Book Summary and Reviews of The War Reporter by Martin Fletcher

Reader Reviews

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Carolyn V. (Douglass, KS)

I've Already Purchased another Martin Fletcher Book.
I chose War Reporter because of my goal to read a book from every country and Serbia was still on the my list. I was hesitant because of it's description as 'a riveting thriller and a heart wrenching love story.' I'm not a thriller/love story reader. I like to consider myself a more substantial reader, Ha! This book offers something for all of us.

It was so cool to read about characters, Ratko Mladic and Vukcevic that were in the news the week I finished the book. And I learned more history. I knew of the genocide in Serbia but I didn't know much about the Srebrenica massacre.

'Because I think the real truth, emotional truth, can be found in fiction. I spent a career asking what happened and why-facts, facts, facts, events, analysis. Now I wanted to answer the question, what was it like? How do we actually experience our lives? Emotions, characters, relationships. It's a deeper truth that non-fiction can't reach, and that is ultimately more interesting.' This is from an 2011 interview of Martin Fletcher by Robert A. Cohn.

I do read to learn emotional truth. It felt truthful when Nina tells Tom that it is a story to him but it is her life, her country.

Rosemary T. (San Antonio, TX)

The War Reporter
A gripping tale depicting the life of an American TV journalist working in war-torn Sarajevo. Although the main character, Tom Layne, will do most anything to get a scoop, the story also reveals his very human side as well as several of those he comes in contact with. So often we read reports of on-going conflicts in foreign countries and never consider what effect it has on its citizens. The War Reporter paints a very vivid picture of the daily life of these people and the tragedies that can occur under the guise of "doing what is best". A very thought-provoking read.

Judith B. (Omaha, NE)

Love in the Time of War
While "The War Reporter" is a novel, the fiction reads like factual war reporting. The plot captures moments of exciting action set against the tedium of daily existence in a war-torn country, both for the citizens and the reporters. Against the brutality there are threads of human kindness and a touching, believable love story. Mostly the reader is reminded of just how pointless these ethnic/religious conflicts are. There are no winners, and often the perpetrators go unpunished. I recommend this war thriller to book groups. Yes, my sister readers, you will like this book. The discussion will, no doubt, be thoughtful.

D.J. K. (Maquoketa, IA)

Expect the Unexpected
Martin Fletcher has allowed the reader insight into what a war reporter tackles when covering volatile areas of war. This was a new experience for me and I was always expecting duplicity, lies and the horrible to happen to Tom! It began with all of this in the Prologue and so I was chomping through the story, anxiously wondering. . .? Will it or won't it happen again to Tom and Nina?

Expecting, with the end in view, that Tom would settle in and continue to be a lover, a husband and a father. Nina, the love interest, gave the tale a gentle touch and though she and Tom loved each other, had suffered terror together, the question haunted me, and like Tom, would she settle with Tom and become a devoted wife and mother. Is the pull of dangerous reporting greater than a stable life of love and a steady job of just reporting!?

Lea Ann M. (Seattle, WA)

What an Emotional ride!
Let me say straight out that reading this book was a tension-filled ride for me. I was caught up in the lives of the main characters, Tom, an American newspaper reporter of some fame, and Nina, his native interpreter.

Some years after the books initial scenes of drama, Tom returns to Bosnia/Serbia and once again meets Nina. He is now an independent journalist. And here is where the tension for the reader increases when it seems it can get no stronger. I asked myself if I should stop reading the book for a bit or continue with the tale. I chose to continue as I could not bear not knowing what happened next. So, continue reading I did, holding my breathe at times and staying up much past my bedtime. Was it worth it? Oh, yes, indeed. Very much so. What a writer!

The War Reporter is that kind of book. The kind that draws one in , steals from your sleep but in the end rewards the reader with a tale of war and its sufferings, of love and its turmoil. This reader was grateful to have read this book which will long stay with me.

Jeanette L. (Marietta, GA)

The War Reporter
Tom Layne is a famous TV Journalist who has in several occasions covered the war in Slovenia, Croatia or Bosnia. This time he is in Sarajevo with Nick his camera man and Nina a local fixer and translator who he always calls. Tom in looking for a big story decides to leave Sarajevo and go to the mountains where the casualties of families torn apart is visible everywhere as a result of the siege but things don't turn out as Tom envisions when they encounter rebel forces. This is partly where this story begins taking us in an edge-of- your-seat ride into a world of conspiracy, backstabbing and double crossing with the Bosnia War as background and a race to find leaders Milosevic president of Serbia and most importantly his army general Ratko Mladie both accused of crimes against humanity.
Excellent book, I could not put it down. It is also a beautiful love story.

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