Review: Well written Story about an Air Force warrior that makes you think!
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 19, 2012
As I turned off my Kindle, finished with Harry's War, I couldn't help but think about what our guardians in the sky must think and go through. Harry's War is a well-written, insightful description of how our fighter pilot warriors think, and the challenges they face when they come back down to earth.Benjamin writes for a living, so it is no surprise that Harry's War is well-written. What is a surprise is how the story follows Harry through his evolution as a person, and I was heartened to see how the author transformed the notion of war from one meaning to another (I won't give the game away here). I am guessing Benjamin has some first-hand experience with this, which made the story not only believable, but meaningful as well.No book is perfect, right? I do wish Harry's War had more dialogue, to make it more personal. I kept finding myself wondering what kind of person Harry was. Does he have a sense of humor? What is his his favorite drink? What kind of women is he attracted to? Of course, that would turn Benjamin's novella into a novel, which would defeat the purpose of the format, and is why I didn't reduce my rating to a 4-star. Bottom line, Harry's War is a strong foundation for a more robust novel. I would like to see more from Benjamin and read about Harry up-close-and-personal!With that minor criticism out of the way, where Benjamin excels is not just the descriptions of the military systems, hardware and weapons, that's all very cool, but he does a masterful job in dissecting Harry's psychology. He helps the reader understand what drives his main chracter, develops his strengths and weaknesses and analyzes how Harry's background affected his trajectory in life and where he lands. This alone makes Harry's War worth the read.Another positive is that I don't often read novellas, in fact, this was my first. I enjoyed the crisp format, and Benjamin makes the most of it. It took me just a few hours to read, but there is alot of information packed into this work (that's a good thing).Overall, an excellent work! Well done Benjamin!