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thirzaisreading's review
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
candacesiegle_greedyreader's review
5.0
There are all sorts of missionaries in this excellent novel. The first are a group of Americans who build a school in a rural Colombian town to teach reading, math, and about a personal Jesus. When the guerilla came, followed by the paracos, they vanished. Killed? Fled? The other missionaries are those. of justice, technology, survival, all of which leave the people of Santander del Norte terrified and praying for the missionary who brings peace, no matter what that means.
Colombia is the "good war," one where there is belief that good is conquoring evil. For journalist Lisette, weary of covering the hopeless war in Afganistan, it doesn't turn out to be that way. Nor for Mason, an army medic in Afganistan who becomes a liaison with the Colombian special forces. His Colombian counterpart, Juan Pablo, faces reality with a pragmatic attitude, but none of them is on the front line as solidly as Abel, whose family was slaughtered by one faction and ends up serving that same group.
The first sections of the book that include Mason are too full of acronyms, like some kind of deadly secret boys' club. It makes it hard for non-military readers to be part of the story. This distancing from the reader may be intentional, with the endless fighting and death deflected in an alphabet soup. This dehumanizing way of waging war has spread across the globe, and no one knows this better than Mason.
As with any novel with several points of view, you'll be more invested in some than others. This is true of "Missionaries." But all of these points of view are needed to make the story complete. It's a devastating tale, worth telling.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this title.
4.5 stars.
``Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
Colombia is the "good war," one where there is belief that good is conquoring evil. For journalist Lisette, weary of covering the hopeless war in Afganistan, it doesn't turn out to be that way. Nor for Mason, an army medic in Afganistan who becomes a liaison with the Colombian special forces. His Colombian counterpart, Juan Pablo, faces reality with a pragmatic attitude, but none of them is on the front line as solidly as Abel, whose family was slaughtered by one faction and ends up serving that same group.
The first sections of the book that include Mason are too full of acronyms, like some kind of deadly secret boys' club. It makes it hard for non-military readers to be part of the story. This distancing from the reader may be intentional, with the endless fighting and death deflected in an alphabet soup. This dehumanizing way of waging war has spread across the globe, and no one knows this better than Mason.
As with any novel with several points of view, you'll be more invested in some than others. This is true of "Missionaries." But all of these points of view are needed to make the story complete. It's a devastating tale, worth telling.
Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for access to this title.
4.5 stars.
``Candace Siegle, Greedy Reader
brentlawless's review
dark
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
shirleytupperfreeman's review
Whoa - this was intense. It's about war and violence and geopolitics and so many things I don't really understand. What's worrisome is that probably the real people playing these roles don't fully understand them either. Mason is an American special forces operative who has served tours in Afghanistan and Iraq and is now serving as a trainer in Columbia. Juan Pablo is with military intelligence in Columbia and put in his time as a soldier during the early days of the drug wars. His daughter is a college student with an interest in human rights. Abel is a young Columbian who survived the massacre of his family and village. As a survivor he was picked up by Jefferson and served as his aid in his paramilitary endeavors before becoming a store-owning/tax paying 'normal' citizen. Jefferson has ambitions - he wants control and respect and wouldn't mind having his face on posters like Che or Castro or Chavez. Lisette is an American journalist covering war zones - from Afghanistan to Columbia. All of these characters, and several others, come together in Columbia. There are graphically violent scenes, military jargon, Columbian groups that I don't understand (narcos, paras, guerrillas, etc) but also some brilliant writing about subjects most of us would prefer to not know about. As one of the characters says at the end, "In the modern world, everything is related to everything."
islagilmer's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
vandelay's review
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bccoulter's review
4.0
a very different book on war. Not "war is hell" nor "noble warriors" - but a very good exposition of what modern war is - its successes and its failures, strengths and weaknesses - and who are the people that fight them. All in a compelling page turner.
chrischrischris's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
radbear76's review
5.0
Good story. Good character development. Its premise of war being truly global and interchangeable between theaters of operation was a new concept for me. Or at least better stated than I had encountered in the past.
robthereader's review
4.0
Part political thriller, part expose on the global military industrial complex, Phil’s Klay Missionaries is a novel that looks at conflict and its generational impacts through the eyes of four different and distinct characters. Lisette is an American journalist tired of her ticker lines from Afghanistan not moving the needle or getting much readership back home. Mason is a former spec ops medic turned American government liaison tired of firefights and looking for a good war, not a losing one. Juan Pablo is a colonel in the Colombian military with a history of fighting messy wars with and against guerilla, paramilitaries and now possibly narcos all while trying to be a father to a daughter who is not afraid to question her country’s and family’s past. Finally, Abel is a former paramilitary lieutenant trying to make amends for his sins through an honest living that gets upended when his former boss makes a return.
