The Junior Officer Bunkroom—
Zerr’s novel is a dramatic mix of authentic aerial combat sequences combined with a taut story about the costs of war. Readers who enjoy the novels of Stephen Coonts and Dale Brown or even the tense drama in Aaron Sorkin’s A Few Good Men will find similarly exhilarating pleasures here.
—Blueink Review
War Stories—
Another highlight of the collection is “Voices,” the final short story in the book. While the story deals with very concrete details of the narrator’s thirty- six years in the navy, this abstract exploration of “voice” captures the essence and ingenuity of War Stories in a lyrical, almost poetic way.
—Clarion
J. J. Zerr is a US Navy and Vietnam veteran. His works of historical fiction include stories set in the Vietnam, World War II, and the Civil War timeframes.
Emerson Sharp is eighteen years old. His father makes his decisions as if he were a hired hand, a slave, a draft horse working Pa’s farm. On the eve of his arranged marriage, Emerson makes an independent decision to visit a young woman of his choosing and is forced to flee for his life from her homicidal brothers. Fate leads him into western Missouri and the Civil War, where everyone is intent on killing him. He is unable to hide from the war and unable to find love. Perhaps he should have listened to Pa and married sharp-tongued Deborah Simmons three years ago.
