Centerline: Going to war throws people off center. So does coming home.

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Themes: Wounded Warriors; Military Families; USAF; Ground Combat; Military Medicine; Aviation; holiday homecoming “Centerline is a thrilling, high-action page-turner that captures a story many Americans fail to appreciate—the sacrifices of our armed forces, their families, and the medical teams who support them. The tactical flight operations, ground combat scenes, and medical emergencies are real—not Hollywood -- and the stories of wounded warriors and those waiting at home are unforgettable.” GENERAL BILL BEGERT, USAF (Ret), Former Commander, Pacific Air Forces CENTERLINE tells the arresting story of the last leg of an emotional journey through the eyes of wounded warriors, crew, and medical caregivers making the trip home from military hospitals just before Christmas at the height of the surge in Iraq. “Everybody who goes to war gets shot,” one soldier says. “Some in the body. Some in the head. Some in the heart.” Air Evac 1492 is the collective Air Force call sign for the flight. But each person on board has an individual story of hopes, dreams, fears, and regrets as the aircraft wings its human cargo through bad weather, flashbacks, and in flight emergencies. Those strapped in their seats and rushing toward an uncertain future include: • A legless Army ranger, struggling to pay the debt he owes to one who saved his life. • An aspiring writer, who “drove a wrecker like Hemingway drove an ambulance,” and now faces a future without an arm. • A scout who can face his own pain but not that of his children when they see his broken body. • A hyperprofessional flight nurse trying to heal others despite her own loss. • A pilot who has sacrificed family for duty, now trying to prepare a new copilot before she deploys to combat for the first time. This inspiring debut novel by Dave McIntyre (Ret COL USA) combines compelling technical descriptions of flying, combat, and medical care in-flight to drive the story through a rollercoaster ride of emotions as thirty-one “souls on board” travel through pain, loss, a killer storm, and the demons of the past to make it home for Christmas. Some travelers will fall short of the runway. And some will find the beacon that leads them home—back to the centerline.

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