Review: A Tightly Wound Military Thriller!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 06 12, 2014
Gerald Greene is a Vietnam War veteran, and Collateral Damage reflects that he knows wars usually occupy a huge battlefield, and are equally filled with a broad spectrum of human drama. Often war is thought of as being hardcore, decisive, and final. It can be, but war is also filled with the fragile feelings experienced by those affected by the warring conflicts. Feelings that linger long after the last shot has fired. CD combines both extremes with a thin thread of romance struggling to become victorious. Greene executes CD as if he’s on a mission that must be fulfilled, for the reader.Although his military thriller reads smoothly, he arms his story with a high-grade payload of shocks for the reader. If you’re new to reading military thrillers, you’ll appreciate Greene’s approach. He gives just enough hints and suggestions for the reader to fill in the unimaginable horrors of war, as the events explode, page by page. His merciful pen has left out the graphic gore often associated with war, and yet the chilling backdrop of future awesome horror is ever present for the reader.The author anchors the plot through a variety of first-person perspectives, which left me with an array of emotions to sort through as different individuals moved the story forward. Collateral Damage is tightly written, but when I finished it, I knew CD was a lit fuse leading to the author’s other nine novels, just waiting to erupt, page by page.Mission accomplished, Mr. Greene! Collateral Damage gave me an afternoon of Five-Star entertainment. And your Vietnam War experience is greatly appreciated!