PARIS BOOK FESTIVAL HONORS VIETNAM WAR SAGA


PARIS_A novel set in the Vietnam War era has been selected for top honors at the 2024 Paris Book Festival, which celebrates the best of international publishing.

Author Dennis Torres’ There Are No Good Giants (self-published) is the story of soldier Ben Kovner, who is sent to Vietnam and discovers there is more to war than combat – people still go to work, get married, and raise children, only do so without any expectation of a tomorrow.

Determined to make the best of a bad situation, he studies the language, starts a business, moves into a villa and falls in love - all while fulfilling his military duties. From dangerous sorties to an armoire stuffed with cash, a chauffeur-driven car, membership in the exclusive Club Nautique de Saigon and sex with bar girls, it's a sensational life until an explosion of consciousness leads him to question the very morality of right and wrong, only to conclude it doesn't really exist. But within every choice there's an inescapable consequence.

Other winners in the competition:

GENERAL FICTION:

WINNER: There Are No Good Giants - Dennis Torres

RUNNERS-UP:

  • The Ledger - Steven Manchester
  • The Invitation - Clare Fryer
  • Zarathustra’s Journey - Nanette V. Hucknall
  • At the Hour Between Dog and Wolf - Tara Ison
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Forger of Marseille - Linda Joy Myers
  • Iron Blood - Jolene D. Campbell
  • Running Stop Signs - A Natalie North Novel - Nancy Mangano
  • Loving Leopold - Diane Ramsay
  • The King’s Assassin - Ed Cannon
  • The Calamity of Desire and Other Stories - Judith Dancoff
  • Second Life - James Sniechowski
  • The Penitent - A. Keith Carreiro
  • Lissette in the Spring - Rod Sanford
  • The Bard and his Sister-in-Law - Lopamudra Banerjee
  • Resurgius, A Sex Comedy - E.M. Schorb
  • Careful What You Wish For - Roger C. Douglas
  • The King’s Death - Ed Cannon
  • Second Term - J.M. Adams
  • The Falcon and the Shaikhs - John Dragonetti
  • The Lost Canvas - Julie D. Simmons
  • Comes Around - Tony C.D. Hylton
  • The Good Barrister - Diane Ramsay
  • ROTH - Jonas Romano Weiss
  • Esteban: Love’s Irony - Fish Nealman
  • Vanished! - Roberta Samuels
  • Spectral Guidance - Laurie A.M. Ludtke
  • Toxic Sphere: Volume 3 - C.N. Sky
  • Heart in the Jungle: Mountain City - Fred Lauver
  • Under the Radar - Peter Cumyn
  • Welcome to Superhero School - Gracie Dix
  • A Kiss in Kashmir - Monica Saigal
  • A Forward Motion - Sherrie Lynn
  • Forever, Now - Haleh Shahrzad
  • Driving for Justice - Justin K. Kojok

GENERAL NONFICTION:

WINNER: The Singularity of Hope - Dr. Sam Sammane

RUNNERS-UP:

  • The Business Artist - Adam Boggs
  • Morocco, A Remembrance of Childhood - James B. Farmer
  • Hardy’s Heroes - Rick A. Shockey
  • Cuba, your children cry! - Otto Iglesias
  • The Unlocked Leader - Hortense le Gentil

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • An Unknown Angel’s Gift - Cherie S. Blackwell
  • Divorce is Not A Destination - Lisa Summerour
  • Solo Passage - Glenda Goodrich
  • The Power of the Hollow Bone - Phoenix Rising Star
  • The Magnificence of the 3 - Timeout A. Taumua
  • AmeriCANS Who Made America: 18th Century - Richard V. Battle

MEMOIR:

WINNER: A Cup of Tea on the Commode - Mark Steven Porro

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Higher Love - Anne Kiehl Friedman
  • Protecting Mama - Léonie Rosenstiel
  • Karma and Kismet - Michael Shandler
  • Cuba, your children cry! - Otto Iglesias
  • Shattered - Jenell M. Jones, M.Ed.

