Finding Jack
by Gareth Crocker
(St Martin’s Press, R159)
In Gareth Crocker’s first novel, protagonist Fletcher Carson loses his wife and daughter in an accident, and to him, life without them does not seem possible. He reads about how many young men are dying in Vietnam and decides to join the army and go to a foreign land, hoping to be killed.
He is stationed at Death Valley as a sniper with the “Fat Ladies”. While out on patrol they find a wounded Labrador that they are ordered to kill. As the bullets hit the dog, something unravels in Fletcher’s mind and he finds himself on the edge of a breakdown. Defying orders they smuggle the dog back to camp, where nearly everybody, in their own way, helps with its recovery. And so begins a journey of healing for Fletcher and Jack.
When the war is over it is announced that all the dogs have been declared “surplus military equipment” and will not be transported home. Fletcher must devise a plan to smuggle Jack back to America.
This fascinating book is based on the actual existence and abandonment of canine units in Vietnam.