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literaryintersections's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Book after book after book I am convinced Maberry can't do anything more to hurt Joe. But LORD LORD LORD he proves me wrong everytime.
Now these type of military based thrillers are usually not my bag. But there's something about Joe and Top and Bunny - I absolutely love those three. Plus Ghost and Church and Rudy and Junie and Circe. Like the cast of characters is phenom and I love the world that JM has built. With that being said, this book is rough and wild and legit all my notes said "wtf is happening".
"The war is the war and it will always rage. Here and there. Under different flags fueled by different kinds of hate. Rationalized by the ideology du jour."
The way JM's timelines go, you know you are reading something important but you have no clue why or how or what it means. Everything feels jumbled until it's not. Now the big reveal I guessed but it never impacted by experience. But the way JM writes these books you know there is a ton of research and the setting of Israel and Jordan in this book - the Dead Sea Scrolls, magic, the Bible, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity? I was RIVETED. And googled so much.
I just love these books. Even when JM does things that frustrate me.
I will say that JM should never write a sex scene again and if he does he should never say juices again. My other issue is that JM had a character use the N-word to Top and like I get it, you want to show this dude is a racist American but like could we have done that another way? It was fully there and a jolt and I just don't ever think a white author should use that.
Now these type of military based thrillers are usually not my bag. But there's something about Joe and Top and Bunny - I absolutely love those three. Plus Ghost and Church and Rudy and Junie and Circe. Like the cast of characters is phenom and I love the world that JM has built. With that being said, this book is rough and wild and legit all my notes said "wtf is happening".
"The war is the war and it will always rage. Here and there. Under different flags fueled by different kinds of hate. Rationalized by the ideology du jour."
The way JM's timelines go, you know you are reading something important but you have no clue why or how or what it means. Everything feels jumbled until it's not. Now the big reveal I guessed but it never impacted by experience. But the way JM writes these books you know there is a ton of research and the setting of Israel and Jordan in this book - the Dead Sea Scrolls, magic, the Bible, Judaism, Islam, and Christianity? I was RIVETED. And googled so much.
I just love these books. Even when JM does things that frustrate me.
I will say that JM should never write a sex scene again and if he does he should never say juices again. My other issue is that JM had a character use the N-word to Top and like I get it, you want to show this dude is a racist American but like could we have done that another way? It was fully there and a jolt and I just don't ever think a white author should use that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Racism, Xenophobia, and Gun violence
Moderate: Vomit, War, Torture, and Sexual assault
Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt
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