Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Wednesday's Warriors: Aloha to Carrie Morgan and THE ROAD BACK FROM BROKEN - Book Review

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For Fitz, having survived means being haunted by the very memories he wants to forget...

Four months after surviving an IED blast in Afghanistan, Army sergeant Jacob Fitzgerald has recovered from his physical injuries but his invisible wounds continue to fester.

Devastated by the loss of his friend Peterson, a gifted medic who was killed in the IED attack, Fitz turns to alcohol to dull his pain. But his solace proves short-lived when a DUI crash leaves Fitz one screw-up away from a court martial and he comes home to find his wife Jenn packing her bags.

Desperate to save his marriage and his Army career, Fitz is befriended by Remy, a young Army chaplain haunted by demons of his own. Fitz leans on Remy for support when sobriety proves a mixed blessing, bringing the clarity of mind needed to reconnect with his family while unleashing a flood of vivid, searing flashbacks.

As the haunting memories of the IED attack and his fallen comrade send Fitz into a spiral of anguish, he must choose between numbing the pain and losing both his family and his career, or coming to terms with his role in the death of his friend.


A lawyer by training but a storyteller at heart, Carrie Morgan grew up in Littleton, Colorado but now lives in Florida with her husband, a U.S. Army infantry veteran.


Soldier's Memorial at Schofield Barracks


All you need is the plan, the road map, and the courage to press on to your destination. - Earl Nightingale


I tend to read lighthearted romance novels as an escape from challenges of military life.  Yet THE ROAD BACK FROM BROKEN was a book I needed to read.  It is a book that Americans should read to appreciate the cost of our freedom.

THE ROAD BACK FROM BROKEN begins with Jacob's realization that he may have healed his physical wounds.  But he needs a plan, a road map, and courage to face his emotional wounds from the IED blast - wounds that are now compounded by alcohol's destructive path.

Jacob is not alone at the crossroads of his recovery.  He finds support from Remy, a chaplain who carries his own burden. That's the beauty of this compelling novel - the imperfect characters offer authentic emotions which will resonate with readers.  I commend Morgan for featuring the chaplain's role in a military community.  Chaplains serve those with - and without - faith.  In the end, Morgan reminds us that every life matters, every soul can be redeemed, and every sacrifice is remembered.

I received a print copy from the author for an honest review.

Missing Man Formation welcomes ships
into the Pearl Harbor Channel

I am giving away military swag to one randomly selected commenter.  To enter the giveaway,

1.  Let's lighten this blog post up - leave a comment about a road trip that proved to be rewarding and/or humorous.   

While living in Hawaii, we visited Maui and took the Road to Hana; check out our pictures at this link.

2.  Comments are open through Saturday, February 6, 10 pm in Baltimore.

3.  I'll post the winner on Sunday, February 7.

Mahalo,

Kim in Baltimore
Aloha Spirit in Charm City

The Road to Hana

11 comments:

  1. There definitely is a cost to our freedom. I have a military brother who works hard to keep his family together while he's gone.
    My family LOVES road trips. We always find something funny or interesting along the way.

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  2. My husband and I took a trip to Ohio to visit his SeaBee buddies that ended up with a family phrase - radishes my ass. Kind of hard to explain but one was a farmer and my husband thought one of his fields was radishes and he made that comment because it was soybean and he was somehow insulted. So whenever we made a trip with our kids and they asked what is that growing - our phrase was used. Now it applies to anything that is called the wrong thing.

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  3. Embarrassing but true......driving down to Florida the interstate was closed due to a rock slide in Tennessee......had to go to the bathroom.......not one gas station or restaurant for 45 minutes....finally found a grocery store and ran to the bathroom in the back of the store....just made it. PS we did find a gas station with 4 pumps but they wouldn't let me use their bathroom but told me about the grocery store a a couple of miles down the road.

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  4. We went on a road trip from southern CA to Oklahoma this past Nov. In the higher elevations in New Mexico we ran into some unexpected snow flurries. First time I have ever driven with some snow falling and I was white knuckling the steering wheel!

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  5. On our PCS move from California to Washington, DC, we had kids and animals in tow. It was mid-summer and HOT. My husband was driving the 1972 Land Rover (think Hatari) and I had the car, with air conditioning. The Rover had no air conditioning and one day the heat index was 115 degrees. Still, the kids were arguing about who got to ride with him. Reason, I had the cat and dog. The dog was fine, but the cat was another matter. When she used the letterbox, it stunk up the whole car. Better yet, she yowled the entire trip, not happy being cooped up. It was a looooong trip.

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  6. When my father had long service leave we travelled around Australia for months. I was 11 and so remember it very well.

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  7. We took a road trip (via Ferry to France) and drove to Italy. There were seven of us in the car (Volkswagon station wagon) and it proved to be a very entertaining trip.

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  8. We took a trip around Arizona and some of the states nearby. We too turns reading aloud the latest Harry Potter and then the whole family was hooked.

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  9. When I was a kid we were on our way to Utah for visit family and my dad stopped in the middle of the road because there was a road runner going after a snake. The road runner finally got it and ran off with the snake in his mouth.

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  10. Heavy stuff. I hope this book helps many.

    My favorite road trip was with a car full of friends out to Colorado for skiing. We took turns driving, ate a ton of junk food, and laughed and sang along to the radio the entire way. Of corse by the time we actually reached the mountains we were so tired we crashed on the floor of the hotel lobby while we waited for our rooms.

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  11. not a fan of road trips

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