Loser's Memorial

By Larry Nocella

Mystery & Thrillers

Science Fiction & Fantasy

Horror

Language: English Restricted (R)

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Overview Ratings & Reviews

Loser's Memorial takes you on a dark journey through the surreal and sinister world where war and profit mix. Written with a masterful blend of brutality, humanity and demented humor, the madness of this gruesome thrill ride stays with you right up to the finish!

Told from alternating perspectives between a Moroccan boy falsely accused of being a terrorist, and a down-on-his luck American who ends up in jail, Loser's Memorial follows both as they descend into the surreal and self-perpetuating world of war for profit.

World War I spawned the literary masterpiece Johnny Got His Gun. World War II led to Catch-22. The Cold War to Dr. Strangelove. The Vietnam War brought us Apocalypse Now.

With each tragic war comes great art not only critical of the conflict, but providing fresh insights on human nature. Loser's Memorial continues this great legacy, by using as its backdrop the ongoing War On Terror, CIA black sites and the many secret wars driven by profit alone. In short, Loser's Memorial updates the anti-war work for the current generation.

Prepare to brave the banality of evil and remember, sometimes the only way to escape a twisted situation is to become more twisted. Get the novel today!

From the Author

New author Larry Nocella has created a new fiction, the clash between the natural skepticism of the current generation and its battle with the current tricks of propaganda and power.

"As the barriers to communication and understanding around the world fall, any new novel about a conflict will ring false if you don't tell it from at least both sides. What I wanted to do with Loser's Memorial is highlight the stories of those who aren't even fighting, but rather are caught up in war either via exploitation or simply by being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I love hard rock and horror so I brought that sensibility to the story. I mixed that in with tender moments of feeling and doubt as well. I wanted to work on a new type of fiction in way, encompassing the whole human experience filled with uncertainty and doubt. Mostly I wanted to describe the fight of trying to stay sane in a world of insanity and violence. The young people fight this fight the hardest. Their sense of injustice is strong, but their response isn't always rational. Sometimes you win that fight and sometimes you lose."

"The concept of a Loser's Memorial has always struck me. There should be one, somewhere. We have so many monuments to the dead, so many to winners. But there are losers as well, and I mean loser in its fullest sense, those who are discarded, those who have failed, those who were cast out. If history is told by the victors, that's only half the story. Why not learn the other part of the story?"

"My favorite stories growing up were those that had an element of rebellion in them. Loser's Memorial was so much fun to write because I had two protagonists, each fighting in their own way against different tentacles of an unjust and cruel system. They are definitely underdogs, and maybe they will lose, but it will be one hell of a fight."

From the Back Cover

"I promise I will never join the military. I will deal drugs instead. I will steal. I will go to jail. Whatever it takes to survive, I will do, except join the armed forces."

So goes the oath that Pete's radical father forced him to take in 2004, but just a few years later, escaping jail by taking advantage of the newly signed "Cons-to-Soldiers" bill, Pete finds himself in the middle of the Iraq War.

Thousands of miles away, an innocent Moroccan boy named Jamil is kidnapped and sold by bandits who collect bounties for capturing suspected terrorists.

Together the two young men descend into the lawless world of unsupervised military contractors and secret prisons, caught in the profiteering born from the War on Terror, where the surreal becomes horrifyingly real.

Both end up fighting a losing battle to retain their humanity as they learn that sometimes the only hope of escaping a twisted situation is to become more twisted.

The Story Behind This Book

I've always enjoyed Hard Rock. Whenever I hear that music, or any kind of music, really - I see images in my mind. The origin of this book can be traced back to the Alice In Chains song, "Rooster." As far as I'm aware, the song is about Vietnam, but I wanted to write a story and update it for modern times, so I chose to write about the Iraq War. Further, I've always enjoyed movies, books, stories, music, etc. that doesn't just entertain, but has something to say, something to carry with you and think about as you move through life. I especially loved the commentary on the absurd cruelty of war in the book Johnny Got His Gun and the movie Dr. Strangelove. I wanted to continue that legacy of literature versus oppression, cruelty, war and stupidity. Loser's Memorial is that dream fulfilled.

Praise and Reviews

Sample reviews from Amazon.com!

Absolutely Unique!, June 4, 2013
Captivating from the very first paragraph on. Dark, gripping and unique premise that kept me turning the pages one after the other. I was left wondering why no one in Hollywood has discovered "Loser's Memorial" yet and turned it into an epic movie.

A sandy horror, July 20, 2013
Outrageous as it is in content, LOSER'S MEMORIAL has a striking ring of authenticity. From the military dialogue to the foul mouthed college professor and his misguided son, the language is true to life. And the reading by Michael Hansen is superb. He gives each character an individual voice . I enjoyed this book. It scared me because the cruelty of greed shows how two lives can be affected and dramatically changed. The suffering of the innocent Arab boy Jamil and what it does to him is
Incredibly raw. There is a new way of war out there and this book captures it.

Enjoyable and thought provoking, July 15, 2012
Loser's Memorial is a tale of two young men who become monsters. One is pushed from innocence to evil, becoming what others fear he already is. The other slips down a path of poor decisions and a fear of actually committing to decisive action. I found myself sympathizing with both characters, though Jamil, caught in circumstances beyond his control was the more sympathetic to my view. While I felt sorry for Peter, I could not identify with his overly passive behavior in the face of the reality of the world.

The background for the story is the current events starting from 9/11 and ending around 2007. The theme of the rise of mercenary forces and their corporate war-business practices coupled with corrupt war-mongering mirror our real world, one in which the American public chose to turn a blind eye to how money was spent by the federal government. The writer catches the dismal, impersonal feeling of this system we (and our representatives) have allowed to grow in our government. Indirectly the author has captured the fall of American imagination and innovation and the rise of legalism and practicality.

I found the early part of the story to be somewhat slow but after getting past the introduction to the characters and their circumstances, the tale flowed evenly forward. About two thirds of the way through I realized this story was a reverse spin on a typical Big Name Author Techno-thriller novel. The heroes (such as they are) are not part of the American social elite but ordinary people. God does not intervene with a lucky break, an accident or other inexplicable turn of events which allows the main characters to have a `eureka moment'. Government is not the protector of society but the victimizer, the source of pain and suffering for the ordinary people in the story.

Overall I found Loser's Memorial to be full of fresh thought and enjoyably different from techno-thrillers I have read over the years. If you're looking to find a story which relieves you of the sameness of the high-tech genera, this story is for you.

My favorite book of 2012!, July 10, 2012
Loser's Memorial is my favorite book of 2012. It pulls you in quickly and refuses to release its grip until you reach the denouement. I love the Sci-Fi/Alphas twist the characters have - having to "recharge" makes them feel very "real". A fan of cerebral writing with well thought-out characters should look no further!

Great Read!, June 26, 2012
This is a fantastic novel. The characters come to life through well-developed prose that invites the reader to experience the world through their eyes. The evolution of their plight through these pages will illicit genuine empathy from even the most jaded among us. The plot is both interesting and relevant while maintaining an underlying timeless theme. I thoroughly enjoyed this novel and look forward to future works from this author.

excellent read, June 5, 2012
This is the second book I have read by this author. He has a gift for storytelling that draws you into the characters and makes you want to know what happens next. I enjoyed the well developed characters and timeless themes of this novel.

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