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Misadventures
in the Pentagon
BY Kathleen McInnis
Post Hill Press
Sept 25, 2018/ ISBN 9781682616512
Mystery/Thriller
Reviewed
by Elise Cooper
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The
Heart of War by
Kathleen McInnis combines political drama with political satire.
Using her extensive inside knowledge, she can create a realistic
look on how the military machinery works while at the same time
having well-developed characters.
There are many tidbits about the Pentagon. In the beginning
of the book, it was if the reader was taking a journey through
the halls of the building, including the “Flag of Faces,”
an off-kilter American flag that is actually a quilt where each
square has a picture of those who died there on September 11th.
“I wanted to allow the readers to understand what it is
like, the little details that provide a sense of awe. The Pentagon
is full of people who are doing their damnedest to ensure that
the President is given the best options. It is actually a very
human place, filled with people that work every day with imperfect
information, each with their own personal and professional struggles.”
McInnis has worked in the Pentagon and think tanks on both sides
of the Atlantic. With a Ph.D. in War Studies, she now works
for the US Congress, helping to analyze international security
and defense issues. But she is also a self-imposed “base
brat” whose father worked extensively with national security
issues.
What the main character, Dr. Heather Riley, and the author have
in common is their Ph.D.’s and their professional experience
of working at the Pentagon. McInnis stated, “All the characters
reflect some part of the writer. Heather’s wide-eyed experience
getting into the Pentagon and observing the obscurities are
very real. We also have the same motivations, supporting the
men and women serving and their families. Sometimes military
force is necessary, and Heather and I want to make sure we give
those in the military what they need for the best chance of
success including the right strategy. As a woman, you need an
air of authority and confidence.”
However, the rest of the story deviates from the real-life of
McInnis since Heather had a brother, Jon, killed in Afghanistan
by the Taliban. She goes to Washington hoping to save those
serving with a plan to make sure the Warlords and terrorists
did not gain the upper hand, and to have someone like her as
the guardian angel to those fighting terrorists overseas. A
powerful quote, “What if a Pentagon bureaucrat was more
concerned with buying multibillion-dollar aircraft than finding
ways to make Jon’s body armor grenade-proof.”
“My story is very different because I was not a “peace-nik,”
as Heather was originally. I’ve never had the kind of
visceral discomfort with the military or the broader national
security community, probably because I was raised around military
bases. These aren’t evil warmongers. They are just people
trying to protect our country. They are the people least likely
to recommend going to war because they don’t want to see
their friends and colleagues suffer.”
On Heather’s first day her position is eliminated, and
she’s shuffled to a war-fighting office focused on combating
Russian aggression. Unfortunately, she knows little about Russia
and has deep moral reservations about war. Making matters worse,
she’s also working for Ariane Fletcher, someone who loves
to deflect the blame and wants constant perfection. Heather
learns to navigate the Pentagon’s insane bureaucracy,
and petty power struggles to become a “go to analyst,”
someone who can be depended on for well thought out opinions.
Fletcher is called the “Wicked Witch of the Pentagon.”
She is considered a terror, “someone I wrote who had to
swim through a sea of the male dominated military. The DOD has
masculine traits to it. She is inspired by a composite of several
different female leaders in the national security community
that either I or friends have been exposed to. Although I found
some amazing sisters who believed in mentoring other women,
there are some women I interacted with who were vicious to each
other. In the book, Colonel Voight refers to Fletcher as ‘pink
on pink violence.’ She adopted a more aggressive, cut-throat
behavior.”
This is a smart, funny, and an informative story. Anyone who
wants to understand the workings of the Pentagon should read
this novel.
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