Welcome
Novels of the Great War take readers back to a time most Americans know little about and show them extraordinary events and heroes.
Please check my Amazon author page for more details and links: https://amazon.com/author/johnf.andrews.
Novels of the Great War
Our Desperate Hour
An American Nurse in Paris
An American Nurse in Paris
I have one last chance to beg for forgiveness . . .
A father’s search for his estranged son leads Army Major Ab Johnson into a battle he could not have imagined.
An American Nurse in Paris
An American Nurse in Paris
An American Nurse in Paris
They told me journalism was a man's job. I'll show them . . .
Journalist Alice Simmons’s plan to report on WWI is crushed, only to discover the scoop of her career while working as a nurse in an American Red Cross hospital in Paris.
Dogs Don't Cry
An American Nurse in Paris
Dogs Don't Cry
If dogs could cry, France would drown in our tears. Those of sadness and those of joy . . .
This is a dog novel wrapped inside a coming-of-age story about two orphaned World War I French teenaged refugees struggling to escape the tidal wave of war. Abby, the Durand family dog, is the key to their future.
Awards and Recognition
AWARDS AND REVIEWS
AMERICAN NURSE IN PARIS AWARDS
2023 Foreword Indies Awards: Bronze winner, War & Military
2023 Eric Hoffer Award: Finalist2024 International Book Awards: Finalist, Best New Fiction
18th Annual (2024) National Indie Excellence Awards: Finalist Historical Fiction, Military Fiction
2025 Independent Press Awards: Distinguished Finalist, Historical Fiction
Kirkus Star awarded with a "Get It" recommendation by Kirkus Reviews
REVIEWS
Fans of inspiring war narratives will find much to love in this novel.
Rousing historical fiction with a feminist bent.
Star rated. Get It recommendation
----Kirkus Reviews
As a historian of WW1, I found this wonderful book to be a well-written fictional account of the period. The Marine Corps references were accurate and brought some of the memorable characters of the war to life. Enjoyed it. Looking forward to the rest of the series.
---Colonel William T. Anderson, USMC (Ret), noted USMC WWI historian.
DOGS DON’T CRY AWARDS:
2024 International Book Awards: Finalist in Young Adult Fiction; Animal/Pet Fiction
2024 National Indie Excellence Awards: Finalist in Animal/Pet Fiction
2024 CIPA EVVY Book Awards: Bronze Third Place Winner in Animal/Pet Fiction
"Get It" recommendation by Kirkus Reviews
2025 Feathered Quill Awards: Bronze Award, Animals - Adult
REVIEWS
This is often a profoundly forlorn story, but not a hopeless one, and is as emotionally affecting as it is historically authentic. A remarkably sensitive depiction of the teenage psyche under unthinkable pressure. ----Kirkus Reviews
Dogs Don’t Cry is a poignant and heartwarming novel about the plight of French refugee children during World War I. John F. Andrews tells the story from the alternating points of view of Marcel, Geneviève, and Abby. I found the dog’s point of view the most entertaining, and I especially loved those chapters. Abby is highly intelligent, and Andrews conveys her love for the two children very well. Marcel and Geneviève are wonderful characters too. Marcel wants to be a soldier but is afraid he won’t live up to his war hero father, and Geneviève wants to be a nurse, and is frustrated that her illness is slowing them down. Andrews’ description of their journey and the hardships they face is powerful. I highly recommend this book.
Editor's Choice
---Vicki Kondelik, Historical Novel Society Review
An absolutely exemplary story; it was difficult to not pick this story as my winner. This story is a must-publish
and must-read.
---Writer's Digest Reviewer
OUR DESPERATE HOUR AWARDS:
"Get it" recommendation -- Kirkus Reviews
2025 Independent Press Awards: Distinguished Finalist, Military Fiction
2025 Eric Hoffer Book Awards: First Runner Up, Historical Fiction; Finalist for Grand Prize; Finalist for Da Vinci Eye Award (for cover art).
