What do readers think of The War Reporter by Martin Fletcher? Write your own review.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I disliked this book and its extraordinarily self-centered protagonist. Tom Layne will stop at nothing, including repeatedly endangering those he professes to care about, all in the pursuit of his news story. He lacks a moral center but in a truly contrived ending, is redeemed on the last page of the book. I did not find the narrative thrilling, nor did I find it particularly well-written. I cannot recommend this book.