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Blood on the Tracks

(Sydney Rose Parnell #1)

Barbara Nickless (Goodreads Author)

4.21 · Rating details · 17,379 ratings · 1,384 reviews

A young woman is found brutally murdered, and the main suspect is the victim’s fiancé, a hideously scarred Iraq War vet known as the Burned Man. But railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell, brought in by the Denver Major Crimes unit to help investigate, can't shake the feeling that larger forces are behind this apparent crime of passion.

In the depths of an icy wi ...more

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Paperback, 386 pages

Published October 1st 2016 by Thomas & Mercer

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4.21 ·

Rating details

· 17,379 ratings · 1,384 reviews

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Dec 06, 2016 Christine rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Christine by: Kindle first pick

Shelves: ebooks, 1st-of-series, net-galley, favorites

4.5 stars

Well, my goodness—yet another outstanding debut thriller!! I cannot believe how many wonderful new authors I have discovered this year. It is a real pleasure to add Ms. Barbara Nickless to the list.

Blood on the Tracks is a thoroughly engrossing read about Denver railway cop and former Marine Sydney Rose Parnell, her K9 partner Clyde, and their efforts to bring down the murderer of a young woman named Elise. Elise was known to the railway jumper community as “the good-hearted lady.” Who 4.5 stars

Well, my goodness—yet another outstanding debut thriller!! I cannot believe how many wonderful new authors I have discovered this year. It is a real pleasure to add Ms. Barbara Nickless to the list.

Blood on the Tracks is a thoroughly engrossing read about Denver railway cop and former Marine Sydney Rose Parnell, her K9 partner Clyde, and their efforts to bring down the murderer of a young woman named Elise. Elise was known to the railway jumper community as “the good-hearted lady.” Who would want to kill this woman? This plot point is actually just the tip of the iceberg in this topsy turvy gripping tale. The story goes deep and wide from there.

Yes, the plot is definitely a winner. And there are so many elements. We have suspense, thrills, a touch (just a touch) of potential romance, family relationships amongst troubled souls, the workings of the railway and its transient community, and the dilemma of when something innately wrong could be really right. We get much angst and emotion that will appeal to men and women readers alike. Most important is the beautifully written theme of PTSD. There are several characters who have been brutally affected by this condition, including the dog Clyde, but none more so than our protagonist Sydney Parnell. Each chapter begins with an insightful statement from Sydney, either from her personal journal, a therapy session transcript, or from a publication/interview. Her words reflect her experiences in Iraq and her philosophical reactions to those experiences, and how those are affecting her current journey. I’m not one for military themes, but I found this thread of the story profoundly moving.

Several other things are worth mentioning. The dog Clyde is a wonderful addition to the story. He is not in it for cuteness. He is a serious character you won’t soon forget. Secondly, though Sydney sees ghosts of the dead people she dealt with in assignment in Iraqi, we are not dealing with a strong paranormal element. Thirdly, I must give kudos to Ms. Nickless for the tremendous amount of research that went into this book—most impressive. Finally, get a look at that gorgeous cover and the wonderful title, which turns out to be perfect.

I have two criticisms, which added up to a half star deduction. I found the first 20% of the book rather slow and this very putdownable section took me three days to get through. But an out of the blue event shot the pace up tremendously around that point, and from then on it was extremely hard to pull myself away. Also, I thought the end was too rushed. The wonderfully suspenseful and thrilling action scenes could have been more drawn out in my opinion. Furthermore, I would have liked to have had more about the final consequences of all the events on the survivors. Now, this book is #1 of a new series, so I am thinking we might get the latter in book 2; I hope so as I want to know more about these characters. Needless to say, I became heavily invested in Sydney Parnell. She has vaulted up to become one of my favorite protagonists ever.

This novel is well worth a read, trust me. If you are looking for a richly layered story imbued with a hefty amount of emotional and intellectual depth, pick this one up. Most strongly recommended.

I wish to thank Net Galley, Thomas and Mercer, and Ms. Barbara Nickless for an advanced copy of this novel. My opinions are totally mine and are not biased in any way.
...more

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Jan 08, 2019 Brenda rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is Barbara Nickless‘s debut book. I loved the characters of Sydney Rose Parnell and her K9 partner, Clyde. Sydney is an Iraq war vet, now working as a railroad cop in Denver. Sydney has quite a few ghosts that she sees. And she thinks Clyde has a few as well.

