Toward the Sound of Chaos

Carmen Jenner

n/a

Release date : May 18th 2016

Rating : 4 Stars

Jake Tucker is broken. At twenty-two, he went in to the Marine Corps a naïve, troubled youth. Nine years and four tours later, Jake finds himself back on US soil, though his mind remains firmly planted in the sands of Afghanistan with the men he left behind.Wounded, chewed up and spat out by war, Jake has only his dog, Nuke, PTSD, and survivor’s guilt to keep him company. He’s lived every day for nine years wondering when it will be his last, but there’s little comfort in the fact that he’s still standing when his platoon isn’t.Ellie Mason doesn’t have time for broken. She’s too busy trying to put food on the table. And keeping up with the demands of her autistic son, Spencer, is sometimes like fighting behind enemy lines. As if navigating the minefields of single parenthood isn’t enough, Ellie finds herself drawn to the quiet Marine who’s just as lonely as she is. But she’s loved damaged men before, and it left her wounded.Set against the picturesque backdrop of Fairhope, Alabama, Ellie and Jake find themselves running toward the sound of chaos.Love is war.Only the strong survive, and surrender is inevitable.

In “Towards the Sound of Chaos” the author paints a raw picture of the war that happens after the war. The public might finally acknowledge the existence of PTSD, but still when it is subject in a novel there is often an attempt to show only the lighter forms of it.

So far I feel this is my first time reading an attempt to make it more real in a romance novel. I trying to choose my words carefully when I say “attempt” because nobody can judge what is real unless he has been in that situation or learned about it first hand by a friend or relative.

Carmen Jenner describes Jake Tucker as the guy that causes woman’s heads to turn when passing but only as long as they do not know about his past and do not look at him to closely. Because no-one in their right mind would want anything from a guy who is damaged inside and out.

Well – Ellie does not care about anything like that – she loves to watch him and after they meet by accident she cannot be anything other than grateful to him. Especially when even her autistic son responds so well to him.

Jake is trying to overcome his survivor guilt, but his PTSD will not give him any rest and his demons are strong. Ellie is a fighter that is not giving up easy but she has had her share of bad relationships and there might come a point when love is not enough.

“Towards the sound of Chaos” is a story of war. Love being on one side and the demons inside of Jakes head on the other.

The fight is ugly and will leave the reader raw and with tears in their eyes.

I don’t dare – saying that only the strong survive – because those Demons might be the stronger ones – who knows.

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