Together, these four characters get implicated in a shift in policy by the Colombian military as it seeks to take control of the American intelligence apparatus that the police have been using in hope to neutralize the narcos threats. The Colombian government is also voting on a peace accord with the FARC rebels that aims to grant amnesty to those that have committed crimes against humanity in hopes of lesser violence. Looming further in the background, the US government is trying to learn and replicate the tactics used in Colombia in its other forever wars. This shapes Juan Pablo and Mason’s relationship as a mixed codependency where one wants access to technology and intelligence to continue to fight for the honor of his country while the other seeks information and lessons for how to continue to fight for the honor of his country but with hopefully better results and less meaningless violence.
Klay’s writing style allows for jumps between each character. At first, they each get their own chapters and we are given access to their stream of consciousness in first person. This allows the reader to see how they interact with other secondary characters such as the menacing drug lord Jefferson, the brave faced NGO worker Lisa, the curious daughter Valencia, the washed up mercenary Diego and the combat veterans of Mason’s company. These interactions each revolve around past and present violence for the protagonists and the first person omniscient narrative lays out how violence grips the mind and how each processes it. In a way, the four protagonists are all victims and evangelists of it. The book changes gear in its third act and climaxes when all four protagonists’ fates bring them together leading to a switch to third person story telling. This causes a loss in personal understanding for each but grants the reader an insight into how war grips people in big and small ways and how even large apparatuses such as the military can be led astray in confusion.
The epilogue closes the book with Juan Pablo having taken up a contractor position in the Arabian peninsula. He notes how all the technologies and strategies used and honed in Afghanistan and Colombia have come together to commit mass violence against tribes people who threaten big oil and thus the world at large. His work is now removed from seeing bodies yet he realizes his actions have the same consequences in that a target acquired from a drone camera is still a future funeral.
Together, these four characters get implicated in a shift in policy by the Colombian military as it seeks to take control of the American intelligence apparatus that the police have been using in hope to neutralize the narcos threats. The Colombian government is also voting on a peace accord with the FARC rebels that aims to grant amnesty to those that have committed crimes against humanity in hopes of lesser violence. Looming further in the background, the US government is trying to learn and replicate the tactics used in Colombia in its other forever wars. This shapes Juan Pablo and Mason’s relationship as a mixed codependency where one wants access to technology and intelligence to continue to fight for the honor of his country while the other seeks information and lessons for how to continue to fight for the honor of his country but with hopefully better results and less meaningless violence.
Klay’s writing style allows for jumps between each character. At first, they each get their own chapters and we are given access to their stream of consciousness in first person. This allows the reader to see how they interact with other secondary characters such as the menacing drug lord Jefferson, the brave faced NGO worker Lisa, the curious daughter Valencia, the washed up mercenary Diego and the combat veterans of Mason’s company. These interactions each revolve around past and present violence for the protagonists and the first person omniscient narrative lays out how violence grips the mind and how each processes it. In a way, the four protagonists are all victims and evangelists of it. The book changes gear in its third act and climaxes when all four protagonists’ fates bring them together leading to a switch to third person story telling. This causes a loss in personal understanding for each but grants the reader an insight into how war grips people in big and small ways and how even large apparatuses such as the military can be led astray in confusion.
The epilogue closes the book with Juan Pablo having taken up a contractor position in the Arabian peninsula. He notes how all the technologies and strategies used and honed in Afghanistan and Colombia have come together to commit mass violence against tribes people who threaten big oil and thus the world at large. His work is now removed from seeing bodies yet he realizes his actions have the same consequences in that a target acquired from a drone camera is still a future funeral.