Republic by Charles Sheehan-Miles (B)

Available at Amazon.com

Republic is a frightening portrayal of a future America in economic decline struggling against the brunt of globalization and troubled by domestic terror attacks. This future America is a nation where civil liberties are virtually nonexistent and federal power overreaches in the name of anti-terrorism. The writing is vital, gripping, and convincing; the voice true and rooted in the world it creates and its populist characters. The characters are real, and the vision offered by Miles is compelling enough to make you fear that you’re doing something subversive simply by reading the book. This is an engrossing read.

West Virginia National Guard Colonel Ken Murphy as he is inexorably drawn into conflict that erupts in a small town when a computer plant, and major employer, is closed without warning, leaving him, along with thousands of employees, without a paycheck and a future. Murphy’s problems are compounded because his disabled son can’t live without the now gone health coverage. The conflict comes to a crisis when government agents shoot up the plant and the employees in it, claiming it was a hotbed of “terrorist” activity. From this point onward, the events slowly spiral out of control and the, at first, seemingly absurd idea that West Virginia secede from the United States takes on more and more finality until Murphy finds himself leading the West Virginia National Guard against a possible federal invasion.

Though I think this is a strong book, there are some elements of it that I have had problems with. First, there is a point in the narrative where the story seems to be less about the colonel and more about other characters. I think this detracts from the power of the book because the book’s strength lies in the way that it tracks the lives of the colonel and his family in a turbulent time. Second, I wonder whether the book is controversial enough. Controversy sells books. This much is clear. But there is a way to make a story controversial in a bad way, and to make one not really that controversial at all. I think Republic falls into the latter category, not being controversial enough, because it does not push the envelope far enough, being pretty much a straight extrapolation of current events/fears with a kind of ripped-from-the-headline feel. But is its subject matter news to anyone? Oppressive federal government/police state, and an economically depressed nation—these themes are not new. They have been dealt with since the late 70s. Something more is needed to make them controversial again.

To find out more, please visit the author's website.

PODler Book of the Month MAY

May brought some very exciting books such as Prayer at Rumayla, The Father, The Heart of Mars, and Storyteller. All of these books are strong in some respect or another, but only one can be named book of the month.

I have had a hard time deciding, especially between The Father and Prayer at Rumayla: both are very strong human stories, which is what makes a good reading. In the end, I have chosen Prayer at Rumayla because it is a compelling and well-written human drama about a returning Gulf War veteran searching for closure and a new beginning.

Author Interview: Charles Sheehan-Miles

Charles Sheehan-Miles is the author of A Prayer at Rumayla and is our featured author. Below is the interview.

Prayer at Rumayla is your first novel. Tell us about the impetus for writing it.

I started work on the first draft about two weeks after the ground war ended in Iraq. To be honest, it was that, or blow my brains out. I was very disturbed not so much by the violence of the war as my emotional reaction to it. The first version was entirely autobiographical, nonfiction. It was terrible — primarily because by writing about myself, I found that the writing was very technical and distant. In 1993 I tossed out everything I’d written and started again from scratch, initially with a short 500 word story I’d written that captured Chet Brown’s voice. What Chet was able to do was act out the emotional turmoil I was stuck in, and do and say things that I would never have done.

How much of it is based on your own experiences and how much of it is fiction?

Virtually all of the combat sequences are directly from my own experience, with one major exception, a friendly fire incident when the company executive officer called in artillery on his own troops. Most of the rest is fiction—Chet’s coming home was symbolic both of how I felt and what many of my peers went through.

What are your views on the current war in Iraq?

My views are somewhat schizophrenic on the current war. Imagine if, in 1985, Ronald Reagan had announced that we were going back to Vietnam to get those damn communists. People would have gone insane. I felt the same way about invading Iraq — it was a mistake, a huge mistake. That said, I vividly recall the fate of the Iraqi people after we abandoned them in 1991. Our refusal to act in March 1991 resulted in hundreds of thousands of deaths. As huge a mistake as the invasion was, I believe prematurely leaving Iraq now would be a much bigger mistake. For my part, I side with the tens of millions of Iraqis who got out there and voted in their elections, and who want to return to normal lives. Ceding the battlefield to religious extremists would be an absolute betrayal. I’ve written a little about my feelings on this, in an article I co-wrote with another Gulf War vet, titled “Abandonment of Iraq is Wrong”

How has the situation of veterans changed, if at all, in comparison to their situation after Desert Shield?

There is increasing recognition within the military that post-traumatic stress is a real problem, and in at least some commands, the Army and Marine Corps have been taking very proactive steps to help out folks who are having trouble. There are exceptions, however. A good example is Fort Carson, Colorado, which is currently subject to a series of federal and congressional investigations because soldiers who’ve come home with PTSD are being thrown out with bad-conduct discharges instead of getting the help they need.

Have things gotten worse for veterans as far as services are concerned?

Overall the VA is much better than it was 15 years ago. The flip side is that the demand is so much higher, with hundreds of thousands of new patients. Waiting lists to see a doctor are sometimes as long as six months.

If there is someone out there like Private Brown, reading this, what would you tell him—how would you advise him?

Get help. Talk to your family, your peers, and if you aren’t getting help through your chain of command, go visit a VA Vet Center, which will see active duty soldiers. But get help. Post traumatic stress can be life threatening. The best resource out there is the Vet Centers, because the counselors are almost all combat vets themselves.


How did you get into writing?

