Official Review: Beyond All Recogition by Kenneth Eade
Posted: 18 Nov 2016, 11:05
[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Beyond All Recogition" by Kenneth Eade.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Beyond All Recognition by Kenneth Eade is dedicated to military men and women who served in recent wars. The tale woven is that of corruption on the highest levels, propaganda, and ruined lives, as well as justice and honor. The category is fiction, more specifically C/T/M/H, but is, according to the author, loosely based on real events, leaked documents, news reports, and interviews with persons who have served our country in the military. In the forward, the author informs the reader that the book is not meant to be “anti-military,” but rather is to point out “what really happened” in the Iraq wars. The prologue indicates that this bit of fiction is a commentary on current reality. This put me off a bit, as I was not interested in engaging with an activist novel. However, as I started reading, the story itself drew me in fairly quickly, despite the connections to real life.
Chapter one begins with a lovely family scene interspersed with Ryan Bennington’s inner reflections on his former military service. The overall tranquility of the home is rudely interrupted at 6:00 a.m. by government special agents showing up and informing Ryan he was to be removed from his home, reinstated for service, and tried by court martial for an unstated crime. Ryan is given the option to use a military appointed attorney, pay for his own private attorney, or use both. He opts to use both the appointed lawyer as well as a private attorney. The bulk of the story is told through the eyes of the private attorney, Brent Marks. Many technical details are given, but even with no military background, I was able to understand what was going on. Since the character of Brent Marks also has no knowledge of military tribunes, the court martial process, or even how the military works, he had to ask many questions of experts. Technical information was presented in an easy-to-comprehend manner as Brent Marks researched, gathered evidence crucial to the trial, conducted interviews, took depositions, and consulted with the assigned military attorney.
The burden of the defense lawyers was to prove that Ryan Bennington was innocent of the accusations. To do this, they chased down former military men who served under Ryan Bennington, men who were involved in other similar situations, and men who held high positions in the military. The lawyers raced against time in order to put together puzzle pieces and learn a sordid history that had never been—nor was ever likely to be—acknowledged. To be quite frank, Beyond All Recognition shocked me and made me question what is really going on in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. While I am not yet willing to believe every allegation presented by the author, I did not need to totally suspend belief in order to engage with this novel.
The characters were not over-developed, but neither were they totally flat. The pace was fairly quick in most places, enough to keep me reading through until the end. In my mind, the biggest flaw in the writing was a bit of romance that was thrown into the book in a fairly haphazard way. One of Brent Marks’ former clients hits on him in a big way throughout the book. This may have been intentionally inserted in order to provide depth to Brent Marks or to provide some relief from the heavy material. Either way, I found it awkward and somewhat of a hindrance to the plot. If the author were willing to expand the book, the romance could have potential, but as is, I felt it unnecessary.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. There were a couple of small editing issues, but most of the book was clean. The storyline is compelling, but the romance needed to either be left out, or seriously expanded. I would recommend this book, but there are potential triggers for military who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and possibly even Vietnam.
******
Beyond All Recogition
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Beyond All Recognition by Kenneth Eade is dedicated to military men and women who served in recent wars. The tale woven is that of corruption on the highest levels, propaganda, and ruined lives, as well as justice and honor. The category is fiction, more specifically C/T/M/H, but is, according to the author, loosely based on real events, leaked documents, news reports, and interviews with persons who have served our country in the military. In the forward, the author informs the reader that the book is not meant to be “anti-military,” but rather is to point out “what really happened” in the Iraq wars. The prologue indicates that this bit of fiction is a commentary on current reality. This put me off a bit, as I was not interested in engaging with an activist novel. However, as I started reading, the story itself drew me in fairly quickly, despite the connections to real life.
Chapter one begins with a lovely family scene interspersed with Ryan Bennington’s inner reflections on his former military service. The overall tranquility of the home is rudely interrupted at 6:00 a.m. by government special agents showing up and informing Ryan he was to be removed from his home, reinstated for service, and tried by court martial for an unstated crime. Ryan is given the option to use a military appointed attorney, pay for his own private attorney, or use both. He opts to use both the appointed lawyer as well as a private attorney. The bulk of the story is told through the eyes of the private attorney, Brent Marks. Many technical details are given, but even with no military background, I was able to understand what was going on. Since the character of Brent Marks also has no knowledge of military tribunes, the court martial process, or even how the military works, he had to ask many questions of experts. Technical information was presented in an easy-to-comprehend manner as Brent Marks researched, gathered evidence crucial to the trial, conducted interviews, took depositions, and consulted with the assigned military attorney.
The burden of the defense lawyers was to prove that Ryan Bennington was innocent of the accusations. To do this, they chased down former military men who served under Ryan Bennington, men who were involved in other similar situations, and men who held high positions in the military. The lawyers raced against time in order to put together puzzle pieces and learn a sordid history that had never been—nor was ever likely to be—acknowledged. To be quite frank, Beyond All Recognition shocked me and made me question what is really going on in Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. While I am not yet willing to believe every allegation presented by the author, I did not need to totally suspend belief in order to engage with this novel.
The characters were not over-developed, but neither were they totally flat. The pace was fairly quick in most places, enough to keep me reading through until the end. In my mind, the biggest flaw in the writing was a bit of romance that was thrown into the book in a fairly haphazard way. One of Brent Marks’ former clients hits on him in a big way throughout the book. This may have been intentionally inserted in order to provide depth to Brent Marks or to provide some relief from the heavy material. Either way, I found it awkward and somewhat of a hindrance to the plot. If the author were willing to expand the book, the romance could have potential, but as is, I felt it unnecessary.
I rate this book 3 out of 4 stars. There were a couple of small editing issues, but most of the book was clean. The storyline is compelling, but the romance needed to either be left out, or seriously expanded. I would recommend this book, but there are potential triggers for military who served in Iraq, Afghanistan, and possibly even Vietnam.
******
Beyond All Recogition
View: on Bookshelves
Like greenstripedgiraffe's review? Post a comment saying so!
Good job on the review.
