Price of Duty by Todd Strasser (review)

Jake Liddell went straight from high school JROTC into the Army, proudly marching in the footsteps of his family’s male forebears; he returns from his uncompleted first tour in the Middle East with a medal for heroism, multiple injuries, and a burden of disillusionment. The injuries are the least of his problems—the leg will heal and the missing fingers are not life-threatening—and they mainly serve to remind him of his comrades who lost their lives, or the perhaps unluckier ones who lost so much of their bodies that they also lost their independence. His greatest challenges lie in reestablishing relationships with his girlfriend, who’s been true to him but can’t convince him of it; with his grandfather, a decorated general who is the aggressive agent for his homecoming heroism tour; with his father, a “desk jockey” colonel who’s been hiding his own conflicted view of the military; and with his older sister, who knows enough to give him support and space. Jake’s narration jolts and careens through present, past, and painfully recent memory, with each short chapter focused on a person or location, and the episodes coalesce into a fuller picture of the hideous suffering experienced overseas and its impact on soldier families back home. Jake faces the decision of returning to duty or getting an early discharge due to injury, and although readers may be divided on his final choice, they will respect the ethical struggle that led him there.