The Final Salute by Kathleen M Rodgers

Military service is a little bit like living in hell, whether you are in a war zone or home...

The author asked her publisher, Navigator Books, to share an ebook copy with me for review (thank you).  The book is available for purchase now. This book won the Military Writer's Society of America 2009 Silver Medal for Historical Fiction. 

I try not to read novels about the military and war.  I have lost friends in wars and try to distance myself from the subject.  However, this book is authentic and has a viable message.  Ghosts from the past are never forgotten; they still come to visit you once in a while.

Ms. Rodgers does a very nice job of showing how the entire family, including the wife and children, are impacted by military life.  She also pulls no punches about the military commanders having character flaws and the power to change any enlisted members life either for the better or for the worst. Men are never better than they should be, some are worse.  And if you are not the top officer, you don't argue, you just follow orders.

The author takes you through a rough spot in Turk's life and shares what just what it's like to be an honorable man caught up in a superior's screw up. There is language in this story.  It's part of the story and doesn't seem out of place.

If you'd like a closer look at what life is like on bases and in the field, here's a good place to start.  While story is fiction, it has the ring of truth.

Happy reading.