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render
The enemy proved himself capable of blending improvised bombs into the local landscape and detonating them for maximum effect. But IED attacks left forensic evidence, and Zach’s soldiers were on a mission to search every building in their sector, looking for signs of enemy activity while talking up the civilian non-combatants, trying to win them over. In the summer of 2007, an infantry company deploys to Baghdad, Iraq, as part of The Surge, the U.S. Army's effort to defeat the growing insurgency. The infantry company is led by Captain Zach Davis, who leads his soldiers on foot patrols in search of the enemy. He's also in charge of a ragtag group of tankers that got rolled into his company just before shipping out to Iraq. 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.
208 pages, Paperback
Published January 7, 2020
1141 people want to read
About the author
W. Joseph O'Connell
2 books10 followersW. Joseph O'Connell is an American author who lives in Texas. He graduated from Pennsbury High School in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, in 1987. After high school he joined the U.S. Navy as a journalist, serving at duty stations in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; Argentia, Newfoundland; and aboard the USS Mount Whitney at Norfolk, Virginia.
After a 5-year enlistment in the Navy, he worked as a newspaper reporter in Texas until joining the U.S. Army in 2006. He served as an armor crewman with the 3rd Infantry Division during The Surge into Baghdad from 2007-08, and with the 1st Cavalry Division in Kirkuk, Iraq in 2010-11.
His favorite current writers include Bret Easton Ellis and Nelson DeMille.
After a 5-year enlistment in the Navy, he worked as a newspaper reporter in Texas until joining the U.S. Army in 2006. He served as an armor crewman with the 3rd Infantry Division during The Surge into Baghdad from 2007-08, and with the 1st Cavalry Division in Kirkuk, Iraq in 2010-11.
His favorite current writers include Bret Easton Ellis and Nelson DeMille.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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June 4, 2020MWSA 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)
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)
January 29, 2020
Enjoyed this book
This book was great. It was really made clear just how hard coming home from a deployment must be. This type of book is usually not my cup of tea but it was an easy read!
This book was great. It was really made clear just how hard coming home from a deployment must be. This type of book is usually not my cup of tea but it was an easy read!
December 18, 2019
Upon reading an advance copy, I really liked when the characters returned home from Iraq and how the portrayal of PTSD was handled.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews