Walking Wounded

August 15, 2014
The fifth installment in Lynch's Vietnam series continues the story of four friends who entered the war together and have now been forever changed by it. Though Volume 4, Casualties of War (2013), seemed to have concluded the series, Lynch again takes readers into the minds and souls of Morris, Rudi, Beck and Ivan. Once Rudi was drafted, it was Morris' idea that the four friends would go to Vietnam together, each in a different branch of the service, and somehow keep an eye on one another. Now Rudi has been killed, and Morris goes home as his body escort. Morris feels guilty for forcing everyone into this, and now he's trying to discern meaning from their experience of death in a war they never really understood. This volume continues the first-person narratives in the voices of the four friends, even Rudi's, though now his is a ghostly voice, a questionable contrivance at first but one that ultimately make sense in the overall arc of the story; each of the characters is haunted, and the only meaning they can make is that "You don't have to believe in the war, to believe in the guys." If there's not a tidy conclusion, it's because the fate of the walking wounded is inscrutable. A powerful antidote to those who would glorify war. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

October 1, 2014

Gr 5 Up-Four best friends all sign up to fight during the Vietnam War. Though they promise to come home together, one friend doesn't survive and the remaining three must grapple with the truth about his death. The narrative switches among the various first person perspectives-even that of Rudi's ghost. A haunting and unsettling series that tempers the violent aspects of war just enough for the audience, without sacrificing the bitter and heartbreaking emotional truths.

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

keefur1617 - Have you ever wondered what the Vietnam War was like, the losses sustained in the war? After Rudi gets drafted off to fight in the Vietnam War his three best friends Ivan Morris and Beck decide to sign up and make sure Rudi won’t die and that he will be ok. After a shocking death of one in the group it will cause each member to do something such as trying to win the war all by their lonesome another to defy orders in an act of protest and the last to escort the body of their fallen friend back to America. One of those choices will leave one of our main characters without an eye. Are you interested? If so you will love Vietnam 5: Walking wounded by Chris Lynch it is full of action,adventure and friendship. This is an amazing book that will have you on the edge of your seat throughout the whole ordeal tons of shock awaits you in this book. The antagonist in the book is the vietnam war. The protagonist in the book are the four main characters in the book as in Rudi, Ivan, Morris, and Beck. This book also does not have a turning point seeing how it is one in a very large series. I recommend this book to anyone who likes war books and/or enjoys adventure suspense action and it will shock you, you will love this book. I give it a strong 4* rating. (I don’t recommend this book to younger kids there is no harsh language but some things are more mature topics)