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MWSA Review
The story of war is not new. The story of PTSD is not new. In this story, it is the treatment that is new.
The first three quarters of the story enfolds around Iraq and the tanker unit whose mission it is to sniff out IEDs. The language is crisp, full of military detail about the dry, dusty life in a foreign land full of insurgents trying to destroy American forces. The primary setting involves the blasting heat of the desert and cramped tent camps, with forays into enemy territory where some of the locals are friendlies. In the fourth quarter of the story, we see what happens to those who survived and went back home. The language shifts into a beautiful prose that allows us to see more of the internal workings of the characters. The setting moves into a lush scenario of rivers, trees, farms, and stimulating cityscapes. Here, we begin to experience PTSD with bits of hope strewn in.
The title of the story is render. The definition of render is to provide or give a service or to cause to be or become. This becomes meaningful when the story is finished. When finished with the book, it might seem to be another PTSD story. But the story lingers and haunts us. Questions come up. Why is the story titled render? Why were our soldiers in Iraq? What kind of person becomes a soldier? Who are the bad guys? How does one get PTSD? Slowly we see how the story is about how the military, or a country, can ask a person to give a service and then, render that person into something different. Then, we aren’t sure any more what is right and wrong. The story does not feature the happy ending we want, but an ending we come to understand.
The characters are described more than developed. We don’t get to deeply know the characters while they are in Iraq. We only get to know them as their character relates to the military. We learn a little more when the characters return home. We can never truly say we know the characters, but in accordance with the theme of render, we understand how they came to be. It’s an enduring and universal story that I will remember for a long time.
Review by Gail Summers (June 2020)
Author's Synopsis
The Surge ramped up as summer crawled along, one grueling day at a time. Criminal activity remained high in Baghdad despite efforts by American commanders to provide steadfast coverage over their assigned areas. IED attacks had become the enemy’s standard procedure in the aftermath of the catastrophic hit against Baja Company. Day by day, junior officers received their orders, briefed their soldiers, and embarked on mounted and dismounted patrols in search of the enemy. Daytime temperatures soared, and the Americans became entrenched in a battle of wills against their adversaries as well as the unrelenting heat. With an IED seemingly on every street in Baghdad, it's a battle of attrition between the Army and an invisible enemy as they both vie for control of Iraq's capital city.
ISBN/ASIN: 978-1657295674, 1657295672
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Number of Pages: 208