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Only The Dead
he pressed her fingers to her temples, unable to dispel the bizarre image from her mind. Forty-two teeth? How could that be? The hideous, inhuman effects of Agent Orange twenty, thirty years into the future?
***
Plagued by the horrors of her past, medical student Lydia leaves for the Biên Hòa Provincial Hospital, determined to make a difference.
Soon, she is plunged from one savagery to another, cocooned within the damp walls, rotting window screenings, bloodied bodies, and the gruesomeness of her distressing dreams.
Back in Australia, Cassie heads a large-scale protest. However, beneath her colourful façade lies a dark and dangerous addiction.
When Lydia returns home, her dreams intensify, and she finds solace within the confinement of her apartment, safe from the terrors of the outside world. But how long can she last before her disturbing dreams become reality?
***
Plagued by the horrors of her past, medical student Lydia leaves for the Biên Hòa Provincial Hospital, determined to make a difference.
Soon, she is plunged from one savagery to another, cocooned within the damp walls, rotting window screenings, bloodied bodies, and the gruesomeness of her distressing dreams.
Back in Australia, Cassie heads a large-scale protest. However, beneath her colourful façade lies a dark and dangerous addiction.
When Lydia returns home, her dreams intensify, and she finds solace within the confinement of her apartment, safe from the terrors of the outside world. But how long can she last before her disturbing dreams become reality?
395 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 21, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 23, 2017
The book was not at all what I expected from the title but it really grabbed my interest as I began to read. The main character Lydia is an Australian nurse who is so close to becoming a surgeon in the 1960s; She is called to go to Vietnam to work as nurse and decides to go after befriending an odd melancholy girl named Cassie. The time in Vietnam is only six months but it is life changing. The details about the war from the perspective of a surgical nurse with a lot of personal issues was quite intriguing and powerful. I knew the ending would not and could not be a happy one as any story relating to a very real demon that came back with men and women from the war. The ending however was quite different than I expected and each time I thought I might know where the author would take Lydia next I was always wrong; which I enjoyed the not knowing until it happened. I did notice a few editing issues but was able to move through those easily to grasp the complete story. This story is real and quite heavy throughout; not my usual type of story to read, but as I said my interest was peaked and I kept reading to find out where Lydia would be in the end of the story. It was satisfying at the journeys completion.
June 16, 2017
This was very interesting story to read. It wasn't quiet as I expected it to be. Both of the characters, Lydia & Cassie, were pretty messed up considering the circumstances that they went through. I kind of figured that the two girls were in love with each other and just couldn't admit it yet. Though I did want Lydia to end up with Roman. Cassie I thought wasn't a true friend since after Lydia came back from her trip from the war in Vietnam, she didn't really try to help her or fully tried to understand what Lydia was going through. All Cassie did was get angry and kicked her at once she became unstable, which she already knew and didn't seek to look into some therapeutic practices.
I liked the different take on how Australians think of war in general. I did think it was kind of ironic how Fitzpatrick had Cassie playing a rebel stating that Americans were trying to colonize everything; when England was the one to first colonize America. It shows how other countries think of Americans and it's not in a good light, which is saying something since I'm American, and there were some very strong words that were used to describe America.
I liked the different take on how Australians think of war in general. I did think it was kind of ironic how Fitzpatrick had Cassie playing a rebel stating that Americans were trying to colonize everything; when England was the one to first colonize America. It shows how other countries think of Americans and it's not in a good light, which is saying something since I'm American, and there were some very strong words that were used to describe America.
August 22, 2017
I tried. I truly did. 1st this could stand a good scrubbing by a competent editor. I'm no Grammer nazi but big issues with editing all within the book that just became so distracting. Now the book...it was interesting seeing how the Australians handled the Vietnam War and their attitudes toward America. Not a part of that history I was aware of being American. I tried to like both main characters but Cassie was just too cruel to someone she called a friend. It never went where I was expecting it to go,based on novel blurb but the story itself was interesting. I felt some of the other characters involved were too one demensional and I had the feeling I was missing chunks of their stories. I received this book free for my jonest, impartial review from @Readershouse
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews