Taken captive and held for five years as a POW in Vietnam, Eddie, in his early twenties when captured, recounts his years of incarceration and the period following his release and return to the States. While held as a POW he develops a close attachment to his cell mate, Vin, and their plans for the future together with the prospect of eventually returning to his beautiful wife help sustain Eddie through that period. But events following his liberation turn out to be very different from his imaginings.

A story filled with believable characters and a complex plot, Some Kind of Hero piles on the tension as it builds towards its unpredictable conclusion. At times touching, at times very moving, by turns funny and cynical, often very frank, it is a captivating book, hard to put down. The relationship between Eddie and Vin is beautiful and heartbreaking, by contrast some of Eddie's exploits following his release border on the slap-stick. What is constant is the high standard of the writing; altogether an enthralling novel. ( )