First published 2024
Captain Elkana Cohen leads an elite commando unit into Gaza after Hamas terrorists breach Israel's security border on October 7, 2023. Hundreds of rockets rain down on Israeli population centers while thousands of militants spread carnage across the country. Cohen joins reservists called to defend their nation's survival. He picks up notebooks from Gaza streets and begins writing daily entries about what he witnesses. Cohen records the dust and sweat of combat, the brotherhood among soldiers, and the overwhelming smell of death. He documents mass arrests of terrorists, searches of Hamas members' homes, and the stories of fallen comrades. The unit encounters prisoners hiding millions of shekels, discovers footage on terrorist GoPro cameras, and faces impossible choices when militants use babies as human shields. Cohen struggles with physical reactions to food while pursuing the desperate mission to rescue hundreds of Israeli hostages. His personal account captures not just one officer's experience but the response of an entire people facing extinction.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, action, political-thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, found-family
Setting: Gaza, Israel
Period: 2023
240 pages · Kindle Edition · Viva Editions
Content warnings: graphic-violence, war