U.S. Marine Adam Koehley's most recent tour in Iraq has altered his life forever through addiction, adultery and mental anguish. Can he and his family survive his own personal war?
Adam Koehley is a highly regarding U.S. Marine who lives on base in Hawaii with his wife and children. He has survived several tours overseas but his most recent to Iraq turns his world upside down as his experience there replays in his head. He is forced to relive his time in Iraq every day, impacting all those around him. Can he and his family survive his own war of addiction, adultery and betrayal?
Professional Reviews
Grady Harp
‘Life is always a game of chance that only a lucky few can win.’
By Grady Harp HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE VOICE on July 21, 2016
Format: Paperback
West Virginia author Jodi Clark is both a poet (‘Cherished Poems of the Western World’), a novelist (‘The Disappearance of Benny’, ‘Aiding Revenge’, ‘Matriarca’ and ‘Bleeding Panther’) and a short story writer. She became the primary writer for Around the Panhandle Magazine while also writing ehow articles, online, for Demand Studios.
Many authors address the crises war inflicts on soldiers – loss of fellow comrades, inexplicable wounds, loss of limbs, and the agonizingly constant barrage of traumatic events that dent and damage the mind. Most of those stories are written by the men and women who fight during wars, but now with the better understanding of PTSD (the shell shock/battle rattle, etc of previous wars that now has a name, thanks to the Middle East conflicts) we have the opportunity to understand these traumas. Few have written about the aftermath on the home front – how the trauma in a soldier’s life affects family at home, both during the absence of being in combat, but even more – the aftermath of returning home a different person living in a world that seems strange and one that excludes loved ones unintentionally. Jodi Clark has written that novel and it feels so real that it is almost difficult to finish. But finish this story in the fluid manner in which Jodi writes and you’ll gain an understanding of one of the aspects and tragedies of that heinous beast we call War.
The summary that Jodi has placed on the back of her book is as terse and encompassing as anyone could compose. ‘Adam Koeley is a devoted special operations officer in the United States Marines. His numerous tours of war have earned him his esteemed position and the respect of all of his peers. Stationed in Kane’ohe Bay, Hawaii with his loving wife and two young children, Adam has the life that some can only dream of. His most recent tour carries him to Iraq, where part of his job is to protect a small village from the terrorist cells in the area. There, he becomes especially close with a young boy whose father was killed. Both he and the boy, along with some others, are captured by one of the terrorist cells and Adam endures their torture, unwilling to give in to their demands, until they strap a bomb to the young boy and detonate it in front of Adam. Though he is able to escape, he bears the responsibility of telling the boy’s mother of her son’s death and must cope with the guilt he feels. Back in the United States, Adam’s wife, Allison, discovers that her husband is no longer the man she knows. As they battle through flashbacks and nightmares, addiction and his infidelity to try and save their marriage, she finds herself in a brief affair of her own, which throws the devastated Adam over the edge and back to war. Suddenly, military officers stand at her door as she trembles with fear of the worst. “Adam is being detained in Iraq for killing a woman there”, they tell her. Allison has just received his letter to her with his confession that ridding himself of his mistress would reaffirm how much he loves his wife. The letter also tells her goodbye. Adam’s guilt has ended his life.’
If anyone can be unmoved by this fine book is unlikely. We all owe credit to Jodi Clark for bringing this insight to us. Grady Harp, July 16
Reading Other People
4.0 out of 5 stars
An Important Read
By ReadingOtherPeople on September 20, 2015
Format: Paperback
You know what really irritates me? What really makes me question the ethics of the big publishing houses that mass produce books that are so banal and immature in their subject matter and writing styles? It's this: books like Bleeding Panther by Jodi Clark are not global bestsellers but tripe like Fifty Shades of Grey rakes in millions AND gets the film treatment. Ugh.
Jodi Clark's brutally honest and gripping Bleeding Panther is not a book that you can just read intermittently. It's urgency and power will instantly pull you in to the tale a U.S. Marine who suffers from PTSD from touring in Iraq. Until his deployment he lives the quasi-Hollywood happy life. He's got a beautiful wife and beautiful children and lives in Hawaii. That all changes when visits Iraq and delves into the demons of drugs and alcohol. Upon his return home, Adam Koehley, said U.S. Marine, must confront his intense PTSD from his recent travels.
What follows is a gut-wrenching story that goes to the places that so many authors are afraid to go. Jodi Clark attacks the pretenses that often accompany depictions of U.S. Marines and their post-war experiences and tells the truth. She brilliantly tells how Adam's wife and children are affected by his Iraq deployment, willing to honestly present how the family dynamic is so irrevocably damaged from unnecessary wars. Clark both at once provides a voice for these unsung heroes and a supportive stance on the ridiculousness of modern-day battles, both the physical and the emotional ones.
Dedicated to the US military service men and women who devote their entire beings to their country, and based on a true story, Clark's tale of cause, effect, and tumult is fantastic. Her clear tone and effective use of words allows the reader to see through the eyes of those personally affected by war and its lingering aftershocks. This is what literature is about - the visceral human experience, in all of its guts and glory.
Susan Landis
4.0 out of 5 stars
You won't want to put it down until you find out what happens next...
By Susan Landis on December 16, 2015
Format: Paperback
Bleeding Panther is a journey into the life of Allison, a military wife of 15 years, living the ideal life in a tropical Hawaiian paradise. Allison and her young children eagerly prepare for what should be a blissful post-tour of duty reunion with Adam, a doting husband, father, and dedicated U.S. Marine. Allison discovers shortly after Adam’s return that he is a changed man, a man living with PTSD.
Jodi Clark breathes life into Allison’s story as she conveys her deepest thoughts and fears. Allison’s anguish resonates through us as we learn more about her war-torn husband. Adam is safe at home, yet his mind is trapped between two very different worlds. The author eloquently taps into a complex world of love and war; she truly writes from the heart and brings to life characters that will remain with you long after the book is finished.
This is a read that you won’t want to put down until you find out what happens next.
Mushroom Cloud, a fact-based historical novel, is the first book of The First Strike Trilogy: USA and the Soviet Union are building nuclear arms for a face off in a potential nuclear war in the late 1950's and early 1960's.
Armageddon, a fact-based historical novel, is the third book of The First Strike Trilogy: A high-stakes race against time and politics unfolds in this gripping historical account of SIOP-62, revisit the tension of a pending nuclear attack, at a time
Armageddon, a fact-based historical novel, is the third book of The First Strike Trilogy: A high-stakes race against time and politics unfolds in this gripping historical account of SIOP-62, revisit the tension of a pending nuclear attack, at a time
