First published 2020
Robert Terkla grows up without direction, shaped by poor choices and watching his father die from cancer. The military offers him structure and purpose he never had. He enters sniper training, where precision becomes everything. The physical demands test his limits, but the mental discipline transforms him. Deployment to Afghanistan puts theory into practice as he hunts enemy fighters across hostile terrain. Each mission requires split-second decisions that determine who lives and who dies. Terkla must reconcile the person he was with the lethal soldier he has become. The story explores how war changes a man and whether redemption can emerge from violence. At its core, this is about a lost young man finding his identity through the most extreme circumstances imaginable.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, contemporary, action
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, redemption
Setting: Afghanistan
Period: 21st-century
192 pages · Paperback · 33 Degrees Publishing
Content warnings: violence, war