REVIEWS
This is one for the war buffs, and particularly those who enjoy Marine Corps lore. Andrews captures the pain of war in muscular prose . . . clearly knows the period—and particularly the era’s medical practices—but he largely eschews the usual tragedy of WWI narratives . . .
Kirkus Reviews Verdict: “GET IT”. Kirkus Reviews
This is a remarkable book. Although a fictional account of the Marine Corps' baptism to the Great War, it reads like a war diary of the participants. Some characters are fictional, some are real people. However, the author has provided a vivid account in a highly readable style of the interactions of these personalities in a time of crisis. Warts and all, heroes and scoundrels. His medical background has given the author a unique perspective on the medical aspects of this keystone battle in Marine Corps history. The two chapters on the aid station in Lucy le Bocage are a truly stunning account of the brutal realities of war up close and personal. I could smell the cordite and the stench of the detritus of war. This book is a wonderful tribute to those military medical professionals who worked in terrible conditions to administer first aid to the Devil Dogs at Belleau Wood. Highly recommended.
----Colonel William T. Anderson, USMC (Ret), noted USMC WWI historian
Andrews takes the reader into the action and makes you feel as if you were there,
experiencing the horrific scenes of war along with his characters. His descriptions of
wounds and the effects of poison gas are not for the faint-hearted, but that is to be
expected in a war novel. Andrews is a physician, so his descriptions of medical
procedures are accurate. He also writes movingly about the needless tragedy of the
men lost in this battle, because of the incompetence of the French general and high-
ranking officers, and the inexperience of the Americans. We also learn about the
rivalry between the Army and Marine Corps, and we wonder how many deaths could
have been prevented if they had worked more closely together. Highly recommended.
--- Vicki Kondelik, Historical Novel Society Review
This powerful book takes us on a journey into the battlefield in France during WW I. If you like historical fiction, the details in this book make it seem like you are standing right there. You feel what it was like through the many well-fleshed out characters. It was simply hard to put the book down.
---Linda Asadourian, MD
HIRAM'S RUN
HIRAM'S RUN is not published yet
Wanted for a crime he did commit, Hiram shouldn't have to die for it . . .
Hiram Stoops doesn't deserve to die over it as Alice Grant rushes to save her friend from two bumbling Federal agents struggling to save their careers in a perilous chase through the slums of 1936 Chicago.
This novel links the Novels of the Great War series to the Beware series and will be published after the Great War series is complete.
The BEWARE Series
THE BEWARE SERIES is not published yet
The BEWARE SERIES starts on the streets of Chicagoland in the summer of 1936. It follows Doctors Milton and Arthur Beck as they stumble in to disaster after disaster when all they want to do is practice medicine and surgery. Their story travels from Chicago, to Wisconsin and back, and reaches its conclusion on a two-rut backroad in western Montana. Hold onto your hats--it's a wild ride.
These are my first three novels. I am rewriting them and plan to publish them in the future. The titles are provisional.
Beware - Kidnapped
My life had settled into middle-aged doldrums until . . .
Surgeon Milton Beck's staid life takes a sharp turn 1936. First, he performs the operation of his career and saves a young constable who should have died. When the mob needs a surgeon, who better to kidnap? Milton is then caught between Mob threats and an offer from the FBI after his return. How will he find his way through this mess?
Beware - Mob Doctors
What have we gotten ourselves into . . .
Surgeon Milton Beck and his brother, Dr. Arthur Beck agree to set up a "mob clinic" in cooperation with the FBI but have stirred a hornet nest. Their medical licenses and hospital privileges are under threat from a powerful rival while the mob's deadliest hitman ties up loose ends.
Beware - Deadly Vacation
It could be worse . . .
A mob hitman's wife dies after surgeon Milton Beck's nemesis botches a gallbladder operation. The hitman and his partner kidnap the errant surgeon and shoot him. Milton has to swallow his emotions and save the man who has been trying to destroy him. Another hitman is targeting loose ends who Milton previously saved. Milton and his family need a break. They travel to Deer Lodge, Montana to visit their cousin, George. It turns into the vacation from hell.