He owned nothing, but loved his life because where once he was lost, he was now found. Oh, there were some awful years, most of his own making, but once he finally understood the depth of his need for a savior, everything changed. He was seriously injured, received the congressional medal of honor, then went into obscurity in addictions, homelessness, loss of family and finally, offered a storage shed to call home in a trailer park working as a handyman.īut Aaron Miller knew Christ, and had joy beyond anything he felt he had a right to. This is a story about a Vietnam vet who saved the lives of 3 other men in the jungles as the Viet Cong were attacking. I was nearly a blubbering mess when I turned into the parking lot. The fact that I had any makeup left on my face by the time I got there was astounding. Then I continued to listen all the way there. I was listening to the audiobook of The Reunion while getting ready for a church dinner. If there's a Vietnam vet anywhere in your circle, buy them this book.īig mistake on my part.

So the fact Dan handled that like a master architect says great things to me about him, and his writing. I appreciated how Dan addressed the profanity issue through the characters on page 104 because I've known enough soldiers, seen enough documentaries to know the recounting of a battle would have had language. On a personal note, this does not undo my standards on this issue, but for this story, it needed it. And I remembered what 'they' said when Gone With The Wind became the first film with a 'bad word' that it 'had' to be there. Unlike all the times before when I went, 'Are you kidding me? That was so uncalled for,' I knew this time it was. There were two occurrences in this novel and a strange thing happened when I hit the first one. I'm very strongly against profanity, even mild ones, in CBA fiction. This is kind of three stories in one, ripe with great supporting characters, a decent romantic element that never felt 'added-in' but genuinely integral to the story, and a book that messed with my mind for days for the following reason. At the last page, my attitude of gratitude to our service men and women got a steroid shot, the way I saw 'old people' got a four-wheel alignment, and I wanted to slap myself with a wet tuna for just now getting around to reading a Dan Walsh novel. (Those who have read this will know why that's funny!) I ordered up and finished this novel over the next two hours, with tears rolling down my face and my server asking me if I was okay. So when I hit the last fourth or so of The Reunion, I looked at my clock, tossed some shoes on and drove to Chili's. Every once in a while, when I'm closing in on the end of a great book, I want to do it in style.

The Reunion by Dan Walsh