An enjoyable story of war and peace
This book was on my To Be Read list for years as military doctors’ stories are one of my favorites. I’m not sure why I hadn’t read it before but now that the audiobook was released -and available on Scribd -, I decided to give it a go.
Major Logan Sharp is an emergency doctor completing her last tour in Afghanistan when she is ordered to liaise with photographer Jillian Knight who is documenting the work of military doctors in a war zone. Logan isn’t happy with the assignment but as both women get to know each other, they discover an undercurrent of attraction. But Jillian has a partner and a kid at home and Logan doesn’t know where home is. When they meet again stateside, will they be able to reconnect and act on their attraction?
No Rules of Engagement is divided into two parts, one set in Kandahar, Afghanistan, and the other in the Detroit/Windsor area (US-Canada border) 15 months later. The contrast between the two parts is acute: war vs. peace, military vs. civilian, restrictions vs. possibilities. I enjoyed the first part better because of the fast-paced action, danger, and uncertainty typical of living in a war zone. In part two, the story naturally loses a bit of that frantic pace and I’ve personally missed it.
One of the things I like the most about this author is the Canadian perspective that she always manages to show in her stories. In this case, Logan is Canadian and Jillian is American so there are a few instances to compare both countries in terms of gay rights, healthcare, and lifestyle. I like that the author subtly gets her point across without preaching or sounding condescending.
This is the first time I’ve listened to narrator Joana Garcia. I personally wasn’t convinced by her tone of voice, it sounded too harsh for the story. The performance of emotions was good as well as the different voices so one thing compensated for the other but I believe that I would have enjoyed the story more with a different narrator. 4 stars
Length: 9 hrs and 43 mins