A woman known as “the kind hearted lady” is murdered and her PTSD-suffering fiancé is suspected. Denver cops call Sydney in to help find the man among the hobos riding the rails. A group of neo-Nazis is discovered also riding the rails ...more

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Mar 08, 2017 Veronica rated it it was amazing

Shelves: contemporary-mystery

**Reread July 2018: Still a solid story.**

I was dithering back and forth between giving this four or five stars. Since I stayed up late to finish it and because I thought it did a really good job of dealing with PTSD in war veterans, I settled on giving it the rare five stars.

"There’s no escaping death, Corporal Parnell. Not for any of us. Not even when you’re young. Not even when you come home."

This is a new to me author so I went into the story with absolutely no expectations. What I found wa ...more

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Sep 13, 2016 Tracie Payne rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This was EXCELLENT! At first it was a little shaky but I think it was just me. I loved Sydney's voice and inner thoughts. She was a serious bad ass but she was also broken. I loved Clyde a ton. This had a great mystery and it kept me guessing the whole time. I can't wait for the next book and I'm shocked this was the first novel for this author. The writing was fantastic.

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Feb 14, 2019 Michael Slavin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: crime-thriller, fiction, mystery, suspense, thriller

I read this book because it was in the crime genera and had a military dog in it that now helps her owner as a railroad cop. I also liked that it was a series. It was a little different than most and very interesting.

What was special about this book were the hobos, the railroad (she is a railroad cop), the ghosts she saw all the time as if they were just people at the table with her (she was in the military in graves registration so she saw lots of dead people), and it was a good story. It even ...more

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Sep 07, 2016 Tulay rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

More than five stars.

This author must have been studying the eyes of everyone since birth, she is more mature than her years on this earth. Description of places, cold, blowing desert sand short, but you feel like you were there with her characters. Marine Sydney Parnell back from Iraq, she is strong and haunted by the ghosts of soldiers she picked up, sometimes just the few body parts, so they come back home. Gripping story, beautifully written, suspenseful book. Can't wait to read more books w ...more

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Oct 01, 2016 Mark Stevens rated it it was amazing

"Blood on the Tracks" starts out as a thriller, morphs into a mystery, and turns back again into a movie-ready action-packed finish. But if you mention "movie," that sounds like this story hits the usual marks and follows the normal arcs. It doesn't. It's messy--in a good way--because it feels so driven by character. It's ambitious and sprawling. The story swoops from big picture (hey, stop that train!) to intimate. It's both violent and raw. "Blood on the Tracks" is about the ghosts of war, rac "Blood on the Tracks" starts out as a thriller, morphs into a mystery, and turns back again into a movie-ready action-packed finish. But if you mention "movie," that sounds like this story hits the usual marks and follows the normal arcs. It doesn't. It's messy--in a good way--because it feels so driven by character. It's ambitious and sprawling. The story swoops from big picture (hey, stop that train!) to intimate. It's both violent and raw. "Blood on the Tracks" is about the ghosts of war, racism, class, rank, a harrowing search for identity and, of course, truth and justice. It rolls all those topics, and more, into a multi-faceted manhunt, at first, and clue-finding mystery.

Railroad Police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell is one complex and interesting character. She sees dead people, for one thing. But don’t think paranormal. Uh, hardly. These are “skills” she doesn’t necessarily want. She’s haunted for many reasons, including the fact that she worked in corpse retrieval in Iraq. She was also involved in a situation covering up certain atrocities over there.

The plot involves the murder of young woman who was known for her kindness to hobos and drifters. She is murdered in vicious fashion. The victim had been "sliced and diced." The killer scrawled bloody hobo symbols nearby so Sydney and her K9 partner Clyde are pulled into the investigation and soon working to stop a northbound freight train as they hunt for the killer. Clyde is a great character, too. He’s got his own darkness. Something is broken inside him, too. They are a good pair.

But this is Sydney’s story—all Sydney. She is very much a loner. She had a “ragged” childhood, effectively without parents. Her father abandoned the family. Her mother murdered her new boyfriend. By age thirteen, “after a long period of furious, wounded rebellions,” Sydney Rose thought she had buried her demons “and set out to prove she was nothing like them.” She joined the Marines and later the railway police “out of courage” and tried to find a new identity, but kept realizing that the angry thirteen-year-old had never quite disappeared.