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • French Lessons - Roberta Samuels
  • Island to Icon - Dreama Denver
  • Still the Soul Survives - Pamela Goldstein
  • Living with Trauma, Finding the Light Again - M. Struemph
  • The Race Horse - Vicki Rees Kendall

TRAVEL:

WINNER: Higher Love - Anne Kiehl Friedman

RUNNER-UP: Sunrise Over South Africa - Joseph Kuhn Carey

 

YOUNG ADULT:

WINNER: Worldwide Crush - Kristin Nilsen

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Seaside Magic and the Binding Curse - Vianlix-Christine Schneider
  • The Boy Who Earned His Magic - Lynn H. Elliott
  • Mira and the Magic Pond - Zahra Omar Shansab
  • Dawn of Legends - Matt Dragovits
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • eMortal - Steve Schafer
  • Rogues of the Crosslands - John Daze
  • Botheration Part One: The Missing Link - Vito DiBarone
  • A Remarkable Marketable You - Jes Petion

BUSINESS:

WINNER: The Value Equation - Christopher H. Volk

RUNNER-UP: Briefly Speaking - Deborah Shames

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Powerful Publicity Prescription - Lilian Sue
  • The Start of All Things Good - Danielle Billetz-Reppert

CHILDREN’S BOOKS:

WINNER: A Kindergarten Story - Tammy Donahue

RUNNERS-UP:

  • A Tree for Me - Tasha-Nicole Terani
  • Blue Lobster Visits the Eye Doctor - Robin Taylor-Chiarello
  • Together - Jere Silber
  • Little Joe and the Big Rain - Mike Darcy
  • Sammy’s Voyage to a New Home - Debra Siraco-Zareen Wilhelm
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Gnomes of Fibberton - Becky Bell
  • Spectrum Fairies - Diana Atehortua
  • Autumn is Calling - Jan Thornton
  • Magic Pasta - Diana Pishner Walker
  • The Wonderful Attic of Dreams - Ebenezer Makinde
  • My Favorite Letter - Susan Gilpin
  • Calico Zebra - Julie Bray

WILD CARD:

WINNER: The Plowman’s Plight - E.A Rivière

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Little Fortified Stories - Barbara Black
  • The Bard and his Sister-in-Law - Lopamudra Banerjee
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Toxic Sphere: Volume 3 - C.N. Sky
  • The Real Resident Aliens - Dr. Raymond A. Keller

BIOGRAPHY-AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

WINNER: Cuba, your children cry! - Otto Iglesias

RUNNER-UP: Silencing the enemy within - Marsha Rene


SPIRITUAL/RELIGIOUS:

WINNER: Unlocking The Secrets of the Book of Enoch - Rick Wehrle

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Songs for the Spirit/Canciones para el Espiritu - Robert Giron
  • Higher Love - Anne Kiehl Friedman
  • Finding Eden - J.P. Kerwin
  • The Name I Choose - Holly Brough
  • Rogues of the Crosslands - John Daze
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Mind Traveler: Warrior of Shaka - Viveck Rai Marwa
  • Light of Darkness - Ebenezer O. Makinde
  • Cryptic Blood - Don Stansberry
  • Raging Fire of Love - Kelly James Clark
  • Naciones Estelares - Dr. Beatrix Czeizel, Anikó Greskó
  • Politics of Being - Thomas Legrand
  • The Power of the Hollow Bone - Phoenix Rising Star
  • Hopeland - Ebenezer O. Makinde

POETRY:

WINNER: Rise: An Inspired Book of Dreams - Ebenezer Makinde


RUNNER-UP: Sunrise Over South Africa - Joseph Kuhn Carey

HONORABLE MENTION:

  • Eternal Love - C. Peggy Atoche

COMPILATIONS/ANTHOLOGIES:

WINNER: 1968: A Primer for Understanding Baby Boomers - Rick Robinson


RUNNER-UP: Naughty Nonsense, Lascivious Limericks and Much More - David Ellis

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • Losers: Short Stories - Katarzyna Adamus
  • A Collision with Purpose - Dr. Laxley W. Stephenson
  • Words to Breathe By - James Richard Hansen

HOW-TO:

WINNER: Slow Burn Entrepreneur - Michael Weber

RUNNERS-UP:

  • Holistic Retirement Planning – Ron Missun
  • What’s Eating Our Kids? - Julie A. Wendt
  • This Is How We Heal from Painful Childhoods - Ernest Ellender, PhD
  • Take a Shot at Happiness - Maria Baltazzi
HONORABLE MENTIONS:

  • The Doctor’s Voice - Dr. Pietro Emanuele Garbelli
  • The Start of All Things Good - Danielle Billetz-Reppert
  • The Power of the Hollow Bone - Phoenix Rising Star
  • UnEarthing YOU - Dr. Laxley W. Stephenson

UNPUBLISHED:

WINNER: The Third Estate: Secrets of the Manor - Debbie Berlin
 

ROMANCE:

WINNER: A Perfect Miracle - Katrina Alexander

RUNNER-UP: Sweet Love - Sherry Jackson