I’ve done what I had promised myself I wouldn’t do again, which is to read another Baldacci novel about Jack Reacher knock-off John Puller. I hated the first Puller novel and disliked the second. And so I was pleasantly surprised that Baldacci brought his “Camel Club” game to this latest novel, a political thriller with high stakes, fascinating characters and a surprisingly subdued and more human Puller revealing less of the super-hero and more of the grit and angst of a real person. Baldacci, a […]
The Best War Reporting I’ve Encountered
War, as the title suggests, is the best war reporting I’ve encountered in my reading thus far. Like everyone’s favorite war-ish cliché, War is visceral. It is heartbreaking. It evokes rage. It harbors contempt. It loves. In the summers of 2007 and 2008 Junger embedded with Battle Company 2/503 Infantry Regiment in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley. He was joined by photographer Tim Hetherington. Junger stated that his goal was to just report and even said “It’s a completely apolitical film. We wanted to give viewers the […]
Zero Dark Thirty the book!
I joined the military after 9/11 but I think would have joined even if the tragedy never occurred. I always felt the need and desire to serve so I certainly identify, to an extent, with the SEALs in this story. Since I am in the military, the specter of Usama bin Laden (UBL) always lingered over us and his actions have impacted my life immensely. I vividly remember the day that he was killed. Many of my friends celebrated. Some celebrated by partying, some had […]
Burn it all down!
Target: L. E. Modesitt, Jr.’s Antiagon Fire (Imager Portfolio #7) Profile: Fantasy, Political Fiction, Military Two things struck me as I was preparing for this review: First, I somehow managed to skip Imager’s Battalion during my utter failure of a Cannonball Read 5. I read the book, but I never got a review up. Second, I think I ran out of useful things to say about the series back at book five. The things that I liked are still good, and the elements that are weaker don’t seem to […]