Tracks: A story from The Vietnam War

The novel Tracks: a story from the Vietnam War operates on the surface as a suspense drama structured around a triangle. At the center is Ingrid, a sultry young German woman who is fought over by Paul Carroll and Ralph Benson: friends on the surface but, as both will discover, enemies underneath. Paul is educated, fears violence and is anti-Vietnam War while Ralph, a former M.P. in the U.S. Army, has no problem with violence, particularly against women. When Paul and Ingrid hide, Ralph sets out determined to find them and reclaim Ingrid whom he regards as his property. Both Paul and Ralph are railroaders and Ralph finds the couple at a place called Wishram: a railroad yard and less-than town deep inside the Columbia River Gorge. He waits until Paul has left town on a freight before assaulting Ingrid at gunpoint, then setting out to avenge himself on Paul. But Ingrid knows her lover is no match for Ralph.