rate_review Reviews

I liked.

I really liked the ending. Did not expect that at all, though I guess I should have done. Good switch around with the officer being first un-knowlegeable enough to put himself in harms way - not keeping to cover and displaying his rank - then John himself walking straight down into the platoon. Then again if he's so keen to get into the Pacific theatre, maybe he was ready to die anyhow. I'll bet that platoon were happy to find an enemy sniper.

Hah, chock-full of research as always! It's interesting to learn all those bits of information about WW2 and military tactics. You're getting better at weaving the details with the plot, which I wager can't be easy with the word limit. Indeed, I'm sure that there was a lot more that you could have included and probably sacrificed to the Word Count God. Still, very vivid descriptions, and I especially liked the plot twist at the end. The only concrit I would make is that I would have focused more on the main character's personality. We get nothing from his past, and what little we know of him is that he likes his job, he's carefree and he's very patient. A good example of a character's personality done well is the one about the Australian garden zombies. Other than that, this was a very enjoyable read.

The nihilism in John meant he was dead already and empty. I do wish there had been a little more flavor of being in France during occupation, as changing the weapon and word Nazi would cover a change to any place under occupation. While it does show he's cut loose from mores, the change in POV doesn't change that later.

Oh, well done! Gritty and historically accurate, and impeccably written! :D

Wow, and end of a life, well done! I enjoyed the sniper's perspective, the solitude, and they way he just did his job. Well done! Thanks for sharing, PW

Reminds me a little of Enemy at the Gates! Snipers are pretty awesome and a good use for an ending theme. I would make a small argument though. The US didn't rely much on snipers in WW2, European Theatre. They were more concerned with long range shooting with their snipers and rarely went behind enemy lines to snipe. However, I still think you did a wonderful job capturing the scene and arrogance of most snipers!

(Once again re-captcha funny: the manarm)

Too bad for Corporal Swain, but at least he took one more officer out before being taken out of the war himself, one way or another. It's another nicely detailed slice of life (and death), though this time you surprised me by not giving so much detail about the town and area, though you more than made up for it with details while peeking into his mindset and giving a step-by-step of his firing. Mentioning the lack of a spotter was an ominous bit of foreshadowing, though admittedly I thought he may have been okay once the tower blew up behind him.

You got me. :) Thanks for leaving it open-ended though, since in my version he's taken to Stalag 13 for the rest of the war. :)