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WORK TITLE: The Red Line
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: http://waltgragg.com/
CITY: Austin
STATE: TX
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in Los Angeles; married; children.
EDUCATION:University of Maryland, bachelor’s degree; Pepperdine University, master’s degree; University of Texas, J.D.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Attorney and Texas State Prosecutor, retired.
MIILITARY:Vietnam veteran, served at United States European Headquarters in Germany.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Walt Gragg is a retired attorney and Texas State Prosecutor. He is also a Vietnam veteran who worked at the United States European Headquarters in Germany during the 1970s where he learned about the American plan for conduct of the defense of Germany and participated in several war games. Gragg drew on this experience for his debut military novel, The Red Line. Gragg holds a master’s degree from Pepperdine University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas. He lives in the Austin, Texas area.
Set during a near future World War III, Gragg’s novel, The Red Line, imagines that European super powers have reverted to twentieth-century values and military targets. Russian president Vladimir Putin has been deemed too soft by hardline conservatives and replaced by Stalin-esque communist dictator Cheninko. The Nazis have once again overrun Germany, the Warsaw Pact is reconstituted, and NATO is in jeopardy. Now Russian General Valexi Yovanovich has a bold plan to conquer Germany in only five days. Under cover of a powerful blizzard, Yovanovich attacks Germany with an onslaught of aircraft, tanks, 150 divisions, and more than a million soldiers. American forces still stationed in Germany join in an attempt to hold off the Russian military. US Army Staff Sergeant and communications specialist, George O’Neill, tries to reestablish contact, while hundreds of American forces fight back against the Russian invasion.
Gragg spoke with Allen Appel at Publishers Weekly about generating the idea for the book. It began way back working in Germany in 1975, but he began writing the book in 1994. “Despite the fact that our relationship with Russia at that time appeared rosy, I had little doubt that given Russia’s history we would eventually find ourselves where we are today,” said Gragg.
A Kirkus Reviews contributor commented that Gragg’s story “is strong and backed up by plenty of vivid, fastmoving battle scenes, with the war’s outcome uncertain almost to the end,” however, the contributor added that “the writing isn’t great, but the action is.” Thomas Gaughan noted in Booklist that Gragg describes a lethal war machine and “the Red Line is inelegantly written, but it seems eerily prescient in an edgy time.” Calling the book “impeccably researched,” a writer in Publishers Weekly declared that Gragg “gives readers a horrifying look at the devastation of modern warfare.” The writer added that Gragg provides an extensive cast of men and women fighting on both sides, and that the book “is must reading” for fans of military action stories.
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, April 1, 2017, Thomas Gaughan, review of The Red Line, p. 25.
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2017, review of The Red Line.
Publishers Weekly, February 13, 2017, review of The Red Line, p. 53; March 27, 2017, Allen Appel, author interview, p. 34.
ONLINE
Walt Gragg Website, http://waltgragg.com (November 1, 2017), author profile.
Walt Gragg lives in the Austin, Texas area with his wife, children, and grandchildren. He has been one of the truly fortunate individuals who have had the opportunity to live in many places around the world including Europe, Asia, and in every time zone within the United States. Born in Los Angeles, he has spent his life experiencing some of the world’s largest cities and smallest towns.
He is a retired attorney and former Texas State Prosecutor. He has a Bachelor’s Degree Summa cum Laude from the University of Maryland, Master’s Degree from Pepperdine University, and Juris Doctorate from the University of Texas.
Prior to law school, he spent a number of years in the military. His time with the Army involved many interesting assignments including three years in the middle of the first Cold War serving at the United States European Command Headquarters in Germany where the idea for The RED LINE took shape. In this assignment he was privy to many of the elements of the actual American plan in place at the time for the conduct of the defense of Germany. While there, he also participated in a number of war games that became the basis for many of the novel’s events. He was also involved in the development of the training programs used by soldiers operating and maintaining American strategic military communications throughout the world, along with the Patriot and Hawk Air Defense Systems, Stinger Air Defense Missile, and Avenger Pedestal-Mounted Stinger System.
