Review: The Death of a Dream
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 6, 2013
One day, the Iraqi desert will be a garden...again.Mohammed al-Tikriti, suicide bomber, former University of Bahgdad student"I want you to give this after the explosion to that pretty lady dressed as a man," he told the boy as he handed him an envelope.That is how international journalist Jade Snow was led on a life altering journey.Jade is in Iraq to shoot a documentary about the insurgents. All that changes when she witnesses a suicide bombing in Baghdad.As Jade and her cameraman, Alejandro, took cover from the blast, she felt a tug on her sleeve. The boy handed her the envelope and she read - "Why I became a terrorist." The letter was so tragic, she could not ignore it. envelope photo:With letter in hand, she is determined to get the real story. The Army threw the word "regrettable" around like it was confetti and it pissed her off. It drove her to seek answers.Jade was able to talk to Sergeant Lucas, a friend of Sergeant O'Shea's. O'Shea had been driving the truck when Mohammed rammed into it.Sergeant Lucas took her to O'Shea's room and she saw the desk, paper, pen and envelope, waiting for the letter that would never be written.He also wanted to show Jade the garden.  As she wondered at the Daisies growing in such a hostile place, he reached into his pocket......The Media can be scum sucking leeches, would Jade prove the exception to the rule?5 STARS - Would Buy It For Them (lol)Amongst all the ugliness, how ironic that these men could see the beauty the desert beheld.Lada Ray's style of blending history and fiction makes me feel as if I am living the story. The emotions washed over me, leaving me with a sense of futility and profound loss.The cover alone made me feel.....Well, I had preconceived ideas about the book. I devoured it. I thought I knew the story before hand, and felt such sorrow when it all came true. BUT Lada Ray added a little twist that I didn't see coming.Shows life comes full circle and it is a small world. Think about it . Has something ever happened to You, that caused you to feel that way? I feel this book shows that we have more in common than we think.Supposedly, we got involved in Iraq because of Saddam, who killed and tortured his own people.  Now that he was gone, why were we still there? Smart bombs and accidents. Weapons of mass destruction. But, why were we really there? Did the President have an ulterior motive? Were we deliberately deceived? All the questions have been asked. Were they ever answered? Makes me think of things I really don't want to think about. It makes my head spin with feelings of anger and betrayal, not only for myself, but for the soldiers who put their lives on the line for us. Will we ever know the truth?How lucky we are, here in the US! No matter how bad it gets, would you want to be anywhere else? Just think how people, like the Iraqi's, with war all around, still have to go about their daily lives - work, school........What's that saying - "Walk a mile in my shoes".I won this book on Lada Ray's blog, along with Gold Train and Stepford USA, books in the Accidental Spy Adventure Series. I look forward to reading the rest in the series.Green Desert (Accidental Spy Prequel)