The Junior Officer Bunkroom—
Zerr’s novel is a dramatic mix of authentic aerial combat sequences combined with a taut story about the costs of war. Readers who enjoy the novels of Stephen Coonts and Dale Brown or even the tense drama in Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men will find similarly exhilarating pleasures here.
—Blueink Review
War Stories—
Another highlight of the collection is “Voices,” the final short story in the book. While the story deals with very concrete details of the narrator’s thirty- six years in the navy, this abstract exploration of “voice” captures the essence and ingenuity of War Stories in a lyrical, almost poetic way.
—Clarion
J. J. Zerr is a US Navy and Vietnam veteran. His works of historical fiction include stories set in the Vietnam, World War II, and the Civil War timeframes.
Bill Marshall is a senior US Navy fighter pilot, who will not make admiral. During his career, he spoke his mind too often to the wrong superior officers. His wife, Kate, has subordinated her ambitions for Bill and for their children, but she has an opportunity for a great job. Bill decides to resign and support his wife, however, the US Navy has one more job they need from Bill. He receives orders to NATO military headquarters in Belgium. Kate feels betrayed by her husband and struggles to swallow her anger to preserve their marriage for the sake of her children. In Belgium, they will live in a castle. As Kate and Bill work to resolve their earthly problems, their castle home places them on a spiritual battlefield where a two-hundred-year-old struggle between innocence and evil is rushing toward a conclusion. Not many people’s minds can stand with one foot in the spirit world and the other in the physical. Navy fighter pilot Bill Marshall cannot.
