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Author's Synopsis
Bulls Amongst Men is a literary novel that explores the quiet battles fought after war, following Michael, a former U.S. Army soldier struggling to adapt to civilian life after leaving the military. Though he survived combat, Michael finds himself overwhelmed by survivor’s guilt, fractured family relationships, and the persistent weight of memories he cannot escape.
When Michael learns that a fellow soldier from his unit has taken his own life, he reunites with his former brothers at the funeral. Bound by shared loss and unspoken pain, the men make a reckless decision to honor their fallen friend by traveling to Pamplona, Spain, to participate in the running of the bulls—an event as dangerous as it is symbolic. What begins as a tribute soon reveals itself as something more complex: a test of courage, masculinity, and the limits of endurance.
As Michael prepares for the journey, tensions with his father resurface, exposing generational misunderstandings about service, duty, and emotional restraint. In Pamplona, immersed in the chaos of the festival and the excess that surrounds it, Michael grapples with the moral implications of the event and his own motivations for running. A brief but meaningful connection with a woman forces him to confront the parts of himself he has numbed since the war.
The run itself becomes a crucible. As the bulls thunder through the narrow streets, Michael is pushed to confront whether his pursuit of danger is an act of remembrance, self-destruction, or a desperate attempt to feel alive again. His experience mirrors the life cycle of the Spanish fighting bull—revered, tested, and ultimately sacrificed—forcing him to reckon with what it truly means to survive.
Grounded in the realities of military service and veteran reintegration, Bulls Amongst Men examines grief, brotherhood, and the psychological cost of war long after the uniform is removed. It is a story about men who have learned how to endure violence but must relearn how to live with its aftermath.
Format(s) for review: Paper or Kindle
Review genre: Fiction—Literary Fiction
Pages/Word count: 135 / 45,000