The timing could not be more apt for the release of Simon Bywater's latest book, Honourable Retribution, a fiercely compassionate novel inspired by the reality of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as it is experienced by thousands of Britain's troops in Iraq and elsewhere.
A former Marine, Police officer and author of Forced Out, (www.forcedout.co.uk) his personal account of the 1st Gulf War
and the problems he subsequently faced, nobody knows better than Bywater how PTSD is manifested in members of the armed forces. Who have to struggle not only with a devastating psychological disorder, but also with the macho culture embodied and perpetuated by the military, and a society that does not recognise the extent to which they are damaged.
Honourable Retribution educates the reader, in a compelling fictional format, as to the reality facing returning soldiers in Britain today. It also addresses other crucial issues facing contemporary Britons; the truths of a war that damages our sons and brothers for no clear purpose; the social chaos that has invaded our cities and towns and the difficulties inherent in finding an identity and place in the world even as society changes beyond recognition. The novel’s hero is not just a soldier struggling to come to grips with PTSD; he is also Everyman, lost and alone in a culture that he no longer recognises. The chilling climax set in Manchester serves as a poignant, disturbing reminder that solutions can be almost as destructive and violent as the situations that called for them.
Honourable Retribution should be read by anyone who asks him or herself what it means to be British, where our society is going, and whether our government is really doing all it can for its citizens, its public servants, and the foreign citizens whose interests it claims to hold dear.
Simon Bywater is available for interviews, book signings and appearances. He can be contacted at the details below. For extracts from Honourable Retribution, or to request a review copy or sample cover of the book, please contact his publisher, Charente Publishing, at the following address:
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