Customer Reviews

One September Morning

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I really liked this book about an army widow who wasn't satisfied with the army's report on her husband's death in Iraq and uncovered some disturbing facts about how he really died. It also included the effects of his death on his family and how his feelings about the war in Iraq changed during his service there. This book gave some insight into the Iraq war and gave me a new perspective on it. This book is a bit of a mystery because at first you don't know which soldier is the killer and then it turns to suspense as the killer puts his plan into action. I read this in two days because it was captivating and I liked Abby, the main character who was the army widow. I recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries, suspense, PTSD, stories about military families or psychos.

Our story begins in Iraq, where we meet a mysterious, nameless and faceless character, who is gloating - yes, even exhilarating - in the death of someone who is popular, well-loved, and a soldier...

We next zero in on a young woman, Abby Fitzgerald, who is counting down the days until her husband, John Stanton, returns from Iraq.

In a startling tumble of events, the tragedy unfolds. A hero's fall - supposedly gunned down by a sniper - and the pain and loss of family members as they receive the news are the immediate results.

Abby's in-laws, Jim and Sharice Stanton; their daughter Madison, who questions the war in Iraq and even protests occasionally; and then Abby herself...all of them are reeling in the aftermath of this death. And then there is Noah, the younger brother, who is still in Iraq. He had enlisted, along with his brother, and now he is left...questioning everything he thought was right.

When the military establishment provides no answers - indeed, when there seems to be a cover-up - Abby, Madison, eventually even Sharice...each begin to search for their own resolution.

When Noah returns for the funeral, he seems more than a little distressed...so when he leaves afterwards, headed to Canada to join other "deserters" and "protesters", even his father, a member of the military establishment himself - now retired - understands, even though he cannot agree.

But Emjay Brown, the soldier who was with John Stanton when he was shot, has a completely different version of events than the one the military is handing down...he claims that John was killed by "friendly fire" - and not only friendly, but someone in his own platoon.

What will the establishment do to prevent the truth from coming out? And why is someone, also back from Iraq, claiming to be John's best friend, someone who suddenly seems to be moving in on Abby's life and attempting to take it over, turning extremely bizarre as he moves in on John Stanton's territory?

With each page I turned, the suspense intensified, until I could not turn them fast enough...to discover the truth, and to see resolution of the anguish for the survivors.

One September Morning is a poignant and timely tale of the wrongs that can be done in the name of "right."

Laurel-Rain Snow
Author of: Web of Tyranny, etc.

Following 9/11 NFL running back John Stanton informs his wife Abby and his parents that he is giving up his football career and his multimillion dollar contract to enlist in the army. After training, he and his unit deploy in Iraq where he is killed in a friendly fire incident. The officers who inform Abby of her husband's death insist he was a hero killed by insurgents.

The Wives' Club provides a grieving Abby with support while her in-laws demand Arlington National Cemetery, which the military is elated to provide. However, Abby begins to find discrepancies in the official report especially since her spouse was disenchanted with a war that made no sense. As she begins to demand the truth, the Wives' Club and her in-laws demand she shut up before she taints the image of a hero while John's two siblings encourage her to keep probing. Meanwhile, the maniac who deliberately murdered John has come to town to live the life of the late football star.

The obvious Pat Tillman connection aside, ONE SEPTEMBER MORNING is an insightful look at some modern military dependents struggling between support to their loved ones and their opposition to the Iraq War. The characters are fully developed and clearly divided. Most of Stanton's unit and their families want Abby to go away while his parents want nothing to taint their son the hero. Abby needs the truth and her anti war sister-in-law pushes her to keep asking. Although the psychopath provides added tension that takes a way from an otherwise deep look at the family member on the home front while a loved one is in a combat zone.

Harriet Klausner

I found this book browsing the library. The cover caught my attention and the reference to Jodi Picoult made me get it. I'm so glad I did! I got into it fast. The characters are people you will care about. It's hard to put down and you will re-examine your thoughts on the Iraq war. I liked the ending too. You can't ask for much more than that in a book. Pick it up if you see it, you will be glad you did!

I loved the book. I didn't want it to end.The characters were very believable. I fell in love with Abby and Madison. I only wanted the best for them.The story made me think about our armed forces and what really goes on behind the scenes.I Loved how the author told a story of her own at the end of the novel on how she came about the story.Looking forward to Rosalind Noonan's next book.

The Stanton family is a proud one with the father John who had served in the Military and having gotten a purple heart and the wife Sharice being the perfect military wife it is no surprise that there two sons enlist in the service to fight in Iraq.
We have seen far to often what friendly fire can do to a family and how while investigating the murder of someone who gave up a career as a star NFL running back to make the ultimate sacrifice for his country we learn about John and Noah and how things unravel and the family will never be the same
Thanks to the persistence of Abby they get to find out the truth and so much is learned on this journey of hope, faith and courage to move on.
I believe this is her first book and she is definitely off and running to be a huge hit with this and her future books.
When can we expect another book or will there be a sequel?

There is something for everyone in ONE SEPTEMBER MORNING, a novel that brings to light a rich array of characters and issues so timely in American culture. We see the quest of two war widows, a day in the life of a US soldier in Iraq, the strains that war puts on a military family, and the aftermath of war when soldiers try to return to a "normal" life and put it all behind them. The author takes these real life elements and spins them into a highly engaging work of fiction that spins into a suspenseful thriller.

I particularly enjoyed the ensemble of characters and the way the reader is thrust into their worlds. This well-plotted, fast-moving read builds to a heart-pounding climax that I didn't see coming. I stayed up late into the night to finish!

This book has been chosen by my book club and I think it will deliver for everyone in our group, male and female (we often have trouble finding books with wide appeal.) Noonan's support of the troops but not the war make this a rich point of discussion. Looking forward to more from this talented author!

I don't know why I liked this book because war stories just aren't my genre. But, there was so much more here than just the war. It shows how the family is torn in so many directions. It shows the grieving widow with such compassion and you just want to get to know her and be her friend. The perspective on the War in Iraq was my same feelings, so that part didn't bother me. But, it showed how that perspective can tear at a family and they go in different directions. The author sucks you in to the life of a psychopath and shows you that even the most trusting individual can have a dark side. Abby, the wife and her friend Suz are such a great twosome. True friends! I see a complete Pat Tillman story here, but the family is the real story here. Great character development! I also liked the story surrounding the in-action of the ARMY to really investigate this atrocity and leaving it up to the family to dig until they find what really happened.

Awesome book. First time i read her. As soon as i finished, i bought another one! I could not put this book down!

Shades of Pat Tillman's story are felt when you read this story about Abby and John. John is a NFL football player who joins the army and is supposedly killed by an insurgent. Parts of the story is heart rendering to read. John's mother pushes for a burial at Arlington but Abby wants to fulfill John's wishes of cremation and his ashes scattered in Paris. Abby is suspicious about John's death and pursues trying to find out the truth asking for a college classmate of her's to help since he had been embedded as a reporter when John was killed. Its a surprise as to who actually killed John and the story keeps you wanting to read it all in one sitting.