Code of Conduct

"Whatever Karen Black has written (from Code of Conduct to The Gamble) is amazing! Nothing's changed!"
Tony Orlando, multi-nominated Grammy pop singer, including his 1973 hit,
"Tie a Yellow Ribbon Round the Ole Oak Tree."

Code of Conduct accurately depicts the Prisoner-of-War experience. However, it is not so much a blood-and-guts war novel as it is an emotional tale of a family torn apart by war, more than seven years of separation, and the long journey to reconstruct their lives, by national and international best-selling author Karen Black.

A historical romance novel, Code of Conduct examines in vivid detail the gut-wrenching effects of prolonged imprisonment and the sacrifice of our combat troops who endure the emotional turmoil of war, which often results in devastated personal lives. The prison scenes are based on actual events that happened to the POWs in Vietnam, which the author discovered through years of listening to her husband and his Vietnam ex-POW buddies at reunions and other get-togethers. Additionally, the author had access to twelve hours of debriefing tapes – her husband’s taped report of his recollection of almost seven years of events given to an intelligence officer just hours after he was released.

Matt Tillet, an F-8 Crusader pilot, is shot down over North Vietnam in 1966. He escapes from his spiraling, out-of-control jet with only seconds to spare, but is quickly captured by Vietnamese militiamen. Surviving "Green Room" torture, months of solitary confinement, and the infamous Hanoi March, the dream of returning home to his wife and two children keeps him going. Repatriated in 1973, he finds that dream shattered.