In his second novel, Legacy of Evil, Ed Marohn brings back psychologist John Moore. Following his return from the jungles of Vietnam, the CIA once again sends him on a covert and dangerous mission: Deliver a sealed letter to Nina Moesel, aka Karen Schmidt, who is his boss’s former lover and a member of a German extremist group. Despite the mission having incomplete intelligence, Moore agrees to do the job. But when Moesel/Schmidt is brutally attacked, Moore gets caught in the middle of a factions war between his CIA boss, James Woodruff, and a rival connected to the neo-Nazis. He soon meets former members of the Baader-Meinhof gang, an anarchist group, and learns that a nuclear device has fallen into the wrong hands. Moore must race against time to locate the missing weapon.

Legacy of Evil is successful in its gripping effect because of its tight plot. This makes it easy for Ed Marohn to sustain the tension and excitement over the pages. It has its share of high-octane moments as Moore is fighting against time to locate a nuclear device while at the same time struggling with his inner demons. Marohn keeps the story moving from place to place from the United States to northern Europe, and up to the Arctic Circle. The premise has a certain appeal that is complemented by a balanced exposition, and it will likely keep you reading from start to finish. By the time Legacy of Evil reaches its climax, it gives you that satisfying feeling and makes you look forward to Moore’s next adventure.
-- By Vincent Dublado for Readers’ Favorite

Fresh off a harrowing return to the jungles of Vietnam where he served, psychologist John Moore is once again sent on a covert mission by his CIA boss. The mission starts simple enough––deliver a message to his boss’ ex-lover, who just so happens to be a former member a German anarchist group. When she is brutally attacked by neo-Nazis, John uncovers a larger plot that reaches the heart of the CIA itself. It’s a race against time, battling neo-Nazis intent on world domination, to find a nuclear device before it falls into the wrong hands. The chase takes John and his CIA partner across Northern Europe and finally the bitter cold of the Arctic Circle, fighting demons within and the horrifying rise of fascism without.
It takes a bit of time for LEGACY OF EVIL to pick up steam, as there is some housekeeping, so to speak, and leftover trauma to deal with at the start from John’s last mission. There’s also a lot of exposition to wade through to understand the intricacies involved in his latest globe-trotting expedition on behalf of the CIA. But once the story gets going, all of these moving pieces race together to craft a nuanced and well-plotted action-adventure. Car chases through European streets, skirmishes, and shoot-outs across the icy taiga abound––plenty of danger and intrigue to keep the plot barreling along just like the dogsleds John and his partner use to traverse freezing Lapland.
As if a nuclear device isn’t enough of a high-stakes problem, the rise in fascist beliefs that’s made itself known internationally has colluded with top agents hidden among the CIA. Ed Marohn sculpts his novel around the very real and terrifying truth that isn’t fiction at all, that white supremacy is a clear and present danger. The subject is handled well, especially with John being the son of a Holocaust survivor. The second half of the novel might be the most compelling, as John faces the evil that’s hidden in plain sight and is forced to make difficult choices once the situation quickly goes from bad to worse. Marohn’s writing shines in the middle of action sequences, where the tension is dialed up to eleven and the suspense finally boils over.
But it’s not all gunplay and fighting––the intense narrative is tempered by emotion, by the friendships that form in the midst of this perilous journey. It’s John struggling with PTSD from war and the grief of losing his wife. It’s the friendship that blossoms between John and Nina, the woman he’s sent to find. It’s the unbreakable connection John forges with a sled dog named Sheba, a gorgeous husky full of personality. All of these genuine emotional threads help tie the novel together, giving the story heart and a reason to defeat the ugliest sort of evil.
A nuanced, well-plotted action-adventure that simmers with intrigue, LEGACY OF EVIL confronts a chilling reality and reminds us what’s worth fighting for.
​--Jessica Thomas for IndieReader

With Ed Marohn’s Legacy of Evil (BookBaby, 340 pp. $16.95, paper; $2.99, Kindle) you can pretty well cash in your expectations of a thriller. Like true thrillers, this one covers a great deal of ground in a compressed period of time. In just one month the story moves from the U.S. to the Netherlands, Germany, Finland, and the Arctic, then back to the U.S. That quality leads to a tense feeling of claustrophobia even though the action takes place almost entirely outdoors.  Ed Marohn served in the Vietnam War with the 25th Infantry Division and the 101st Airborne Division. He has taught military history at the University of Nevada. His main character, John Moore, is a psychologist who enjoys reading action-adventure novels and works as a civilian contractor for the CIA evaluating its personnel, mainly looking for evidence of PTSD. Moore commanded an infantry company during the war in Vietnam and still has pains from a gunshot wound in his shoulder. He also has nightmares with battlefield flashbacks.Legacy of Evil, the sequel to Marohn’s Legacy of a War, takes place well after the Vietnam War when Moore is caught between two men fighting over a leadership position in the CIA and wonders, “Are we in a spy novel?” He’s occasionally pressured to go into the field and has just returned from a trip to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. He has now been asked to deliver a personal letter from his boss to a notorious woman in Europe. He has a “combat instinct honed by Nam,” and carries a Sig Sauer P229 DAK.Before long, there are neo-Nazis with big plans, a kidnapping, and a lost atomic bomb. Then the chase is on. This involves following a map that has Moore dogsledding into the Arctic where he relies on a U.S. Army Model 27 compass. “The compass was an old friend,” Marohn writes, “cherished in those dark and dank Vietnamese jungles of the war. In the days of killing and dying, it grounded me to the earth, giving me sanity in an otherwise crazy world of destruction. Its math and magnetic science provided rationality in a living nightmare.”The chapters that involve a harrowing chase in the twenty-four-hour-light north of the Arctic Circle together would make a great short story. At the beginning I found the writing to be somewhat stilted, more like Marohn was providing information rather than spinning a story. But once the plot started moving, the writing moved this reader along at an electrifying pace. This is a taut thriller with an especially satisfying ending.
–Bill McCloud for Books in Review II, Vietnam Veterans of America