Finding Jack - by Gareth Crocker (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

When the war ends, how do you leave your best friend behind?

After losing his young family in a tragic accident, Fletcher Carson joins the flagging war effort in Vietnam. Deeply depressed, he plans to die in the war. But during one of his early missions, Fletcher rescues a critically wounded yellow Lab whom he nurses back to health and names Jack. As Fletcher and Jack patrol and survive the forests of Vietnam, Fletcher slowly regains the will to live.

At the end of the war, the U.S. Government announces that due to the cost of withdrawal, all U.S. dogs serving in the war have been declared "surplus military equipment" and will not be transported home. For the hundreds of dog handlers throughout Vietnam, whose dogs had saved countless lives, the news is greeted with shock and disbelief. For Fletcher, he knows that if he abandons Jack, then he too will be lost. Ordered to leave Jack behind, he refuses--and so begins their journey.

Based on the actual existence and abandonment of canine units in Vietnam, Gareth Crocker's Finding Jack is a novel of friendship and love under desperate circumstances that will grab your heart and won't let go.

Review Quotes

"Rarely have I read so moving an account of the heroism of animals, the compassion of the humans who love them, and the transformational relation ships that can spring up between the two. This is a story that will continue to live with you long after you've turned the last page." --Gwen Cooper, author of the New York Times bestseller Homer's Odyssey

"Like angels, great dogs find us, then lead us home. Finding Jack is the story of a man who had lost his way, and with the help of a selfless, heroic dog, finds it again. A story of redemption, determination, and unstoppable love, Finding Jack compels us to ask the question: do we have what it takes to be a hero?" --Steve Duno, author of Last Dog on the Hill

"Finding Jack is more than a novel of the relationship between a man and his faithful companion. It is the story of the bonds between man and dog, warriors and best friends. Finding Jack shows us the lengths that one man is willing to go to -- and the rules he's willing to break at the risk of his own life -- to save the life of another being. As a Marine who's seen his share of combat and rescued a dog from certain death in hell, I can relate to the many unspoken reasons for not only finding, but saving, Jack. This story is about humanity and doing what it takes to maintain your humanity in the face of depravity." --Jay Kopelman, author of the New York Times bestseller From Baghdad with Love: A Marine, the War, and a Dog Named Lava

"the novel is quick and captivating. Ultimately, it's not the sensational Hollywood-style action that will stick with readers, but instead the humbling, eternal friendship between man and dog." --The Christian Science Monitor

About the Author

GARETH CROCKER has worked as a journalist, copywriter, news editor, public relations manager, publishing editor and, most recently, head of communications and spokesperson for a multinational corporation. Finding Jack is his first novel.