One of the most amazing things about the history of this world of ours is how so many kids who left their simple life of innocence, traveled clear across the planet to far off and strange lands, fought a life and death struggle with our enemies and gained their glory, saving our democratic way of life then came home to a different world, a world they had once again made safe for us all.

Jay Sand moves to a small city in Nebraska looking forward to his new job in the district attorney's office. He soon becomes the target of assassins and Sergeant Cindy Jackson is assigned to work out of his office and watch his back. They stumble onto a multiple homicide in progress and are caught up in the search for the killers. The pursuit takes them from a gun battle on the streets of Omaha to a jail break in Harrisburg as they stay one step ahead of organized crime and an intelligence spook gone bad. This is a story of contemporary fiction about two professional crime fighters, their families, their peers and their opponents. It is also about their failures and their successes.

This book examines the ethics and values that render a war discourse normative, and features the stories of American soldiers who fought in the Iraq War to show how this narrative can change. The invasion of Iraq, launched in March 2003, was led by the United States under the now discredited claim that Iraq was developing weapons of mass destruction (WMD). However, critical questions concerning what we may be able to learn from this experience remain largely unexplored. The focus of this book, therefore, is on soldiers as systems of war – and the internal battle many of them wage as they live a reality that slowly emerges as inconsistent with familiar beliefs and value commitments. This work offers a reflective study of identity struggle from the perspective of emotional psychology and delves into the ‘narrative field’ of socio-politics. Going beyond the political contestations over the U.S. military intervention in Iraq, the author analyses original research on the evolving beliefs and value-commitments of veterans of the war, exploring their faith in its ‘just cause’ and their personal sense of self and national identity. This book will be of much interest to students of the Iraq War, US foreign policy, military studies, discourse analysis, and IR in general.

"Includes bonus book by Michelle Willingham"--Cover.

MERCS VERSUS MERCS… During the years of the Star League, few mercenary units served with such honor and distinction as the Eridani Light Horse. Stalwart allies of the Star League and the ideals it stands for, the men and women of the Eighth Recon Battalion are about to have their own ideals tested on the world of Radstadt. For when an invading mercenary force assaults a massive Draconis Combine prison complex, the Light Horse warriors are faced with the choice of risking their lives to defend convicted prisoners. And while the Eridani Light Horse has never shied from a mission or a challenge, repelling the invaders will try them in ways they could never have expected…

From the Introduction:"Look around," the drill sergeant said. "In a few years, or even a few months, several of you will be dead. Some of you will be severely wounded or so badly mutilated that your own mother can't stand the sight of you. And for the real unlucky ones, you will come home so emotionally disfigured that you wish you had died over there." It was Week 7 of Basic Training . . . 18 years old and I was preparing myself to die. They say the Army makes a man out of you - but for 18-year-old SPC Michael Anthony, that fabled rite of passage proved a very dark journey. After soliciting his parents’ approval to enlist at only 17, Anthony began his journey with an unshakeable faith in the military born of his family's long tradition of service. But when thrust into a medical unit of misfits as lost as he was, SPC Anthony not only witnessed the unspeakable horror of war—but the undeniable misconduct of the military—firsthand. Everything he ever believed in dissolved, forcing Anthony to rethink his loyalties, and ultimately risk his career—and his freedom—to challenge the military he had so firmly believed in. This searing memoir chronicles the iconic experiences that changed one young soldier forever. A seasoned veteran before the age of twenty-one, he faced the truth about the war - and himself - in this shocking and unprecedented eyewitness account.

One of the most amazing things about the history of this world of ours is how so many kids who left their simple life of innocence, traveled clear across the planet to far off and strange lands, fought a life and death struggle with our enemies and gained their glory, saving our democratic way of life then came home to a different world, a world they had once again made safe for us all.