W.F. Whitson

W.F. WhitsonW.F. WhitsonW.F. Whitson

W.F. Whitson

W.F. WhitsonW.F. WhitsonW.F. Whitson
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  • Nettles' Secret Preview
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  • Jack Barsky Review

Welcome to W.F. Whitson

Welcome to W.F. WhitsonWelcome to W.F. WhitsonWelcome to W.F. Whitson

"The Librarian" and "Nettles' Secret" are now both available on Amazon. Links below.

blueroombooks@outlook.com

Amazon purchase links

Nettles' Secret: The Search For civil war goldThe Librarian: Intrigue at raf greenham

Nettles' Secret Review

Click to read full review ON BOOKTRIB.COM

REVIEW EXCERPT

W.F. Whitson‘s Nettles’ Secret is a dual-timeline novel, and the payoff is a book that’s as much a piece of genealogical detective work as it is a Civil War adventure. Whitson opens in present-day Memphis, drops his narrator Tim Clary, a law clerk still processing his grandfather’s death, into a real and raw moment of civic unrest at a Confederate monument, and then pivots, chapter by chapter, into 1864 Western Tennessee and Kentucky, where Confederate officer Geoff Henry Nettles is about to become entangled in one of the war’s unsolved mysteries: the theft of Confederate bank gold during the fall of Richmond.


A Civil War Mystery Built on Meticulous Research

Whitson clearly did his homework as the acknowledgments alone point to museum visits, beta readers who are published Civil War historians, and firsthand research into 1860s newspaper production. The Jackson courthouse scene, where a furious Tennessee crowd confronts Confederate General Chalmers over the depredations of Union raiders, reads like actual testimony rather than invented drama. Nettles himself is a compelling moral study: a man who starts as an honorable soldier and slides, coin by coin, into a compromise he can live with, funding a limestone quarry and even a school with laundered gold. Whitson resists the temptation to make him either hero or villain.


The contemporary half is just as absorbing, structured less like a thriller and more like the process of genealogical research. Tim, his uncle Brad, a professional genealogist, an IRS agent, and a small cast of Kentucky locals piece together the Nettles family’s buried secret through court records, family Bibles, an antique dealer’s inherited farm, and eventually a scuba diver combing the muck of an old springhouse pool with a metal detector.

Video

Fred is interviewed by his publisher.

Michael Ferry Review of The Librarian on BookTrib.com:

Extensive supporting cast grounds complex conflict in this fast-paced historical thriller. "The story and setting of The Librarian are based heavily on Whitson’s own experience as a member of the United States Air Force, stationed at RAF Greenham Common UK in the 1980s. He is very proud of the role he later played in the treaty that dismantled such bases in 1987. After an accomplished professional career, Whitson finally found the time and passion to begin working on The Librarian in 2011, refining the story over the course of several years." 

Click for Full Review

Reader Reviews

"I closed my eyes, I had returned!"

"I closed my eyes, I had returned!"

"I closed my eyes, I had returned!"

  "I lived there during the time CND women camped outside RAF Greenham Common. I knew many military men who could easily have been Wes Forrest and acted as he did. Writer hit the target on accuracy and believability. I closed my eyes, I had returned!"

"Did not disappoint."

"I closed my eyes, I had returned!"

"I closed my eyes, I had returned!"

  "Well written, good story and interesting characters. Historical fiction is my go to book and this did not disappoint."

"Full of suspense."

"I closed my eyes, I had returned!"

"For fans of Cold War/Espionage."

"A wonderful book about the USAF deployment of GLCM deployment to England by the great Ronald Reagan."


"This is full of suspense as the characters, who are so well developed, interact with changing and unexpected situations of war time."

"For fans of Cold War/Espionage."

"Story is fascinating. Great read!"

"For fans of Cold War/Espionage."

"A great read for fans of cold war/espionage novels. The author obviously knows his subject matter based on his own military experience, and knows how to craft a good story." 

"Story is fascinating. Great read!"

"Story is fascinating. Great read!"

"Story is fascinating. Great read!"

"Characters are engaging and the story is fascinating, especially from our modern day perspective. A great read!"

"Characters are well-drawn."

"Story is fascinating. Great read!"

"Story is fascinating. Great read!"

"Thoroughly enjoyed this spy thriller set in the 1980s. It did a great job of capturing the Cold War period when the US and UK and Russia were all players in the nuclear power struggle. The characters are well drawn and the fast paced plot kept me reading to the very end."

"A rich mix of heroes, villains, lovers and those who would like to be."

"A rich mix of heroes, villains, lovers and those who would like to be."

"A rich mix of heroes, villains, lovers and those who would like to be."

"When events in history are the subject, listen to those who have been there. W.F. Whitson's tale of cold war games fits the bill; the story has color and drama.
The nuclear race between Russia and the United States is played out on British soil when cruise missiles are to be stored at a military base. This invites impassioned resistance of an 'occupying force' of mothers and peace activists who launch a years-long encampment around RAF Greenham Common. [continued in next block...] 

"A rich mix of heroes, villains, lovers and those who would like to be."

"A rich mix of heroes, villains, lovers and those who would like to be."

"...Many are the actors: the Pentagon, NATO, Russian spies and British military — a rich mix of heroes, villains, lovers and those who would like to be.
The writer has a fine ear for actions on the ground, the voices of the people who are pawns in the game of superpowers. The climactic scenes are presented in a fast-paced staccato that might get approving nods from the greats of the genre.
W. F. Whitson is an accomplished writer who has a story to tell. "

About W.F. Whitson

Former Air Force Missileer

 I was in Europe in December 1979 when NATO made the “Duel Track Decision” regarding nuclear weapons, including deployment of the American ground launched cruise missile (GLCM) in Europe. I was the first missile officer at the first GLCM base (RAF Greenham Common UK in 1982) and was privileged to play a small part in the development of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty agreement that dismantled GLCM and Pershing II missiles signed by US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in December 1987. 


His next novel was based on the question: What happened to the lost Civil War gold? He built a dual-timeline novel on the premise that two pieces of it are found after a beloved grandfather's death that leads to a search for more of it and the other half that tells how it might have got "lost" in the first place.

Former Attorney

As a former prosecutor, W. F. Whitson knows the ins and outs of the legal profession. He is working on a thriller set in the Florida legal system.

Novelist

Historical fiction and other stories.

Copyright © 2026 W.F. Whitson - All Rights Reserved.

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  • Nettles' Secret Preview
  • See Fred in the Movies
  • Jack Barsky Review