I started writing because of a love of reading. My first short stories, when I was in the fifth grade, were complete rip-offs of Marion Zimmer Bradley and Philip Jose Farmer. Later on in high school I wrote a thriller that involved all of my friends getting killed. Had I written it today I’m sure I’d be kicked out of school, but back then my English teacher actually edited the book for me. A second novel was about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict — based on the six months I spent there after high school and before the Army.


Did you take any courses in writing, and if so, where and what courses were they?

None, though I could use some serious work on my grammar.


What is your writing day like?

That’s the funniest question I’ve ever heard. Two kids, a job, ownership of a new and tiny publishing company, and volunteer work mean I squeeze the writing in whenever I can. Usually I get that time in by waking up very very early, and writing from around 5 to 6 am, before the kids get up for school.

Do you keep a journal?

Not anymore. I was once very introspective, and kept details journals with multiple entries per day. After the war I stopped writing in my journal, and now manage two or three entries per year.

How do you begin a story—with a concept of character or plot?

Both really. Prayer at Rumayla arose so much out of personal experience that it’s hard to describe its genesis, but I think the primary point was that very short story I wrote sitting in the coffee shop at Oxford Books in Atlanta back in ‘93. The new one—Republic—arose out of questions generated by Timothy McVeigh and the Oklahoma City bombing. Later the concept crystalized around the idea of a modern day civil war, and what conditions could cause it to happen.

What challenges do you face as a writer?

Time and discipline and rewrites are the big challenges. The discipline and rewrites go together—writing a first draft is kind of like mainlining—it’s an experience of joy and ecstasy. The re-write is a slog, a terrible burden. For the new book I hired a professional editor who I’ve worked very closely with, and that’s made the process work a lot better. She had a lot of great ideas and really helped flesh out the work.


Do you have any books on writing craft that you use and love and would recommend to other writers or to people who want to start the journey of a writer's life?

Donald Maass and How to Write a Breakout Novel is probably the best—he really breaks down some of what makes a good read turn into a great one.

You have also written a new book, Republic. I have to say that the cover alone makes me want to grab it and read it. Please tell us something about it.

The question is this: If a government continues to tighten security, surveillance and the laws in response to terrorism, at what point have we actually given up our freedom? The story centers around a small town near Harpers Ferry where the main employer, a microchip manufacturer, has shut down and left everyone out of work, and takes place about ten years in our future. Republic envisions a future where our government has become so incredibly intrusive in people’s lives, compounded with massive debt and an economy that has collapsed. The result: spiraling, out of control violence that ends up in a shooting war in West Virginia. The settings: all over West Virginia, plus a lot in Washington, DC in the halls of Congress. The characters are all primarily tied together by one man, Lieutenant Colonel Ken Murphy, an Iraq War veteran who is now a battalion commander in the West Virginia national guard. Murphy finds himself faced with some tough questions—questions about his loyalty to his country versus his oath to defend the Constitution.

Prayer at Rumayla by Charles Sheehan-Miles (A+)

Available at Amazon.com

Profoundly moving, raw, exceptionally well-executed vision into one man's troubled heart as he deals with betrayal and the complexities of life after returning from the 1991 tour in Iraq.

In Prayer at Rumayla you will find an expertly written psychological thriller charting the slowly building resentment and psychological degradation of the protagonist, Private Brown. The story begins with betrayal and disappointment, this theme informing nearly every relationship that the protagonist has: that with his lover, with the Army life in the States, personified by a new and overly harsh sergeant, and finally with his remaining family. Brown is looking for a place of rest, for open arms after being wearied by combat, but finds no safe harbor-everyone, seemingly, is living for themselves, their lives too full to allow Brown even a slightest foothold:

In my room, I get another shock. Everything is gone. My clothes, books, my photo album. Chris, what about my diaries! What the hell did she do with them! I yank open the closet door - empty. The other one down the hall is filled with towels and blankets. I throw it all out on the floor, searching for my things. I don't believe this. Seven years of journals gone - what kind of monster is she? I sink to the floor and put my head in my hands. I wish I could cry.

What happens to such a man—a man who can find no rest in those who should give him peace? Indeed, having been altered by the experiences of war, can Brown ever find peace again? These questions permeate Prayer, with hints of violence presented as dangling causes, bits of dialogue, about killing the sergeant. But the violence is not something that Brown wants, it erupts of its own volition, an ugly monster created by his past, leaving Brown powerless to stop it.

Staring at the road ahead of me, I wonder what will happen. Jesus, I think I really hurt him. I couldn't stop myself; I just got so angry. I don't want to hurt anybody. I don't want to hurt anybody. I don't know what I'm going to do.

Unlike in many novels dealing with violence, violence in Prayer is well earned, evolving from the broken hearts and shattered dreams of the characters, being their desperate cry for help, a last stab back at the world that turns a cold shoulder to them. We understand why Brown is the way he is, and we even, if possible, feel a bit of sympathy with him: Brown is lost; having survived the close knit lifestyle of combat soldier, he returns home to find a void. And he's not himself anymore, but a different man, one that he no longer understands.

Will he be able to find a foothold into a new life or will his life spin out of control and he end up crashing into the ground? Just when you think that Prayer is about to offer a cheap resolution, something by-the-numbers, you find that the ending is much more nuanced and thought out, evolving out of the story and the characters in it.

Prayer is easily one of the most impressive books reviewed in this blog. The writing is spectacular, the kind you'd expect to find in a mainstream novel, and this is somewhat disappointing because it demonstrates that mainstream publishing does not always publish books that deserve to be published.