16 Quotes by Barry Kirwan

For the thousandth time, Nathan wondered why you didn’t need some kind of basic parenting skills certificate to have kids.

A scream pierced the sky, a child’s, so loud he dropped his cup, his right hand ready to reach for a weapon that wasn’t there. A survival reflex from another city, another part of the world. He tried to relax, but the scream had been real. Not like the whining wail he loathed, not even the shocked cry of a kid who’d just hurt himself. This scream had mortal fear in it. After three tours in Afghanistan, he knew the difference.

That was how you survived. See the world as it is. Not as you think it is. Not as you want it to be, or think it should be. Not even as it was yesterday. See it exactly as it is, right now.

I’m a soldier,’ Nathan said. ‘We’re all soldiers, now. Soldiers don’t leave people behind.

You’ve enlarged your original mission parameters. That’s what happens in war.

I’m not convinced we can take them out from a distance, Nathan. That’s always been the American solution, by the way. Bigger guns. Nukes. Drone strikes.

We’re not very good at peace, not really. War is in our nature,’ he said.‘Men’s nature,’ she corrected.

Attractive, blonde, skinny, a little slutty, and… well, I kind of talked to her about you. She’s already keen. You should be able to slide straight into second base.’ Mags laughed again. Nathan didn’t. It had been a while. And then some. He glanced over to the wardrobe. Maybe the dark blue shirt.

Nathan ran a palm over his forehead. He was on a mission with Taliban terrorists. His old sarge would be puking in his grave. He’d always maintained that the enemy of your enemy was still your fucking enemy.