Sparta

Life in the military is different from civilian life, a point driven home vividly in Robinson's novel. Narrator Kirby Heyborne chronicles the return of Marine Conrad Farrell after four years of service in Iraq. Unlike soldiers who are visibly wounded or suffer from PTSD, Farrell seems uninjured from his service--until he discovers just how different he now is from the civilian world he inhabits. Heyborne ably conveys the Farrell's emotions as he copes with changes ranging from adjustments of daily activities to changes in society. The result is a surprisingly compelling and realistic story. With the benefit of Heyborne's vocal agility, the listener empathizes with Farrell even more keenly. D.J.S. (c) AudioFile 2013, Portland, Maine

April 15, 2013
Robinson’s fifth novel (following Cost) is a detailed examination of the inner life of a Marine returning home after combat. Classics scholar Conrad Farrell, wanting to do “something big,” enlists in the belief that, as a soldier, he will be continuing a tradition going back to the ancient world. Following officer training at Quantico, Va., and four years of service in Iraq, he finds coming back to his family in Westchester, N.Y., a disorienting experience. He can’t get used to the safety of civilian life and struggles to reconnect with his family and his girlfriend, Claire, feeling overcome by rage at unexpected moments. He stays in contact, though, with the men who served under him. Suspecting that he’s suffering from PTSD, Conrad contacts the VA, but his needs are ignored again and again. Robinson brings us deep inside Conrad’s soul, and inside the suffocating despair and frustration that can stalk soldiers even when they are ostensibly out of harm’s way. By letting the reader live in Conrad’s skin, Robinson creates a moving chronicle of how we fail our returning troops. Agent: Lynn Nesbit, Janklow & Nesbit.