Sydney Rose wants nothing to do with murder and mayhem, but can’t avoid getting sucked into this one. She also has railroads and diesel in her blood, and this case goes straight to her heart. “I just wanted to be a regular twenty-seven-year-old woman, holding down a decent job, enrolled at the community college, and studying whatever caught my interest while I tried to figure out my life. Maybe later I’d want something more, but all I cared about right now were the simple things—my grandmother and my dog and a roof over our heads and not losing all of that because of something that went down in another life on the other side of the world.”

After Sydney Rose leads a big scene where they stop and search a freight train bound from Denver north toward Ford Collins. Sydney and the cops all think they’ve got their man—or do they? The guy in custody is Tucker Rhodes and here’s where Blood on the Tracks gets layered and rich. Rhodes is a war vet, too, and he’s dealing with the same mental struggles and a “war-broken heart.” Do you think there might not be something fresh about a character struggling with PTSD? Think again.

Tucker seems like the obvious culprit but based on the number of pages left to read we know there are some problems coming. Those problems start rushing at Sydney in waves. The hunt leads to big-picture conspiracies and into the deadly lair of white supremacists and ultimately into a terrifying confrontation with a predator during a snowstorm in Wiggins. In the end, there is blood on the tracks and many other places, too.

Sydney Rose is a terrific character. Her demons feel real. She broods about them but keeps pressing forward, too. She quotes Hemingway and Shakespeare (not Bob Dylan?), but doesn’t overdo it. Nickless no doubt put a ton of research into finding just the right credible details about railway cops and freight trains and all the flashbacks to Iraq, but nothing bogs this story down. Nickless gives "Blood on the Tracks" a chugging, relentless appeal. You will long remember this spectacular debut, especially after they make the movie.

More on my book review page including an interview with Barbara: https://markhstevens.wordpress.com/20...
...more

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Dec 08, 2016 Magdalena aka A Bookaholic Swede rated it it was amazing

Shelves: read-2016

Once in a while, a book turns up that right from the start sucks me into the story and makes me fall in love with its characters. Blood on the Tracks is a book like that. I was instantly hooked with the story and I could not for my life figure out the truth about the young woman death before Syndey Rose herself figured it out. Railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell is a new favorite heroine of mine. Her past in the army has left her with a broken heart and awful memories that plague h Once in a while, a book turns up that right from the start sucks me into the story and makes me fall in love with its characters. Blood on the Tracks is a book like that. I was instantly hooked with the story and I could not for my life figure out the truth about the young woman death before Syndey Rose herself figured it out. Railroad police Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell is a new favorite heroine of mine. Her past in the army has left her with a broken heart and awful memories that plague her every day. And she sees ghosts, they don't talk to her, but they are with her. A constant reminder of the war and not only that soon she sees the murdered woman as well...

Blood on the Tracks is Barbara Nickless debut book and the first in a series and I just can't wait to read the next book. I was impressed both with the story and the writing and I found Sydney Rose Parnell to be such a wonderful character, damaged both from childhood traumas and from the war when her lover Dougie died during a mission. I found myself loving Dougie as well, despite him hardly being in the story, just memories. The link to the war in Iraq is fascinating and I can't wait to find out more in the next book because something clearly isn't right with the "secret mission and events around it" and it seems that there are people who don't want Parnell to investigate it. I also found Parnell's relationship with Detective Mike Cohen interesting, and it will be interesting to see if he will be able to break down her walls. Then, we have Clyde, her K9 partner, I just love books that feature K9 dogs and Clyde just as Parnell has gone through hell in Iraq. In a way, they cling to each other after losing the one person that they love the most; Dougie.

Blood on the Tracks is a truly remarkable book, it's never dull, the characters are well-developed and flawed and I just love that Parnell sees ghosts. It feels like this was a book written for me with all the bookish ingredients I love.

I want to thank the publisher for providing me with a free copy through NetGalley for an honest review! ...more

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Oct 06, 2016 Theresa Alan rated it it was amazing

This is great writing. The story and characters grab you right away and the pace is unrelenting.
Railroad cop and Iraq veteran Sydney Parnell is brought in to help track down The Burned Man, a man known for riding the rails and suspected of a vicious murder of a woman who reached out to people in need, including those who ride trains.

