Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: Open Endings
AUTHOR: Megan Linden
PUBLISHER: MLR Press
LENGTH: 71 pages
BLURB:
A man walks into a recruitment office… and nothing goes according to plan.
Matt Holston, soon-to-be college graduate, tries to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. One of his ideas? US Marine Corps. But when he goes to the recruitment office to learn more about a possible military career, he meets a guy who is a complete opposite of what Matt imagined a recruitment officer should be.
Cole Perry had suffered PTSD after his second tour overseas and now he just wants to get to the end of his contract. Transferred from his old unit, he’s a glorified office clerk, as he calls himself, but what he’s definitely not is a guy who would help anybody make the same mistake he did.
So what makes Matt come back to see Cole again if not the spiel about serving his country?
REVIEW:
On the cusp of graduation, Matt Holston doesn’t know what to do with his life. He lives with his mom, he works for his mom, and he can’t help but shake the feeling that after he gets out of university that he should be doing something. Trouble is, he has no idea what. So he walks into a US Marine Corps recruiting center…and hopes maybe inspiration will strike.
On the cusp of getting the hell out of the Marines, Cole Perry isn’t the ideal guy to be working in a recruiting office. Which is made pretty obvious when Matthew walks in the door and Cole does everything short of hiring a sky-writer to convince Matthew that the Marines are a horrible idea, and to go find his something anywhere the hell else.
And that should have been it for the two guys. Cole tries to talk Matthew out of it, Matt takes him at his word–there shouldn’t be a next anything for them. Except Matt can’t get Cole out of his mind…and he doesn’t even want to try, really. But Cole is not just a disgruntled almost ex-Marine…he has issues that could break them up before they ever get a chance to get themselves together. Maybe it is a good thing that Matt’s something might just be a someone, and he has no intention of letting this pass him by.
Well…you don’t see stories like this every day, and I admit that that is why I picked it up. Usually when you get soldiers in books they are all for signing up and signing over their lives for the good ol’ US of A. Well…that or they are already out of the military. I liked the idea of Cole, who just wants the hell out of the Marines, trying to talk someone out of joining up. Things that don’t happen all that often, are sure to make me pick up a book. And while I fucking admire the shit out of anyone who is willing to risk their lives in the military, I have to say the idea of soldiers trained for fighting and killing and dying, is not something I enjoy having in the real world.
Except for the uniforms. If they could kick all that other stuff, but keep the uniforms, I would be much pleased.
I enjoyed this story, and liked how Cole felt free enough to actually get the help he needed for his PTSD. And while he may have issues he is trying to not let them destabilize his entire life, and I liked that. Matt was a bit of a harder nut to crack, for me. I totally get that ‘oh god I’m graduating what the hell am I supposed to do now?!’ feeling that Matt is rocking in this book. I have lived that feeling. I have breathed that feeling. I have had fucking panic attacks at 3am with only that feeling to keep me company. But Matt also seems to have a pretty good life going for him, and I guess I was a little perplexed how he didn’t see it. Yes living with mom after graduation sucks, and trying to figure out how to cross the line from kid to adult in a parent’s eyes is tricky–but the dude has it pretty good. He has a family that loves him, he has a job that he loves…so I was unsure where all the angst was coming from. Everyone is entitled to their own growing up angst, but I would kill to have his life, so I kinda just wanted to slap him a bit (just a little….just a tap) and tell him to see how fucking green his grass is.
Overall this was a very good, quick story, and I enjoyed reading it. It felt sorta unfinished, in that I wanted to know more about Cole’s past and his deal with friends…but I was pretty much happy to leave it where it ended. Maybe we will get a sequel and I’ll find out then.
RATING: 
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