Former US Marine and military historian Gina Maria DiNicolo applauds Defense Secretary Ashton Carter's bold move opening all combat roles to women.
Says DiNicolo, "We finally have a leader standing for true equality for women in uniform. As long as jobs have been closed to women, we have seen the 'lunch counter' effect of inequality across the services."
"With women a subclass to men, it has given some a license to harass women and treat them with less respect. The service chiefs have all but sanctioned such abuse by keeping opportunity based on gender first and not skill," adds DiNicolo.
Gina Maria DiNicolo graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in history. She is a fulltime author, historian and has written scores of articles for Military Officer magazine and other publications.
DiNicolo just released her first work of fiction, Blood Stripe: The Susanna Marcasi Chronicles a double-take thriller of corruption in Congress, scandal in the Pentagon, sexual assaults against uniformed women and a systemic abuse of power that thrusts the Marine Corps into unspeakable acts.
Blood Stripe ignites with reports that a senior Marine officer has killed himself on the Memorial Bridge in Washington, D.C. It burns its way to Susanna Marcasi, an exiled Marine and Naval Academy alum, who battles dark forces to find truth. Her quest leads to a web of corruption and deceit. A physically and emotionally scarred Susanna finds herself toe-to-toe with Manfred Stahl, a retired Marine general, whom a cowering president has crowned defense secretary. Stahl's unabashed lust for power and emotional instability are eclipsed only by his vile and vindictive nature. Circumstances land the two on the deadly collision course they shared a lifetime earlier.
Sexual tension permeates an often violent backdrop. A risqué yet troubled senator satisfies her voracious need for sex with a Marine whom she summons even during meetings with foreign dignitaries. A megalomaniac with a penchant for South American prostitutes and Argentine tango, works naked in his office. Lost love reappears, but must battle brutal forces to survive.
Power proves an aphrodisiac to all, revealing an underlying tale of desire, yearning, and love—pure as well as demonic.
Amazon reviewer John Kelly in his critique of Blood Stripe writes: "Like a literary version of 'A Few Good Men (and Women)' on steroids, Gina Maria DiNicolo rips into your emotional core like a 'kill shot' from page one and never lets up for 217 pages. This book, not for the weak of heart, tells the story of strength, courage and no mercy in the most elite units of the U.S. Armed Forces."
Grady Harp, a Top 100 Amazon Hall of Fame Reviewer calls Blood Stripe "One of the most controversial novels of the year. A brilliant thriller, a challenging and courageous novel, one that is headed for awards."
DiNicolo's first book, The Black Panthers: A Story of Race, War, and Courage – the 761st Tank Battalion in World War II, (Westholme 2014), is the nonfiction account of the first African American armored unit to see combat duty in World War II.
Reviewers held the narrative in high regard. Publishers Weekly wrote: "… the book really heats up when she writes of the intense, deadly clashes with General Patton's 761st tanks taking on the powerful German Panzer units in snowy forests and French towns. Written with fine detail and in a spirited style, DiNicolo's tribute to The Black Panthers illuminates a fighting armored unit that made both their community and their country proud."
Blood Stripe: The Susanna Marcasi Chronicles (ISBN 978-0966298604, 2015, St. John's Press, 322 pages, $15.99 paperback and $6.99 on Kindle) Available on Amazon and everywhere fine books are sold and the author's website: www.ginamariadinicolo.com/ View the book trailer here: http://j.mp/Blood-Stripe-Trailer
About Gina Maria DiNicolo
Baltimore native Gina Maria DiNicolo graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy with a degree in history and an attraction to the unconventional. She accepted a commission in the U.S. Marine Corps where she worked in aviation, recruiting, history, and public affairs. As a fulltime author and historian, in addition to her two books, DiNicolo has written scores of articles for the Military Officer magazine and other publications. After publishing Blood Stripe, she sought to get her historian game on and accepted a one-year, work/study assignment as a senior writer/editor for the U.S. Army Center of Military History in Washington, D.C., producing studies on military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. She is a dancer specializing in Argentine Tango.