The Burned Man is an Iraq vet who has burns over thirty percent of his body, including his face. He should be easy to find, but when Sydney and her canine, Clyde (w ...more

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Sep 23, 2016 Shelley rated it liked it

The temptation is to star the book and leave it at that. But most critical objections I've seen were to the language and subject matter of the novel, the less-than-angelic depiction of American troops, and the heroine's ETOH and drug use. While not to everyone's taste, surely, those are silly reasons to object to a book. (If you don't like these things, don't read the book. What on earth are you doing reading in this genre?)

Those things don't bother me at all. I had a brother in Iraq. I may look ...more

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Jul 21, 2017 Donna rated it really liked it

Shelves: crime-mystery

This book was a solid 4 stars. I enjoyed this. It falls into the Mystery/Crime genre and there were many things to like about this one. I liked the MC. She is not the normal MC for this genre. She was flawed and a little broken, but she was also strong. Her side kick is a dog which in some way makes her even more likable.

The story line meandered a bit, but I loved the plot points and there were some great twists. The thing that I liked the most was the creative writing of the author. She has a g ...more

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Nov 26, 2018 Bill rated it it was amazing

Excellent book, following former Marine and current railroad policewoman, who gets involved in tracking, with her K9 partner, another former marine and current hobo.

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Feb 15, 2017 Joann rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-in-a-series, fiction, killers, kindle, murder, mystery, mystery-series, page-turners, thriller

Special Agent Sydney Rose Parnell is introduced as a railway cop. I never knew we had such cops but we do and that intrigued me along with the story line of the homeless people who catch out on rail cars. I enjoyed the railroad angle and looking into the subculture of the hobos that is seldom talked about today. Another great part of this book is Sydney's canine partner, Clyde. He is a dog to love, for sure. This novel also has a very high body count but I still enjoyed this book. The only negat ...more

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Jan 01, 2019 Sirius Scientist rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: disease-mental-health, military-combat-war, crime-mystery-thriller-suspense

"Why did I re-up? Because when I came home, I didn’t know how to be home. Didn’t know how to fit in anymore. Didn’t know what to do with myself. I missed the order. The adrenaline. The sense of larger purpose. War is a drug; it’ll call you back until it kills you. —Corporal Sydney Rose Parnell."

We are dropped into the life of Sydney Rose Parnell, a railroad police officer and war veteran, getting ready for her day as the ghosts from her past crowd her kitchen table. The war broke both her and her K9 Clyde, and we see her world through that broken lens. A recent murder calls to Sydney Rose in more than one way: a horribly burnt former vet is implicated, who is also a former Marine, and who rides her trains to escape the ghosts that follow. We are introduced to a relatively large network of adopted and blood family, common to any smaller town life but many of them felt flat and both Denver and the surrounding area was mostly described in distances, and not in a way that allows you to visualize the area. The lack of description meant it could have taken place anywhere in middle America, and I actually kept forgetting that it was set in the greater Denver area because of Parnell's generic interactions with her surroundings.

[I'll admit I read this on New Year's Eve, so that could have been made worse by champagne and multiple interruptions]

While this is packaged as a mystery or crime thriller, a major theme throughout is both the physical and mental toll war has, and the struggle many veterans have when returning to civilian life. I'm unsure how much of her involvement in homicide would have actually overlapped, but overall I enjoyed the read.

Also, I should disclose I'm a sucker for "woman+dog defeat all the things", so that gives it a bit of a bump in the "continue to read" department. I'd advice, if you're interested in starting this book, that you go in knowing it's a series and was written with that in mind. We do get some resolution with this particular book, but there are a lot of bigger questions brought up that will likely span the series. ...more

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Nov 30, 2017 Pam rated it it was amazing

WOW! That was amazing! There were so many twists and turns and I LOVED it! This Author kept me engaged and excited about the story from the first page! The last 10% or so, I think I was holding my breath the entire time! Fantastic!!!! Highly recommend this one!

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Aug 27, 2018 CD {Boulder Blvd} rated it it was amazing

Shelves: s-my-e-books

Written in 1st POV, you meet the very complicated person of Sydney Rose Parnell. I'm not a fan of 1st POV but I thought this book was really well written. Secondary characters aren't always well developed in 1st POV and in this book, there were a number of well developed secondary charters (as well as a few ghosts). We also have Clyde, a very well developed service dog who is an excellent side kick and integrated into the many scenes very well.

