When I was a young girl, there was a guy in my neighborhood who went to Vietnam. We moved away, but would come back to the old neighborhood when we'd visit - the guy came back from Vietman, but was so very different. He now had long hair, unkept beard, looked like he was shell-shocked, only sat and stared. I didn't understand.

I do now.

I told Jacamo about this guy - I still think of him to this very day.

I don't usually quote from the books I review on, but will with A Hard Place, because it's so very poignant -

   ' " Rock, do you believe in this war?" "Jim, this isn't a war. This is an exercise in stupidity and I don't believe in it. I believe in us, The American Soldier is capable of doing just about anything. If any of us get out of this alive and have half a mind left  it will be because we are Americans." '

Ordinary American kids doing extraordinary things in a war others decide to participate in.

No matter what the conflict - this book would be something a person who fought in the Iraq War could relate to - just as in the Vietnam War.

The language of A Hard Place is rough and tumble - real language not politically correct, not watered down. Peterson takes us into the conflict, and we feel the heat of day, the bullets passing by, the pain when someone is hurt. It is a stunning book.

For those of you who are hesitant about reading a book about Vietnam, don't hesitate with this one.

It is Everyman  - in EveryWar.

And it will open your eyes.

Bravo Jacamo!

Jacamo is also a member of AD.

ellen george

A Hard Place by Jacamo Peterson, ISBN: 987-1-4251-3177-7, Trafford Publishing, review by ellen george