Damaged: When the Noise Stops, Survival Begins

DAMAGED is a volume of short stories, vignettes and a novella. Some selections are war stories while others are postwar tales which illustrate the lasting effects suffered by men and women who participate in war and in violent law enforcement encounters. T There are tragic love stories, stories of revenge and closure. Some of the stories serve as a companion compilation to Hess’s first two novels Ambush and Gamble in which several familiar characters show us not only the effects they suffered but also the backstories to events in his previous novels. DAMAGED gives everyone an insight of PTSD and how it creeps into the mind and soul of those involved in war and law enforcement. Damaged is a powerful collection not of war stories but of postwar stories which vividly present the lasting trauma of battles from Gettysburg to Kabul. Hess makes it clear that there is “nothing romantic” about it, and its scars are real and permanent. Ellen Miller Casey, Professor Emerita, University of Scranton