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There are currently 22 member reviews
for The War Reporter
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Patricia H. (Norman, OK)
The changes war brings
in war torn Sarajevo a fearless front-line reporting crew try to get the real story for their readers at home. The human side of war that is. But going for that story leads to a horrible tragedy that affects the crew forever. With nothing but their lives the remaining crew face the past and the present in a world where the bad guys are protected and possibly by the U.S. Government itself. Well written. Acceptable for mature teens and adults.
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Jeff M. (Somerset, NJ)
The War Reporter
Martin Fletcher, as a long-time correspondent for NBC News, understands what it is like to be a war reporter. He delves deeply into the mind of the major character, Tom Layne, as Tom tries to obtain THE story. Fletcher's descriptions of war-torn Sarajevo and the aftermath, twelve years later are especially riveting and in some cases, heartbreaking. So is the search for war criminal, Ratko Mladic (who, outside of the story thread, was ultimately captured). As the story progresses, the reader sometimes doesn't know what side some of the characters are really on which adds to the suspense. These action scenes and political intrigue reminded me favorably of recent novels by Owen Steinhauer. After a slow beginning, I did find the novel to be one where it was hard to put down. However, at the end, the rather long resolution of the love affair between Tom and Nina tended to leave me a bit flat.
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Lani S. (Narberth, PA)
A Serbian thriller
Martin Fletcher is an inveterate foreign correspondent who brings his probing skills into this interesting fictional work .Tom Layne is an American journalist who has returned to the Balkan region after being captured and detained 10 years prior along with his translator Nina. Both suffer PTSD and although they have a romantic kindling, they do not contact each other during this interval. When he goes back to pursue a documentary film project, he rekindles his relationship and finds that both of them have become targets by forces that do not want them to find the whereabouts of Ratko Mladic,who was responsible for the genocide of many civilians. In describing Serbian/Bosnian history, Fletcher's skills shine. His own background as a foreign correspondent also illuminate the moral ambiguity of serving the story of serving humanity. I enjoyed the novel but found the love story detracted from the strength of the rest of the novel.
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Barb (Mount Joy, PA)
Thriller but short on character development
I wanted this to be a 5 star book. The subject matter was riveting. The action was thrilling. The characterization came up short particularly at the end where everything was wrapped up a bit quickly for them. Yes they did help each deal with the aftermath of terror but moving on to the next phase seemed a bit out of character with how they expressed themselves through the book. I'm still glad I read it and the book would make an interesting book club discussion.
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Nancy H. (Eagan, MN)
The War Reporter
I enjoyed reading this book very much. It was outside what I normally would pick up. I found the subject very interesting. I sometimes got a little confused with the politics involved. Tom and Nina were very likeable characters and I would like to read more about them. I feel both men and women would like to read this book. It might be good for some book groups, especially if you have both sexes, there are not a lot for books that appeal to both. I will read more from this author.
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Lorraine R. (Southampton, NY)
The War Reporter
The war in Bosnia and Serbia was difficult to understand and still seems a tragedy today. The main character, Tom Layne, returns to this part of the world after 15 years to make sense of what happened there on the pretense of making a documentary about a war criminal. Hopefully not all journalists are as self-centered as his character is. I was disappointed in this story, mainly because of his character. It was difficult to see how time after time he put his obsession before the lives of those he claimed to love. This is not a novel I would recommend. The angst of the journalist was tiring.
The novel was a disappointment.
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Nancy O. (Hobe Sound, FL)
The War Reporter
Obviously people reading this book are loving it, but sadly, that just wasn't the case with me. Overall, I'd give it a rating of okay, but I would recommend it to readers of political thrillers.
There are a number of things I did like about this book, but heading the list is Nina's reflections about the journalists covering the war. As she notes, while her life, and those of her friends, in Bosnia were falling apart, "collapsing around us," for the reporters it was just "one great story after another." Now there's food for thought. In fact, the best parts of this novel were the scenes in Bosnia in part one. Imagine how frightening it must be to take a drive to a nearby village and wonder if you're going to be attacked, and by whom on the road. Another eye-opening part of this book was the level of international politics involved in making sure that a war criminal stays hidden, while the people who've suffered because of him never get justice.
However, sometimes I felt that reading this book was like reading the work of two different authors. While in reporting mode and while uncovering the politics behind the continued concealment of the war criminal, Fletcher is absolutely brilliant. Then there are those personal scenes between Tom and Nina, sometimes going on page after page, which in my opinion, could have been cut quite a bit. So balancing the two ends of the spectrum, I'll give it a rating of okay.
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