PRAYER AT RUMAYLA: A NOVEL OF THE GULF WAR by Charles Sheehan-Miles
Cincinnatus Press
Cary, North Carolina
www.cincinnatuspress.com
Genre: Fictional Psychological/War Memoir
Rating: Expectional
ISBN: 9780979411403, $14.95, 196 pp.
Chet Brown tells his story: life before, during and after the Gulf War–his transformation from a kind man into a trained killer. The straw which broke his mental back upon returning–loss of Amy, his love, to his best friend, set him off on a drunken, cross-country titty-bar spree. The war had changed him. The nightmares wouldn’t stop, and he didn’t know how to control the ‘monster’ he’d become.
Charles Sheehan-Miles originally wrote this honest, revealing novel shortly after the 1991 Gulf War. His story unfolds as he flip-flops back and forth between segments of his life–memories of his youth . . . his unstable mother, never having known his dead father; reliving the war he couldn’t forget and betrayal by the ones he loved. Sheehan-Miles does an excellent job in relating the realities of his tank/war experiences on the ground at the front and the psychological conflict upon his return. Allow me to share a sample of his writing with you, from page 141:
"I jumped to my machine gun as the first round was fired by ‘31. The flash and concussion knocked me to the side, and a fuel truck exploded a hundred meters to my front, spraying burning diesel, chunks of metal and body parts in a fifty meter radius.
"Sergeant Arno and I were both stunned as we gripped our machine guns. Peering into the flame I could barely see the silhouette of a second truck, half engulfed from the flames of the first.
"A figure ran out, burning over half of his body. Instantly I depressed the trigger, then cursed. The safety was on. The bass thump of Arno’s .50 started as I fumbled with the trigger. The man fell to the ground, just as a second ran across my field of vision, burning, desperately trying to escape.
"I launched a spray of bullets from the machine gun, just short. Following the tracers I walked the stream of bullets into the back of the running, burning man. He crumpled to the ground and I continued firing, a sudden feeling of triumph and lust in my body. Fuck yeah! Die motherfucker!"
I like Charles Sheehan-Miles’s writing style, honesty and courage, and per the author, "...word of mouth from enthusiastic readers is what allows books to flourish...". Check him out (http://www.shehanmiles.com). You won’t be disappointed.
Reviewed by Kaye Trout - June 13, 2007
Cary, North Carolina
www.cincinnatuspress.com
Genre: Fictional Psychological/War Memoir
Rating: Expectional
ISBN: 9780979411403, $14.95, 196 pp.
Chet Brown tells his story: life before, during and after the Gulf War–his transformation from a kind man into a trained killer. The straw which broke his mental back upon returning–loss of Amy, his love, to his best friend, set him off on a drunken, cross-country titty-bar spree. The war had changed him. The nightmares wouldn’t stop, and he didn’t know how to control the ‘monster’ he’d become.
Charles Sheehan-Miles originally wrote this honest, revealing novel shortly after the 1991 Gulf War. His story unfolds as he flip-flops back and forth between segments of his life–memories of his youth . . . his unstable mother, never having known his dead father; reliving the war he couldn’t forget and betrayal by the ones he loved. Sheehan-Miles does an excellent job in relating the realities of his tank/war experiences on the ground at the front and the psychological conflict upon his return. Allow me to share a sample of his writing with you, from page 141:
"I jumped to my machine gun as the first round was fired by ‘31. The flash and concussion knocked me to the side, and a fuel truck exploded a hundred meters to my front, spraying burning diesel, chunks of metal and body parts in a fifty meter radius.
"Sergeant Arno and I were both stunned as we gripped our machine guns. Peering into the flame I could barely see the silhouette of a second truck, half engulfed from the flames of the first.
"A figure ran out, burning over half of his body. Instantly I depressed the trigger, then cursed. The safety was on. The bass thump of Arno’s .50 started as I fumbled with the trigger. The man fell to the ground, just as a second ran across my field of vision, burning, desperately trying to escape.
"I launched a spray of bullets from the machine gun, just short. Following the tracers I walked the stream of bullets into the back of the running, burning man. He crumpled to the ground and I continued firing, a sudden feeling of triumph and lust in my body. Fuck yeah! Die motherfucker!"
I like Charles Sheehan-Miles’s writing style, honesty and courage, and per the author, "...word of mouth from enthusiastic readers is what allows books to flourish...". Check him out (http://www.shehanmiles.com). You won’t be disappointed.
Reviewed by Kaye Trout - June 13, 2007
posted by Kaye | 7:57 AM
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