I have not served in the military nor been subject to a manhunt. However, I have been battling PTSD for almost 5 years. There are many, many misconceptions of PTSD in the media, and finding it portrayed accurately is a difficult task. My goal with Polaris was to first depict mental illness as realistically as possible, with all its ugly messiness. Secondly, the social commentary of a dystopian-sci-fi setting fascinated me. Polaris came about when I combined the two. In my own personal experience, most people do not understand the totality of PTSD and how it overtakes one’s life.
As one of the most unflinching, realistic depictions of PTSD in modern history, First Blood gave me shivers. It provides an intense dive into the psyche of someone traumatized by warfare and how messy and unpredictable one can become when attempting to adjust to civilian life. It may be hard for some to stomach.
From New York Times bestselling author, David Morrell, comes a classic thriller that introduced the character of Rambo, one of the most iconic action heroes of the twentieth century.
Called “the father of the modern action novel,” FIRST BLOOD changed the genre. Although the book and the film adaptation have similarities, they are very different, especially its unexpected ending and its greater intensity.If you’ve only experienced the film, you’re in for a surprise.
Once they were soldiers. Rambo, the ragged kid whose presence in town is considered a threat. And Teasle, the Chief of Police of Madison, Kentucky. Both have…
I have loved this series for a long time. The social commentary on fascism in the book might seem outlandish, but is frighteningly accurate when compared to historical examples. Katniss’ PTSD is put on display in a more simplified format than some other examples, making it easier to digest.
Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she is forced to represent her district in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. But Katniss has been close to death before - and survival, for her, is second nature. The Hunger Games is a searing novel set in a future with unsettling parallels to our present. Welcome to the deadliest reality TV show ever...
It is April 1st, 2038. Day 60 of China's blockade of the rebel island of Taiwan.
The US government has agreed to provide Taiwan with a weapons system so advanced that it can disrupt the balance of power in the region. But what pilot would be crazy enough to run…
I was fascinated to see the skills of the protagonist at work in this novel. It made me feel as though I was right there in the colds of Siberia with him, running from his enemies and using his trapping skills to survive. Although the psyche of the protagonist might feel underdeveloped, the focus of the book is on his remarkable survival skills, and what he is willing to do to get himself to safety.
“For sheer adventure L’Amour is in top form.”—Kirkus Reviews
Here is the kind of authentically detailed epic novel that has become Louis L’Amour’s hallmark. It is the compelling story of U.S. Air Force Major Joe Mack, a man born out of time. When his experimental aircraft is forced down in Russia and he escapes a Soviet prison camp, he must call upon the ancient skills of his Indian forebears to survive the vast Siberian wilderness. Only one route lies open to Mack: the path of his ancestors, overland to the Bering Strait and across the sea to America. But in…
This book wrecked me. As a psychological thriller, it dives deeply into the psyche of an ordinary person surviving a horrific event and the fallout that comes after it. The prose is gorgeously written and the characters are well developed, with intense dialogue and a sympathetic, unreliable narrator. The protagonist’s mental illness unfolds in such a brutal manner that it took my breath away.
Named a New York Times Notable Book of 2018 and a Best Book of 2018 by NPR, The New York Times Book Review, Amazon, The Boston Globe, LitHub, Vulture, Slate, Elle, Vox, and Electric Literature
“Tana French’s best and most intricately nuanced novel yet.” —The New York Times
An “extraordinary” (Stephen King) and “mesmerizing” (LA Times) new standalone novel from the master of crime and suspense and author of the forthcoming novel The Searcher.
From the writer who “inspires cultic devotion in readers” (The New Yorker) and has been called “incandescent” by Stephen King, “absolutely mesmerizing” by Gillian Flynn, and…
The Guardian of the Palace is the first novel in a modern fantasy series set in a New York City where magic is real—but hidden, suppressed, and dangerous when exposed.
When an ancient magic begins to leak into the world, a small group of unlikely allies is forced to act…
This book is an intense game of cat-and-mouse with a protagonist initially an unwilling participant. What caught me by surprise was Reacher’s wit and humor in the midst of intense situations. He is essentially a more intelligent McGyver who can outmaneuver even the most formidable adversaries. The novel portrays Reacher as calm to the point of being detached, which is a rarely discussed symptom of PTSD.
Ex-military policeman Jack Reacher is a drifter. He's just passing through Margrave, Georgia, and in less than an hour, he's arrested for murder. Not much of a welcome. All Reacher knows is that he didn't kill anybody. At least not here. Not lately. But he doesn't stand a chance of convincing anyone. Not in Margrave, Georgia. Not a chance in hell.
SET IN A POST-APOCALYPTIC, DYSTOPIAN NEAR FUTURE, Jack Lanigan is a traumatized former CIA agent working as a security guard in Polaris - a powerful security agency that acts as its own nation-state within the city of Chicago. When Jack accidentally mistakes the president of Polaris for a thief, he shoots and kills the most powerful man in the agency. Condemned to execution without trial, Jack manages to escape, but finds himself amidst a manhunt that leads him on a trail of conspiracy he never could have expected. Polaris may be behind one of the world’s most deadly biological weapons, and Jack realizes he may have already had a role in its horrifying production. Determined to set things right, Jack joins forces with a team of rag-tag former agents in a mission to expose Polaris’ crimes.
Selected by Deesha Philyaw as winner of the AWP Grace Paley Prize in Short Fiction, Lake Song is set in the fictional town of Kinder Falls in New York’s Finger Lakes region. This novel in stories spans decades to plumb the complexities, violence, and compassion of small-town life as the…
Palmer Lind, recovering from the sudden death of her husband, embarks on a bird-watching trek to the Gulf Coast of Florida. One hot day on Leffis Key, she comes upon—not the life bird she was hoping for—but a floating corpse. The handsome beach bum who appears on the scene at…