Sydney has come back from the war in Iraq somewhat d ...more

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May 06, 2018 Audra B rated it it was ok

Shelves: read-ag-book-club

2.5 stars. It didn't hold my interest and I ended up skimming a lot of it. I was never able to picture or connect to the characters or the setting. There was no concept of time for me...I had no idea this all took place in about 48 hours. Do people really say "murder cop?" That was weird. I also didn't like her descriptions and metaphors of things. It was way too much and didn't fit.

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Nov 21, 2016 Paula Adams rated it really liked it

Shelves: netgalley

Lots of action, based in Colorado during the winter mostly in the railyard. Several of the police detectives/officers were in the Marines in Iraq and have secrets they have to live with. People go missing every year from the railyard at the same time every year. It's a combined effort between the Denver PD and the railyard police to find out what is happening.

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Jul 30, 2018 Lauren rated it it was amazing

Recommended to Lauren by: Veronica

Shelves: audiobooks, ptsd, k9, mystery, kick-ass-heroines, female-detectives, racism, cold-case

Blood on the Tracks
4.5 Stars

Sydney Rose Parnell, is an Iraq war veteran struggling with PTSD and working as a railroad policewoman. She is called in to help on the investigation into the brutal murder of a young woman with ties to the hobo/train jumper community.

Sydney is a wonderful heroine and her relationship with her canine partner, Clyde, is truly special. The author's research into PTSD and the mental health issues plaguing veterans is thorough and well written.

The mystery is engrossing ...more

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Oct 17, 2016 Chris rated it it was amazing

Blood on the Tracks is riveting, rapid-fire, and relevant. From the very first page I was hooked by the writing: the dialogue is gripping, the pacing is spot-on, the setting is rich, and the plotting masterful. As if that weren’t enough, Nickless gracefully paints complex characters with such insightful detail, I feel like I’ve known them—and loved them—for years. Throw in a skillful portrayal of police procedure and voilà! The best mystery I’ve read in years. I’ve already pre-ordered Dead Stop ...more

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Oct 11, 2016 Jacqui rated it it was amazing

Barbara Nickless' Blood on the Tracks is the story of Burned Man, a homeless ex-marine whose face is destroyed by an IED, who now rides the rails and eats from garbage cans. On his way home to get married, he's arrested for murdering his fiancée. The evidence is overwhelming, but not to Senior Special Agent Sydney Parnell, another ex-marine, and her partner Clyde, a former military working dog, both now serving as police on the railroads. She watched too many die in Iraq including her boyfriend. ...more

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Sep 05, 2016 Judi rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Best book ever!

I loved this book. You have those books that you don't want to finish, because it is that good. Special Agent, Sydney Parnell, served in the Iraq war with the Marines. My husband was a Marine and this book served a special place in my heart as I lost him two years ago. Once a marine, always a marine. This book so honored this special band of heroes.
When Sydney comes back from the war, she has secrets that she must keep about what when on over there. She was with the Mortuary divis ...more

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Sep 01, 2016 Books-fly-to-me rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fabulous!

Great read! I especially enjoyed the intimate play-by-play of a woman dealing with her past and her PTSD. Well drawn characters that scared the crap out of me reading as I did in the dark, alone, in the night.

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Oct 02, 2016 Judy Collins rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016-releases, books-read-in-2016, thriller

Review to follow.

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Sep 03, 2016 Tom Spear rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Outstanding

I read it of mysteries and thrillers. This has been one of the best. I can hardly wait for her next one.

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Nov 29, 2017 Martha b rated it it was amazing

Wow what a great first novel. Very exciting and interesting. Sydney rose is a really good character . Looking forward to the next book.

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Jan 29, 2017 Harold Kasselman rated it it was amazing

This is one of the best mystery police procedurals I have ever read. You know a book is great when you feel depressed that it has ended. But I will buy Barbara Nickless' next book in this series. This is a gripping, and intelligently written masterpiece. The lead character Sydney Rose, a railroad cop and ex-marine, is a fascinating figure. She is a product of her experience both as a child and as a war veteran who served in a gruesome role in the Mortuary Affairs department.( She literally scrap ...more

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Feb 18, 2017 murphy ✌ (daydreamofalife) rated it it was amazing

Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: favorite-series, 2017-reads, read-as-ebook

4.5 / 5

A bit brilliant and a bit brutal.

