An Iraq War veteran. An Arab. A lethal outcome.

Killian is a terminally ill Iraq War veteran, and he wants only one thing before he dies: To avenge his best friend, Tyler, whom he failed to save in Iraq.

When he runs into Hassan, an ordinary family man who looks like the insurgent that killed Tyler, Killian is certain that he has hit the jackpot. Finding out that Hassan’s family is away on vacation, Killian invades Hassan’s house, determined to get a confession out of him.

As Killian goes to great lengths in this “enhanced” interrogation, some dark and disturbing secrets begin to surface for both of them. But everything changes when Hassan turns the tables on Killian and forces him to confront the naked truth…

Is Killian making a grave mistake? Or is Hassan the new face of jihad?

Targeted Age Group:: 18+

What Inspired You to Write Your Book?

I have watched the second Iraq War through visual and print media. I have seen the atrocities and the suffering on both sides. I have served as an officer in the Turkish Gendarmerie Forces for 5 years, and I know how a soldier feels and acts. I wanted to explore and tell the hopes and pains of the soldiers and civilians on both sides, who are crushed by the greed of the rulers.

How Did You Come up With Your Characters?

I have served at a border station in the Turkish-Iraqi border and I have lost several friends in that area, as the American soldier has in the novel. I know how a soldier feels and acts in those situations. This is where that character has come from.

Book Sample

PROLOGUE

One-one thousand.

First, you hear the crack of the bullet whizzing by, and then you start counting. But instead of saying ‘one, two, three…’, you say ‘one-one thousand, two-one thousand, three-one thousand…’ to make up the entire second. And you don’t stop counting until you hear—

BANG!

Then, you multiply the seconds elapsed between the crack and the bang by 300 yards, and you’ll have the average distance between you and death. And you thank God that your enemy isn’t a good shooter, or that he (or she) has decided to aim at another poor soldier instead of you.

Good luck with survivor’s guilt for the rest of your life.

You learn this basic knowledge in boot camp. What you wouldn’t learn is that if the bullet is meant for you, then you won’t ever hear the crack or the bang. The bullet passes the speed of sound, and then it changes your world faster than the speed of light.

Killian first used this counting method when they were pinned down by a sniper in Iraq. Later, he caught himself using it at close firefights, and then again, when they were blown up by an IED. To his surprise, he found counting very relaxing. He kept it up whenever he felt bad or worried, even after going back home. And he’s been counting a lot since coming back home.

Although he has felt like waiting to catch a bullet his whole life, he’s now about to die from a stab wound in the back of an ambulance rushing toward the nearest hospital. He wants to laugh at the irony of it all, but the injuries he’s sustained from this – both the best and the worst night of his life – make it impossible to move even a muscle.

The ringing in his ears, which has been with him since his days in Iraq, suddenly evolves into a loud howl. It’s so loud that it drowns out the wailing of the ambulance siren and the frantic voices of the paramedics, desperately trying to save his life. But having wished he were dead for some time now, – at the moment of actually facing death – Killian realizes he wants to live.

He knows from experience that, to survive a bullet wound, the first thing you should do is to stay calm and avoid going into shock.

Calm down, Killian tells himself. Calm down. Relax. Take a deep breath.

He locates a spot above him and fixes his stare on the roof of the ambulance. Then he begins to count…

Links to Purchase Print Books

Buy Hey, Amerikan! Print Edition at Amazon

Links to Purchase eBooks – Click links for book samples and reviews

Buy Hey, Amerikan! On Amazon

All information was provided by the author and not edited by us. This is so you get to know the author better.