkable personal story. Like Stevens himself, it is a life and a Vietnamese encounter that is one of a kind."
- Bill McWhirter, correspondent for TIME and LIFE in Vietnam and winner of several major journalism awards
"Few Americans know Vietnam - the war and its toll, the people and their beauty-as Richard Stevens does. Since 1965, Stevens has charted some of the least known corners of Vietnam, and now, returning to that tortured land, and his own past, Stevens brings a keen emotional intelligence to tell the story of the 'Vietnamese Annie Oakley'-a woman he knew and, thankfully for 21st century readers, in Trail to Redemption has brought back to life."
- Andrew Meier, Associate Professor of Writing at The New School in New York
