Wednesday, July 5, 2017

Shake the Devil Off

Author: Ethan Brown
Stars: 1
Review by: MApgar


This was good up to a point, at which the author attempted to be all deep and analytical - then he totally lost all control of it. Zack Bowen found himself some focus in Iraq - the father of two small kids he fathered impulsively on a stripper he met, he had little sense of responsibility til that came along. His wife leaving him while he was out on duty, he returned home to New Orleans and worked several odd jobs but the pair never divorced. He did, however, meet Addie - a local artist. For a while they seemed fairly happy, and better matched than he was with his estranged wife. Until he strangled Addie, chopped her to bits, left the pieces around the apartment and in pots, and then leapt to his death from a nearby building. So. The author then goes on this huge PTSD journey filled with metaphors, rarely focusing back on the primary subjects. This takes up a sizable portion of the book, and although it is certainly a very important struggle that many veterans go through to automatically go 'oh, he had PTSD' and then wax poetic about it was rather insulting almost. Maybe the guy was just nuts.
 

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