Okay so I need to stop finishing books in a week or picking bigger books. 

The book is A Nightmares Prayer by Michael Franzak. I ended up with this book in my pile from one of my many amazon book binges. The book follows the author who is a United States Marine Corp (USMC) pilot flying the AV-8B Harrier. It specifically covers his time during his deployment to Afghanistan as Executive Officer of VMA-513.

For those that don’t know the AV-8B is the US variant on the venerable British made Harrier. The Harrier was the first VTOL (Vertical Take Off & Landing) fixed wing aircraft. Later modified and mainly used as STOVL (Short Take Off Vertical Landing) the Harrier is unique in the combat aircraft world. The USMC is one of a handful of operators in the world and is used as a Close Air Support aircraft covering Marines and soldiers in the field giving them protection from the air.

This book was unlike any I had read before for a few reasons:

1. It followed a pilot in Afghanistan if a fixed wing aircraft something I had not ready before
2. It was more a look into the pilots mind more than the conflict, exploring the emotions of someone doing a job in a situation that is not the best
3. It was not very in depth about the aircraft but more about the human mind, how it thinks, reacts, feels.

Even though the book was not as I expected I was glad it didn’t really cover the aircraft as much.  I usually prefer a book that covers part on the aircraft over the person behind the controls but this was different. This book made it feel more real (even though the events happened in 2002/2003), like I was the pilot.

Very glad to of bought this book with me, it was definitely what I needed to bring some things in life into perspective and also help rekindle that love of Aviation that I have. A good read for any Avgeek like me.