Saving Sam
Sam Wallace entered the Air Force as a spoiled, rich boy. Years later, he emerges a changed and troubled man. None of this matters to Amy, his oldest friend and staunchest supporter. Perhaps the weary soldier might finally find solace from his nightmares in the arms of the girl who has always loved him.
The only thing that gives Sam hope his scarred soul might heal is the love he desperately wants, but doesn’t deserve. Haunted by a war he can’t forget, Sam struggles to move forward.
But the darkness in Sam is greater, deeper and more dangerous than anyone realized. Can he fight off his demons, or will Amy pay the price for his inability to let her go?
D.S. Williams Review:
We hear much in the news regarding soldiers returning from war, and the difficulties they face as they return to civilian life. In ‘Saving Sam’, Ms. Beaudelaire and Ms. Northup have taken the reality some of these brave men and women face, and given it a human face which is often missing in the news.
The unfortunate truth is that when our service men and women return from serving their country, they are often far removed from the person who left family and friends behind all those long months ago. PTSD is an often-touted, but little understood effect of this service, leaving both men and woman feeling lost, confused, alone and hurting.
In Saving Sam, we are introduced to a family facing just these type of nightmares, and find them trying to understand the man who has returned from overseas service – the man who is very different from the one who left all those long months beforehand.
Whilst primarily a love story, Saving Sam covers, very neatly, both the effects of PTSD on the service member and those who love him. It shows how the wounds are sometimes so deep, they create a ripple effect outwards, encompassing not only the suffererer but everyone around him. Add to the mix another character who has deep seated emotional issues of her own (brought about by entirely different circumstances) and you have a recipe for a well-constructed story filled with flawed characters. The combined talents of the authors have given us a sense of not only the hopelessness these characters feel, but an interesting insight into how they must face their own flaws and problems, and learn behaviour modification techniques which will, in the long term, allow them to move forward in their lives.
This was a little gem of a story, and I’d thoroughly recommend it. There are a few small grammar and wording issues, which can easily be forgiven as one becomes immersed in the story.I will be moving straight on to the second story in the series after posting my reviews.
D.S. Williams 