The RED LINE is his first novel.
Ordinary Soldiers in Extraorainary Circumstances PAF talks with Walt Gragg
Allen Appel
Publishers Weekly. 264.13 (Mar. 27, 2017): p34.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
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In The Red Line, Walt Gragg's debut military thriller, set in the near future, a revived Soviet Union sends armored units into the heart of Germany to face isolated, unprepared U.S. forces. Here, Gragg lends insight into the thinking behind his novel, which PWs starred review called "must reading for any military action fan."
When did you get the notion of Russia invading Germany, igniting World War III?
I came up with the idea for the book while serving at United States European Command Headquarters in Germany, around 1975. At the time, I had neither the opportunity nor the ability to write it, so I carried the idea around in some small crevice in the back of my brain for a number of years. I began writing it in 1994. Despite the fact that our relationship with Russia at that time appeared rosy, I had little doubt that given Russia's history we would eventually find ourselves where we are today So despite the fact that the book's political scenario looks like it was written last week, its central core was actually put on paper more than 20 years ago.
In the novel you attribute much of the success of the U.S. troops to their abilities to improvise and adapt under fire. How do they differ from the Russian combatants?
The American soldier has grown up in a freethinking society, where from a young age the ability to adapt to the issues he or she faced was encouraged and fostered. That carries over to their military service. If the orders the soldiers receive don't work, they will change them on their own and complete the mission. The Russian counterpart typically has no such skill, and the expectation is for them to follow any orders no matter how flawed or out-of-date. All other things being equal, the advantage, one on one, belongs to the American.
Readers of military thrillers are used to U.S. weapons technology dominating all battlefields, but in your novel that's not necessarily the case. Why is that?
The American system has consistently produced a significant portion of the world's superior weapons for the past 70 years. Russia lagged significantly in the period after the Cold War, but they've refocused a major part of their efforts on modernizing their military. They're creating highly competitive weapons at an alarming rate. Until recently, the American M-1 Abrams main battle tank was far better then anything the Russians could put into the field. With the Russian T-90 and newly released T-14 main battle tanks, however, that gap has significantly narrowed or even closed. And that doesn't even address the buildup and modernization of their nuclear armaments.
Your book delves into political and military strategy, but also depicts in-the-trenches fight scenes. How did you balance those elements?
While the president and the generals and all the fancy weapons are a part of the story, they're secondary to the people on the ground. The political and technical aspects of the book were the least interesting parts for me. While I needed some elements of a technothriller to satisfy the readers who enjoy those books, I did my best to simplify those aspects. Along with the political elements, the book involves five intertwining stories of ordinary soldiers and airmen caught in extraordinary circumstances. One of my goals was to focus the story on the most important element of any war--the people. Nothing else truly matters.
Gragg, Walt: THE RED LINE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 1, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Gragg, Walt THE RED LINE Berkley (Adult Fiction) $17.00 5, 2 ISBN: 978-0-425-28345-5
Communists retake Russia in this debut novel, and their Stalin-esque leader, Cheninko, fears the unified Germany
that's once again run by vile Nazis.The Russian Army plays "crazy winter war games" near the German border, "a ruse
to hide their true intentions," which are to invade and conquer Germany. The Russians are Soviets again, the Warsaw
Pact is back, and U.S. troops are-- still in Germany, providing the makings for a 20th century-style land war. Gen.
Yovanovich promises Cheninko a victory in five days. Gragg's plot is strong and backed up by plenty of vivid, fastmoving
battle scenes, with the war's outcome uncertain almost to the end. There's no single Jack Ryan-type character
the free world's fate depends upon; brave men and women fight, and you'd better not get too attached to any of them.
