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Ash Dogs
Marcus Green has just been discharged after a tour of duty in Iraq. Wounded and disfigured, Marcus returns to a life he barely recognizes. and that barely recognizes him. Stricken by guilt and self-doubt, and spurred on by deep-rooted restlessness, Marcus decides he must embark on a journey to reclaim that part of himself which he has lost. As he explores his past he reconnects with a forgotten half-brother in Mexico and a former hometown love, but he must also come to grips with his accidental family-other wounded veterans and the Iraqis he was supposed to protect. 20% of the profits from Ash Dogs will be donated to a charity benefiting homeless and disabled Veterans.
180 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2008
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 28, 2008
In this debut novel, wounded Iraq war veteran Marcus Green returns home to Ohio, trying to fit back into civilian life. He reconnects with a high school girlfriend, goes to Mexico to visit a half-brother he hasn’t seen since childhood and halfheartedly thinks about work and college.
Nicholes has assembled some good ingredients for a story here, but the pot isn’t stirred and the story isn’t fully cooked. He throws in details and subplots ripe with potential — discrimination as Marcus tries to apply for a job, a fugitive stealing his wallet — but they mostly go nowhere.
The main problem is that we don’t really see what’s driving Marcus — what, if anything, motivates him or why. Maybe he doesn’t know himself, but the third-person narration doesn’t give much of a window into his character. There’s not much of a window into any of the other characters, either: Most of the supporting characters are sketches at best, details here and there but no more than rough outlines. Perhaps that’s how Marcus sees them, but the overall effect is a book that feels like a rough outline, a story that needs more meat on its bones.
Nicholes has assembled some good ingredients for a story here, but the pot isn’t stirred and the story isn’t fully cooked. He throws in details and subplots ripe with potential — discrimination as Marcus tries to apply for a job, a fugitive stealing his wallet — but they mostly go nowhere.
The main problem is that we don’t really see what’s driving Marcus — what, if anything, motivates him or why. Maybe he doesn’t know himself, but the third-person narration doesn’t give much of a window into his character. There’s not much of a window into any of the other characters, either: Most of the supporting characters are sketches at best, details here and there but no more than rough outlines. Perhaps that’s how Marcus sees them, but the overall effect is a book that feels like a rough outline, a story that needs more meat on its bones.
August 4, 2008
(This review originally appeared at Oxyfication [DOT] net)
Justin Nicholes, author of the novel Ash Dogs (Another Sky Press), has set up for himself quite a challenge with this debut offering. His protagonist, former high school football star and current Iraq war veteran, Marcus Green, has returned home from his tour of duty and must assimilate back into domestic life. The novel focuses on Marcus's attempt at a simple, comfortable existence far removed from the rigors of war, which by design downplays the forward momentum present in most longer fiction works.
Because the novel focuses almost entirely on Marcus's life post-war, his strive for comfort can be mistaken for lack of motivation which then infuses his domestic relationships with a passive ennui. It is important to understand this intent when reading Ash Dogs. Know that you aren't getting explosions and military strategy here. This is a novel of relationships and the soldier's reintegration paranoia that reinforces the frailty of those relationships:
"Who did they think he was? And how many would guess I've done what I've done, have leapt to the ground at incoming fire and, finding myself wallowing in human remains, burrowed more deeply? [pg.26]"
And later, this exchange between Marcus and Bill, his summer baseball coach, also touches on this paranoia:
"So when you going to come by the school again?" Bill asked.
"When my face stops scaring kids," Marcus replied. [pg. 43]
Marcus's home life tends to mimic scattered battlefield shrapnel, with family members spread far, each piece responsible for its own damage. Part two (of three) of the novel is dedicated to Marcus's journey to Mexico to meet his half-brother, Oscar, where Marcus gets caught up in activities closely resembling the chaos that he may have witnessed in Iraq. It is during this visit that Marcus begins to realize the bonding power of carnage: "Nothing, he thought, not even having blood in common binds people together like shared witnessing of violence" [pg. 93].
Justin Nicholes, author of the novel Ash Dogs (Another Sky Press), has set up for himself quite a challenge with this debut offering. His protagonist, former high school football star and current Iraq war veteran, Marcus Green, has returned home from his tour of duty and must assimilate back into domestic life. The novel focuses on Marcus's attempt at a simple, comfortable existence far removed from the rigors of war, which by design downplays the forward momentum present in most longer fiction works.
Because the novel focuses almost entirely on Marcus's life post-war, his strive for comfort can be mistaken for lack of motivation which then infuses his domestic relationships with a passive ennui. It is important to understand this intent when reading Ash Dogs. Know that you aren't getting explosions and military strategy here. This is a novel of relationships and the soldier's reintegration paranoia that reinforces the frailty of those relationships:
"Who did they think he was? And how many would guess I've done what I've done, have leapt to the ground at incoming fire and, finding myself wallowing in human remains, burrowed more deeply? [pg.26]"
And later, this exchange between Marcus and Bill, his summer baseball coach, also touches on this paranoia:
"So when you going to come by the school again?" Bill asked.
"When my face stops scaring kids," Marcus replied. [pg. 43]
Marcus's home life tends to mimic scattered battlefield shrapnel, with family members spread far, each piece responsible for its own damage. Part two (of three) of the novel is dedicated to Marcus's journey to Mexico to meet his half-brother, Oscar, where Marcus gets caught up in activities closely resembling the chaos that he may have witnessed in Iraq. It is during this visit that Marcus begins to realize the bonding power of carnage: "Nothing, he thought, not even having blood in common binds people together like shared witnessing of violence" [pg. 93].
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews