A book about the Iraq war, with a perfect start, and yes, you guessed it, a strip-club! Where else can be as good of a place to write about to “hook” your readers, ugh? Hahaha, just kidding, QRF by Craig DiLouie has a perfect start due to the first phrase of the book after the prologue page, and I will not spoil you the fun of finding it out for yourself what that phrase is.
If you ever read this amazing author that is Craig DiLouie, you will attach two concepts along with his name, and those concepts are “awesome military books” and “incredibly relatable characters“, and QRF is no different in these aspects. In the first 4 paragraphs, you will find so many elements to this story, – none of them at that point related to bullets flying and bombs dropping – that by the start of the second page you will be completely invested in this book. Doubt it? Try it for yourself.
Many times, many of us, have a foggy idea of what is like to be a veteran. We tend to be aware that many of them, most of them, if not all of them have scars, mental scars or even bleeding wounds, but that’s mostly it. We are open to the possible ideas of war trauma, but we have no clue what it is like, and this book fills the gap in so many ways. The way Craig DiLouie describes the “itching” for the gun out of reflex, the difference between the mind, the self and the body in terms of wants, reflexes and reactions is impressive. That soldiers are taught staying alert always and be ready to jump on the slightest sign of danger opens up a lot of questions and gives the reader a more realistic perspective on what they go through. Impressive.
This is a civilian-military perspective kind of book where the contrasts of both lifestyles through the eyes of our main character, Coop, and other mc’s like Doc, LT and Horvath, is shown along with the consequences and triggers that they carry with them. The lifestyles will clash time and time again, giving you the reader a comparison chart opening up a deep insight of what is like to go to war and try to adjust, but never quite leaving it.
Not at first, but throughout the book, the reader will feel a growing sense of brotherhood and sacrifice that the characters will develop towards each other in the many hard-to-deal-with experiences of war. It will open your eyes towards the minds of men and the meaning of “brothers in arms.”
There will be, a super small scene by the end of the book that will connect to the beginning that you will have to pay very close attention to understand. You see, words have lots of power, actions have even more, so, when you combine both with guilt and war-trauma, well… it becomes a deadly cocktail of mental torture.
Although this book is speculative military fiction, the amount of reality infused in the book is impressive to read. They way Craig builds the points of views, thought processes and patterns of each character, and how he is able to make them relatable to the reader is always surprising, and doing this in a way that the reader will not notice as it reads is another skill that will impress you. The novel is nothing short of smooth in the narrative sense.
For those folks that like guns and know a little about the world of weapons, this book will not let you down, because Craig took the effort of using not only the names and descriptions of the guns used by the Americans, but also the Kurds and Iraqis in both the Iraq and Mosul’s wars, in the period, and he also explained why such weapons were currently being used. A nice touch from the author indeed.
There are a lot of elements in this novel. It’s not just about the Iraq war, but also about the Iraqi people, about the history of the region, the motivations of the rebels, ISIS, and a bit about the culture and religion of these countries and regions. It’s quite enlightening for those who never travelled there or met the people. It’s a joy to read about the things that Craig put as little treasure around the novel and tied them so well to the plot without deviating from the mission, nor de-escalating the brutality of war.
Talking about little trinkets and treasures, there is a lot of, (as expected) military lingo, but Craig will explain all the Foxtrots, lol, so don’t worry about it, you will be settled in in no time.
The way that Craig DiLouie describes the experience of war, in the eyes of the recruiters, you get the feeling that war becomes to these people, not only something like a drug, but also, their new way of living through the need of instinctual and animal-like survival.
Although it is a novel and fiction portraying the American war on Iraq, it’s curious and funny that the Iraqis, in Iraq, are seen as insurgents by defending themselves against a brutal invasion. But once again, this book is written in order to portray the American version of the veteran experience of the war on Iraq.
Once you get used to the action and get into the book, it becomes super gripping as the consequences of the American troops in Iraq start to show. One thing that will catch you attention is how well Craig DiLouie is able to show you the projection of the guilt of the American soldiers into the Iraqis in order to avoid themselves and their own minds, except of course, those characters that have no illusions about the war, like Doc.
Very close calls, deaths in front of “your” eyes that come on when you least expect it while you as the reader get a deeper and deeper understanding of what is like to be in a war, giving that several perspectives are given. Of course, Americans are seen as the “heroes”, or portrait as such due to the main character, but that view is challenged every now and then which is very nice.
Of course, this is a fictional book, so it’s not all kabooms and gunfire, as it happens in real life so you will be graced with many scenes that will leave you laughing, smiling and raising your eyebrows for a good three or four paragraphs while trying to close your mouth to hide the surprise. What kind of scenes can you expect? Well, let us just say that singing is also a hobby, a secret hobby in the military, hahahhahaha.
At times is funny how the freedom, and democracy” of Americans is portrayed here in the minds of the soldiers. Ok, sure, it holds sarcasm in it, at least a bit, but it does invite the reader to see that such “freedom and democracy” that America sends its troops to “gift” to other countries, is nothing but death and destruction for no reason but greed and boredom of elites.
You know those books from your favourite author on the genre, that disappoint? Yeah? Great, because this book isn’t one of them, lol, hahhahahaha, seriously, as a fan of Craig DiLouie, naturally the expectations are high and he always has met the bar. Q.R.F is a GREAT novel, that ebbs and flows, makes you laugh, grip the pages of the book and slowly releases the tension while making you think.
For those who like war, history, or just something akin to a first-person shootout game, like COD, then QRF by Craig DiLouie is a GREAT pick. If you never read a military thriller before, don’t worry, Craig DiLouie is an OUTSTANDING author to start the genre with. 5 stars!
Pros:
- Excellent and smooth narrative
- Relatable and deep characters with complex personalities and dillemas
- Incredible action scenes
- Thrilling and realistic
- Many historic and cultural facts sprinkled on the book
- A narrative that challenges the target reader’s beliefs
Cons:
- None
Scribble's Worth 
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