Ammo and adjectives abound. A bullet "smashed into [a] lieutenant's broad chest and dug for the fragile life hidden
within." And "death was coming to scour the heavens and weed out the unworthy." And "forty proud Russians perished
in a handful of fluttering heartbeats." And "death's leering face entered the morose scene once again." Yes, there are
500-plus pages of writing like that. This being the twenty-first century, America has women in combat--pretty ones,
too. A female American lieutenant has an "attractive neck" and is "extremely easy on the eyes." Gimme a break. At
least she doesn't powder her nose in her Humvee. Anyway, the Russians' tactical nukes may not only render her allure
moot--they may actually win the war. Luckily, the oddly unnamed American president has "The Final Ace" up his
sleeve, and it's a good one. The writing isn't great, but the action is. If you loved Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising or
simply miss the 20th century, this one's a stroll down Memory Lane.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Gragg, Walt: THE RED LINE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA487668736&it=r&asid=162bb357d98d5c2df83953bf65ac3772.
Accessed 7 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487668736
10/7/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1507418441489 2/3
The Red Line
Thomas Gaughan
Booklist.
113.15 (Apr. 1, 2017): p25.
COPYRIGHT 2017 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist_publications/booklist/booklist.cfm
Full Text:
The Red Line.
By Walt Gragg.
May 2017. 528p. Berkley, paper, $17 (9780425283455).
Novels about the next world war abound, but this one draws cleverly on gnawing uncertainties about the new U.S.
president and his view of NATO, as well as on Russia's intentions in the new global politics and the rise of the right
wing in Europe. Gragg posits that Vladimir Putin has been ousted by ordinary Russians enraged by a failed economy
and by a right wing that believed him too timid. Cheninko, Putin's successor, reimposes Stalinist communism and
begins to threaten the small states bordering Russia. A nervous Germany elects a cunning neo-Nazi. Cheninko orders
his generals to plan an attack that will conquer Germany in five days. The plan they come up with supports 150
divisions, more than a million troops, thousands of tanks and armored personnel carriers, and hundreds of aircraft, with
deception and sabotage of NATO communications systems. Gragg, who once served at NATO's German headquarters,
likely took some of his ideas from NATO analyses. What he describes is a staggeringly lethal war machine. Battles last
only minutes. The Red Line is inelegantly written, but it seems eerily prescient in an edgy time.--Thomas Gaughan
Gaughan, Thomas
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Gaughan, Thomas. "The Red Line." Booklist, 1 Apr. 2017, p. 25. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA491487873&it=r&asid=6112b5f3b8530a75df5a31dd0b4d28c2.
Accessed 7 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491487873
10/7/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1507418441489 3/3
The Red Line
Publishers Weekly.
264.7 (Feb. 13, 2017): p53.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
* The Red Line
Walt Gragg. Berkley, $17 trade paper (528p) ISBN 978-0-425-28345-5
Set in the near future, Gragg's impeccably researched, riveting first novel pits a revived Soviet Union against NATO.
Russia's brutal dictator, Comrade Cheninko, has built on a resurgence of power begun under Vladimir Putin and
reconstituted the Warsaw Pact. A new cold war is about to become a hot one. Cheninko's top general, Valexi
Yovanovich, has developed a brilliant plan to deceive the enemy and conquer Germany in a mere five days. An
extensive cast of well-drawn men and women on both the American and Russian sides provides a personal dimension
to the big-picture view of the clash of massive armies. Gragg, a Vietnam War veteran who served at the United States
European Headquarters in Germany, gives readers a horrifying look at the devastation of modern warfare from the
smallest, most painful details to the frighteningly plausible global scenarios that could result in the death and
devastation of a significant portion of our planet. This is must reading for any military action fan. Nearly every page
reeks of the smoke of battle and the stench of death. Agent'. Liza Fleissig, Liza Royce Agency. (May) ||
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"The Red Line." Publishers Weekly, 13 Feb. 2017, p. 53. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?
p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA482198162&it=r&asid=ea77e620fecfdadac3d58efb28d6a42e.
Accessed 7 Oct. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A482198162