From Publishers Weekly Former Marine West shows staggering insight into the demoralizing dangers of Third World police duty in this powerful debut chronicling the clash of Marine vets and armed warlords in Somalia. Lt. Gavin Kelly went from Harvard ROTC to Desert Storm success, but lost a Marine under his command and wants to assuage the guilt with his latest mission protection Red Cross food distribution in Operation Hope. All goes wrong from the beginning, when a team member kills an armed Somali who turns out to be a reporter's bodyguard. The reporter in question, Mary Thayer-Ash, is convinced the killing is not the accident it is claimed to be, but is diverted by brass. In the field, the going gets even rougher when Somali warlord Muhammad Farah beheads a woman for her ration just outside the food compound, but Kelly's men can't retaliate unless personally threatened. Locals who know the rules play to the media, and things get dangerously personal when the Marines become attached to Little Joe, a frail Somali teen orphaned by Farah who becomes their translator and gets street intelligence on plans to bomb the compound. The combat scenes and face-to-face battles are eyewitness-horrific, and Kelly is a compelling everyman, always comparing himself to his war hero grandfather and Vietnam vet father. The novel makes plain the complex no-win strictures of do-good, media-moderated conflict, and a perfect, stunning conclusion leaves the reader revved for more from this engaging author. Agent Dan Mandel at Sanford I. Greenburger. (Oct. 10). Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. From Library Journal America's involvement in Somalia was messy, ugly, lethal, and, to many observers and participants, a totally botched job. U.S. troops confronted warlords who didn't care whether their own people lived or died, while absurd rules of engagement constrained our military. In this first novel written by an ex-marine infantry commander, Lt. Gavin "Sharkman Six" Kelly, a Desert Storm vet, finds himself in Somalia, surrounded by enemies and facing unimaginable barbarity while he tries to carry out his humanitarian mission of saving the lives of starving civilians. West does a credible job of describing hellish conditions in a "minor" military operation that seems to have no purpose, ably reminding us that the soldiers sent into harm's way are human beings who deserve much better. The result is a well-written and informative narrative, though the intense and continuous suffering makes for difficult reading. For larger collections. Robert Conroy, Warren, MI Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
