Kevin Powers, A Line in the Sand

“This is a bit of a departure for the author, who was a finalist for The National Book Award for his short story collection The Yellow Birds, and what a departure it is! As it was with Yellow Birds he leans on his experiences in the Middle East while in the Army from 2004-2005, in this case it’s the story of a former interpreter, Arman Bajalen, who barely escapes an assassination attempt that kills his family. Now in Florida he works as a maintenance man at a cheap motel where every morning he goes for a long swim, the routine, day in and day out, grounding him and keeping his misery at bay. Then one morning he stumbles upon a dead body with a bus ticket in its pocket. This leads us deep down the rabbit hole of the whole military industrial complex with all the money poisoning the air with greed and avarice and the need to kill to keep the money flowing. A propulsive story that plays upon our never-ending wars and lays bare the human costs that are but a footnote in the supposed big picture that is national security.” — Pete Mock