The novelist, screen writer and resident of Barga, Tom Gabbay has just published his latest work – “Baquba” which revolves around Vincent Spinelli, a nineteen year-old soldier whose fragile state of mind unravels in the violent chaos of Iraq in 2007.
In a marked difference from his last three novel, The Berlin Conspiracy, The Lisbon Crossing, and The Tehran Conviction, Baquba is available to his readers for the first time as an e-book.
As the man once said, The Times They Are A-Changin’, and that’s certainly true in the world of book publishing. The transition from paper to electronic books is happening so fast that it’s hard to keep up, but if you are in any doubt about what the future holds, take note that Amazons’s electronic books sales have now overtaken print sales. This historic shift makes for unsettling times if you are a traditional publisher but it provides an interesting opportunity for authors like myself. Big publishing houses are no longer our literary gatekeepers.
So here I am, publishing my latest novel as an e-book. (download this book here)
Tom Gabbay was born in 1953 in Bloomington, Indiana. USA. After studying painting in London and Philadelphia, he began his career in New York, producing animated films for the well known children’s program Sesame Street. In 1985 he joined NBC television in Los Angeles as Director of Children’s programs. During his tenure at the network, he also served as a Director of Comedy Programs and Creative Director of NBC Europe. In addition to his novels, (The Berlin Conspiracy, The Lisbon Crossing, and The Tehran Conviction) he has written several screenplays and contributed political cartoons to the Philadelphia Daily News.
The story of BAQUBA revolves around Vincent Spinelli, a nineteen year-old soldier whose fragile state of mind unravels in the violent chaos of Iraq in 2007 – a time when US troops were engaged in some of most intense fighting of the war. Vincent’s instability, due in part to a traumatic brain injury, is clear to the men in his platoon but the surge is on and the army needs boots on the ground.
When Vincent finally reaches his breaking point, triggering a nightmarish incident in which an innocent family is killed, the military sweeps him under the carpet. Discharged and sent home. But, like too many returning veterans, Vincent has no real home to return to. Alone, confused, and drifting on the streets of Miami, he becomes a walking time bomb. The inevitable explosion of violence sets in motion events that form the basis of a psychological thriller with harrowing relevance to recent events.
It’s a difficult subject, but it’s real. It’s happening.
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I was drawn to the issue when I came across an article in the Colorado Gazette that told the story of the 4th Infantry Division’s 4th Brigade Combat Team, based in Colorado Springs. The unit “fought in some of the bloodiest places in Iraq, taking the most casualties of any Fort Carson unit by far,” the article stated. “Back home, 10 of its infantrymen have been arrested and accused of murder, attempted murder or manslaughter… Others have committed suicide, or tried to.”
The article went on to describe young men, most of them too young to buy a beer when they enlisted, coming home with serious emotional injuries: “In the vicious confusion of battle in Iraq, and with no clear enemy, many said training went out the window. Slaughter became a part of life. Soldiers in body armour went back for round after round of battle that would have killed warriors a generation ago. Discipline deteriorated. Soldiers say the torture and killing of Iraqi civilians lurked in the ranks. And when these soldiers came home to Colorado Springs suffering the emotional wounds of combat, soldiers say, some were ignored, some were neglected, some were thrown away and some were punished. Some kept killing — this time in Colorado Springs.”
More on the subject can be found in a New York Times series of articles entitled “War Torn.”
BAQUBA is a work of fiction. It’s not intended to offer any answers or pass judgement. It is a story as old as humankind. Men coming home from war. I hope you find it an honest and engaging read.
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