Customer Reviews

Drowning in the Desert: A JAG's Search for Justice in Iraq

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I love this book. It's not political or preachy, just honest and compelling. There are several parts that are laugh-out-loud funny, which I almost never do when I read a book. There are other parts that made me choke up, and I rarely get emotional reading a book. Still other parts of this book made me hot with anger. This is a real emotional roller coaster, and you won't regret picking it up. I couldn't put it down.

This book is so much more than a suspenseful page-turner (although it certainly is that!): it is the truly inspiring story of one soldier's quest to serve with integrity that will cause all readers to wonder what they would have done in her situation. Drowning in the Desert is as thought-provoking as it is timely, and my bookclub is going to love it! Non-fiction and fiction readers alike will enjoy this book, as my husband and I can attest; I think it's the only book my husband and I have ever both read and loved!

One woman's honest account of her experiences as a soldier in Iraq reveals more truth about the War on Terror than any "expert" commentary I have read so far. Her story contains no self-aggrandizing, no political commentary, no pontificating on the right or wrong way to wage a War on Terror. It is a window into her life and her personal battle to help her Army retain its honor, while facing a faceless enemy without any.
You can't help but feel strongly about the message contained within the pages of this book. I've promoted it to everyone I work with- soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines, and civilians. We hear it a lot, especially on Veteran's Day, but our nation's military is like no other. Our fighting men and women are noble, honorable individuals who face difficult decisions everyday. It's taken many years, but we're finally recognizing the true power of the "human factor" in this war- on both sides. Soldiers like CAPT Gembara recognized it from the beginning.
Vivian and Deborah have an engaging style that immerses you in the story and does not let you loose until the conclusion. I felt so involved in the narrative that I earned a few curious stares in Starbucks when I burst out laughing to myself, then choked up and sobbed only 30 minutes later. It's not only a refreshing, insightful account of the war, it's a well-written, riveting drama that anyone would enjoy.

This is, hands down, the best book I have read all year. It has best seller written all over it. The author takes us on an enthralling journey through Iraq, through the losses and stress and everyday life of a soldier in a war-torn country. But it is so more than that-- it is also the story of a woman finding the courage to stand up for what is right, even when it means she may lose everything but her own conscience. I loved this book so much that I am hosting it for this month's book club.

The book is the product of a job well done. It is very interesting and integring. Once I began the book it was hard to put it down. I wanted to pick it up and continue reading at every opportunity.

The writer tells the story of the trials, tribulations, and frustrations she encountered in properly executing her responsibilities as a JAG officer. She does it in such a manner that keeps your concentration and arouses your curiousity as to what is going to happen next. It is an excellent story and holds your attention and interest until the end of the book. I highly recommend it.

I don't read many war, army, or legal type books, but I picked this up because a friend of mine served in Iraq as a JAG. I thought the book balanced the personal story of the woman who wrote it and the technical aspects of the cases she dealt with. It was easy to read, with enough "meat" to sustain, and will definitely get passed on to others. My wife is reading it now and she really likes it too.

Drowning in the Desert made me feel engaged, almost like I was a fly on the wall during the author's tour in Iraq. I enjoyed her style, level of detail, and meaningful commentary on what must have been a challenging, difficult period in her life. The one criticism I have is that there could have been more detail about the author in the epilogue, especially because the book came out 4 years after she left Iraq. There's plenty about the other characters, but what I really want to know is what did Captain Gembara do after the army and why? Did her JAG experience shape her next choices in life? What lessons did she apply to her own career? What were her cases like when she got back to Fort Carson? I had to check the author's website to see that she's now a journalist. Did her JAG experience make her want to quit being a lawyer? I was left wondering.

Vivian Gembara's "Drowning in the Desert: A JAG's Search for Justice in Iraq" is a gritty, disturbing, and real account of then-Captain Gembara's time in Iraq and her internecine battle with a renegade battalion. Gembara conducted two of the earliest courts-martial in Iraq and then became involved in investigations into the murders of Iraqis condoned and covered up by the battalion leadership.

Her story is gripping and very interesting, and although she is motivated by a search for justice, she doesn't seem to have a major political axe to grind: she just has the usual frustrations of being a tiny cog in a large Army and the normal frustrations and travails of being a staff officer (higher headquarters doesn't understand what's really going on and lower headquarters aren't responsive enough to what is really important). Her story clearly frustrated her as she never could find the justice she believed should have been served, and there is a sense of sadness reading this story.

As good as the story is, the book suffers from one major flaw: its style is like a novel, not a memoir. That is, the book is almost completely driven by dialogue and by the tiny details of the characters' actions and reactions. Also, many of the characters feel too developed, as if each person in the story had a role in a story and their actions and personality were written to that role. While this makes for easy, entertaining reading, the discerning reader knows that conversations and details can't be remembered years later and is left wondering how many of the details are true and how many arise from some literary license. Unfortunately, there is not even an author's note to try to explain how accurate this book is to the historical record and how much of it is simply "based on actual events."

Still, this book does show what life at a brigade is like in Iraq, even if it's just a tiny slice of that life during a short period in a tiny part of Iraq. While one shouldn't draw too many sweeping conclusions from this book, one can see the Army's inability to recognize and conduct a proper counterinsurgency in 2003 and 2004.

This is a very good book for anyone interested in the Iraq War or in military justice.

When I started reading this book, I couldn't figure out how the authors were going to fill all those pages with the story of one more court case coming out of the Iraq war. But as the characters' stories as well as the complexities of Iraq began to surface, the pages seemed to fly by--before I knew it I had turned the final page, surprised. DROWNING IN THE DESERT is an important addition to the historical record and our collective understanding of the Iraq War. But sadly, there are shelves and shelves of books on every angle of the war going unnoticed, largely due to the fatigue of the topic. Hopefully, this book will find it's way to the surface.

[Bias alert: I know many of the people in this book and call most of them friends.]

I could not put this book down after reading it. Each page invited a new perspective into how difficult it was to carry out even the simplest legal task in Iraq. The authors did a great job of mixing in humorous details of Capt Gembara cases, while at the same time exposing the cruel realities of war and all it's tragic dangers and consequences. Wonderfully written, the authors weave a fascinating, compelling dipiction into Capt Gembara's struggles to swim through the day-to-day morass of life in Iraq as an Army JAG lawyer. The authors hit a home run-CASE CLOSED!