Jigsaw Soul by Scott Middlemist.

Arthur Logan is a soldier with the US Air Force and Jigsaw Soul is his first person narrative. Arthur has fought two wars in the Middle East, Desert Storm in 1990 and the invasion of Iraq in 2003. This novel was written in 2012 and is available as a 1034 KB Amazon Kindle eBook.

Jigsaw Soul is a very powerful book, it is not a glamourous boys' hero book where the good guys win. Jigsaw Soul is all about the horrors of war and men behaving badly. This novel starts off in Iraq where Arthur claims to be enjoying his deployment. He details attacks and abuses of Iraqis whilst revelling in the destruction of lives and property. The fighting and torture of Iraqis is gruesome, making this a gory read. By the time Arthur leaves Iraq, I felt quite shocked and battered from reading about all the violence.

Arthur returns to America and gets a regular civilian job. I thought the novel would then become more civil away from all the violence of Iraq. But Arthur's father had warned him that "When a bone snaps, you hear it and call for help, but if your mind breaks... the silence leaves you speechless." Arthur is involved in an incident at work and it becomes clear that he is suffering from PTSD. Arthur is taken to court and sent to a secure hospital for his actions. Whilst receiving treatment Arthur has many disturbing dreams that he has to deal with in order for him to be released to continue his life.

Jigsaw Soul is a novel which highlights how PTSD can happen and how severe it can be. We all have memories that can show up in our dreams, so PTSD could happen to anyone. The research behind Jigsaw Soul is very good and makes this a very realistic tale. It is a very violent book and can come as quite a shock when you are reading safely at home in your favourite chair. But the real world is like that, some men do evil things and have to fight their own demons running wild in their head.

Jigsaw Soul tackles a difficult topic that will make a lot of people feel uncomfortable. But this is real life and you can read about the suffering of others from the comfort of home, thankful that you are not a victim of PTSD. This is a gruesome book and being told from the heart puts you right in the middle of the turmoil. Hard hitting but so very revealing, this book has left a very big impression on me, so I will vote it the top score of 5 stars.