The Phantom Blooper is a 1990 novel written by Gustav Hasford, and the sequel to The Short-Timers. It continues to follow James T. "Joker" Davis through his Vietnam odyssey. The book was supposed to be the second of a "Vietnam Trilogy", but the author died soon after completing it. The novel begins sometime after The Short-Timers left off and is divided into three parts. In "The Winter Soldiers," Joker is still at the Khe Sanh base, which is about to be abandoned by American Marines after withstanding a two-month siege. He believes most of his previous squad-mates to be dead, even the... seemingly indestructible Animal Mother. Joker blames their deaths on "The Phantom Blooper," supposedly an American, armed with an M79 grenade launcher, who fights alongside the Viet Cong against his countrymen. Joker is still haunted by the memory of his friend Cowboy, whom he killed in order to keep his squad from being cut down by a sniper; as a result, his behavior has become increasingly erratic and violent.
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| Author: | Gustav Hasford |
| Genre: | War novel, Autobiographical novel, Speculative fiction |
| Year published: | 1990 |
| Number of editions: | 1 |