Enigmatic customs, arcane rituals, seemingly archaic attitudes; the secrets that hide within the walls of the Army's prestigious West Point Academy hold tremendous intrigue for the civilian. So much happens to which we will never be privy. So what happens when you take the rigid military school, with its all-important decree of "Duty, honor, and country," and throw in a murder, conniving Congressmen, and perhaps a sex scandal or two? You end up with Lucian Truscott's complex mystery, Full Dress Gray, a compelling novel in which the twists and turns hang on the subtleties of military life.

Ry Slaight, the hero of Dress Gray, returns to West Point Academy 30 years older and quite a few ranks higher. As a lieutenant general--and the new superintendent--Slaight faces the challenge of running a new kind of military academy--one that includes a multiethnic and somewhat feminized body of cadets. On his first day in charge, a young woman collapses in a military parade. What is at first assumed to be a rather typical case of heatstroke, turns out to be a death from unknown causes. When it's discovered the cadet had sex with multiple men the night before her death, Slaight is challenged to find out exactly what's been going on at his academy.

This novel has it all--sex, politics, conspiracy. Truscott writes about military life with the authority of someone who has lived it. --Jenny Brown