Through the eyes of conflicted Americans and war-ravaged locals, Slake's compelling debut novel focuses on the "sordid side of garrison life" in post–WWII Japan and the absurdities in Korea that followed. Twenty-one year-old Pvt. David Ricksen, from Lincoln, Neb., has been stationed in Japan for six months, but he's already acquired an attractive lover named Keiko. He also has an inconvenient relationship with a fellow GI--and proud grifter--Michael Hurley. When Ricksen is transferred to Korea, a raid of Russian tanks and North Korean soldiers decimates his unit and leaves him wandering a foreboding landscape and hoping deep down the Army will look out for him. Meanwhile, Hurley, who paid to stay behind in Yokohama to run his moneylending operation, kills a fellow soldier over $30, and as he sinks to the depths of hell to atone for his sins, he receives an unexpected offer from the malevolent Cpl. Faust--and his frightening flunky, Tomoda. Captivating USO worker Patricia Sorensen, troubled, beautiful prostitute Rie Hara and blackmailed Maj. Paul Nathan fill out the remaining slots of Slake's sexual and tragic roundelay. Evocative descriptions recreate bustling Yokohama, with its ox carts, pachinko parlors, "bars and sex pits," the brutal, impromptu battlefields of the Korean countryside, and in a touching coda, the Louvre. With strong and steady language, not devoid of poetry, Slake's observations and intertwined plots reveal a raw vision of the beginning of the Korean conflict that defies its main "beneficiaries": flawed Gen. MacArthur, the overblown efforts and narrow scope of the Marines and the triviality of M2000116684Kirkus Reviews2013-01-092013-01-09ONLINEChildren's / Young AdultFiction2013-01-01<![CDATA[]]>Townsend Press138<![CDATA[A brave young-adult novel about a devastating family secret. Sixteen-year-old Tarah Carson's high school life in small-town Bluford is going well: She's dating a football star, she has close girlfriends, and one of her favorite teachers has suggested that her ...]]><![CDATA[A brave young-adult novel about a devastating family secret. Sixteen-year-old Tarah Carson's high school life in small-town Bluford is going well: She's dating a football star, she has close girlfriends, and one of her favorite teachers has suggested that her ...]]><![CDATA[A brave young-adult novel about a devastating family secret. Sixteen-year-old Tarah Carson's high school life in small-town Bluford is going well: She's dating a football star, she has close girlfriends, and one of her favorite teachers has suggested that her skills with children could point to an education career in her future. She also has a funny, smart gaggle of cousins keep her on her toes. But an impending family reunion in honor of a beloved aunt triggers Tarah's deep-seated traumatic memories, because her Uncle Rudy, who sexually abused her as a child, will be there. Tarah's afraid that Uncle Rudy might pose a threat to the youngest members of the family, and she weighs the consequences of telling her family and her boyfriend about his terrible past transgressions. As she does so, she finds herself facing, and questioning, her own coping mechanisms. Langan, in this installment of his ongoing series set in fictional Bluford, offers unflinchingly honest plot situations to engage and educate readers. It would be easy to fall into overdramatic or sentimental cliché with this novel's subject matter, but Langan deftly avoids such traps, instead opting for natural dialogue and just enough specific detail to render his story universally relatable. The author's portrayal of his teenage female protagonist's internal struggles is admirable, although some readers may wish that the book elaborated more upon the emotional climax of the story, and its subsequent fallout. Some younger readers may find this book's subject a bit too troubling, but older teens will likely be able to tolerate its frank discussion of familial taboos. A well-paced, realistic YA story that looks at a difficult topic.