Charlie Mike: A True Story of War and Finding the Way Home

Klein, best known as the unmasked author of the bestselling political novel Primary Colors, ventures back into the realm of military nonfiction, which he first tackled with his 1984 book Payback: Five Marines After Vietnam. His subject here is the inspiring, selfless work of two veterans: Eric Greitens, who served as a Navy SEAL in Iraq, and Jake Wood, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan. Greitens founded an organization, the Mission Continues, to help his fellow wounded war veterans, while Wood started Team Rubicon, a group of war veterans doing volunteer humanitarian work both domestically and internationally. Klein ably shares the stories of Greitens and Wood alongside those of a number of other recent veterans, articulating their often difficult post-war physical and emotional problems as well as their triumphs. At times the book reads like a novel, due to Klein’s reliance on reconstructed dialogue. Klein’s style works well, though, as he presents a clear picture of the costs of modern war and the heroic actions of a group of former warriors who wanted to make life better for their fellow service members. [em]Agent: Kathy Robbins, the Robbins Office. (Nov.) [/em]