I'm no stranger to crime fiction, but this is one of, if not the first, book that I've read that so closely follows someone who's returned from Iraq. Normally, I prefer my fiction to be just a tad more fictional, being that the war in Iraq is too close to home for me. That being said, I found myself drawn to this book immediately while reading the synopsis.

At first I felt heartbroken, imagining the weight of the scars that the 'Burned Man' (aka Tucker Rhod 4.5 / 5

A bit brilliant and a bit brutal.

I'm no stranger to crime fiction, but this is one of, if not the first, book that I've read that so closely follows someone who's returned from Iraq. Normally, I prefer my fiction to be just a tad more fictional, being that the war in Iraq is too close to home for me. That being said, I found myself drawn to this book immediately while reading the synopsis.

At first I felt heartbroken, imagining the weight of the scars that the 'Burned Man' (aka Tucker Rhodes) carries with him. Then I had the hope that he was innocent of the crime of murdering his fiancée, because honestly, what could be a more tragic outcome of war? Finally, I read the next line of the synopsis, which introduces our protagonists; a railroad cop by the name of Sydney Rose Parnell and her military-trained K9 partner, Clyde. The book promises mystery and shock in the midst of icy winter weather, and it doesn't disappoint.

I had my wonders about why a railroad cop would be heavily involved in a murder investigation, but that's handled quickly, as Sydney is called in by homicide detective Mike Cohen to decipher 'hobo symbols' in the house of the victim. Once she arrives at the scene, Sydney realizes that she knows the victim, and from then on it's a trip down the rabbit hole, as Sydney and Clyde are drawn deeper and deeper into the investigation.

After Tucker is brought in, the mystery really begins as he steadfastly claims his innocence. Sydney, whether she truly believes him or simply needs to, nevertheless begins looking further into their coincidentally shared past in Iraq. But her line of inquiry has the potential to ruin lives - including her own, if secrets come to light.

Against evidence that implies Tucker's involvement, Sydney struggles to find the link between this crime and a crime in the past; all the while she and Clyde must deal with being haunted by ghosts they carried home from Iraq.

Honestly, the description only prepares you for maybe half the mystery and suspense that this book contains (as does my review). But if you're at all intrigued by the basics of this story, I'm sure you won't be disappointed by the twists and turns.

Secrets old and new, wrapped in lies and mystery, Blood on the Tracks is a book I won't soon be forgetting. And one with a sequel that I am already eagerly awaiting. ...more

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Dec 10, 2016 Linda L. Morrison rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Jaw dropping, edge of your seat thriller!

From the first chapter, I was sucked in and couldn't put it down. Loved the characters, total believable story, and a canine that captures your heart. Kept m
e reading long into the night. If this is Barbara Nickless' first novel, she did her mother proud. Hope to see a sequel in the near future!? I'll be waiting and watching for it.
A five star Bravo!!!

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Jun 17, 2017 Andy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Too much soap opera and bathos for me. The railroad cop idea is promising as a device for having someone be involved in crimes all over the place, but instead this story keeps folding in on itself and then down a black hole of delusions.

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About Barbara Nickless

Barbara Nickless

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I was made in Japan, born in Guam, and eventually made my way through various ports of call to Colorado. I’m the author of the crime novel Blood on the Tracks, which features railroad cop Sydney Rose Parnell and her K9 partner. When I’m not writing or traveling, I’m often in the Colorado Rockies hiking, caving, snowshoeing and drinking single malt Scotch—although usually not at the same time.

Other books in the series

Sydney Rose Parnell (4 books)

Books by Barbara Nickless

Gone to Darkness (Sydney Rose Parnell, #4)

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Quotes from Blood on the Tracks

“The videos that show the coffins coming back. People don’t want to know. And you and I? We’re part of what society can’t bear to remember. Because if they really think about it, if they really look at us and realize the cost we’ve paid to keep them safe? They can’t live with the guilt. They put up their ribbons and they give us fucking discounts at stores and they say, ‘Thank you for your service’ so they can go home and feel good about themselves. But if they really looked at what war does to us? Hell. They’d never let us come home.” “Stop” — 2 likes

“Do not call us heroes. Not if you are calling us that in order to absolve yourself of guilt over sending us off to an unwinnable war. Some of us are heroes. But some of us never had the chance. And some of us got slammed face-first into the fact that when we looked inside, we found nothing heroic at all. —Corporal” — 2 likes

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