Saturday, June 21, 2014

No Place to Hide: A Brain Surgeon's Long Journey Home from the Iraq War By: W. Lee Warren M.D.

About the book:  No place was safe. An almost constant barrage of mortars and rockets tested the courage of even the strongest men and women.

The endless flow of patients--American soldiers, Iraqis, and even terrorists--bathed the medics in the worst things humans can do to each other.

When Dr. Lee Warren landed at the 332nd Air Force Theater Hospital at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, he quickly learned that the challenges he faced as a brain surgeon in Texas were nothing compared to tent-hospital operations in a war zone.

Months of personal struggles on the home front. One hundred twenty days of combat carnage on the battlefield. One desperate will to survive.

My thoughts:  Don't plan on this being a book about soldiers and battalions fighting with ammunition zinging, tanks and planes duking it out with cannons and weaponry blazing. It is not a "war" book in that essence. It is, however, a war book that will engage the reader and provide insight into the war that is waged in a field-hospital in a war zone. It will allow you to see the mental, emotional, and physical strength of our soldier/doctors and soldier/medics and our soldier/chaplains. You will see their weaknesses, too. You will feel their weariness and discomfort as they slough through mud or combat sand infiltrating their lungs. You will appreciate their knowledge and skill and their bravery to use extremely limited resources to perform surgeries that save the virtually unsavable life of the wounded whether they are American or enemy combatants. Whether it is a small child with a bullet through his brain or an Iraqi woman about to give birth, these are American doctors and soldiers with skills and compassion and courage.

Most of all, this is the story of Dr. W. Lee Warren. A highly skilled and trained neurosurgeon who served in Iraq in 2004. His own family broken, he departs America as an Air Force doctor. He arrives in Iraq as "green war zone" but highly skilled neurosurgeon and leaves when his tour of duty of finished a leader and seasoned soldier/surgeon.

I challenge my readers to get a copy of No Place to Hide and read it. See how God works to bring Grace through it all in the scope of war and in the minute bits of individual people's emotions and personal trauma.

About the author:  W. Lee Warren, MD, is a writer, board-certified neurosurgeon, and patented inventor. He lives in Auburn, Alabama, with his wife and business partner, Lisa Warren, and they have five children. Dr. Warren has a BS in Biochemistry from Oklahoma Christian University and an MD from the University of Oklahoma. He practices minimally invasive brain and spinal surgery, develops new technologies with his wife through their company, Warren Innovation, and is an affiliate professor of biomedical sciences at Auburn University. In his spare time he plays guitar, writes songs, and recently completed his first novel, Kill Switch.

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary copy in exchange for my honest review. Opinions expressed are solely my own. I was not compensated for this review. www.zondervan.com

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