Many reviews say that the novel is cheesy and laughable fictional. The plot takes so many twists that it's difficult to keep up or even believe there story line. I feel that this is not the main concept or purpose of the book, but the ideas that people are "catapulted into lives they were never meant to lead" is the essence of the novel. Drawing parallels between convoys other novels, he kills off favorite characters and builds their lives up to tragedy. I truly believe he does this (as angering as it may be) because there truly is nothing left for those characters, nowhere left for them to go, their only sanctuary is death. I find myself unable to tear myself away from these books. And as for the language that some view as insulting or dry, I find humorous and painfully truthful. Conroe has a way with his words that can be eloquent and harsh at the same time as it reflects in his characters. I loved this book as it made me insane reading it obsessively.