The Last Blue Mile

Brook Searcy thought she could handle it all. A freshman at the Air Force Academy, she's trying to survive Hell Week and stake her identity inside a place reluctant to shed its evangelical, male-dominated traditions. When a cheating scandal erupts, General John Waller must catch the culprit, and Brook finds herself closer to the heat than she realized. Both Searcy and Waller fight through the sometimes hilarious, sometimes sadistic tyrannies of academy life. But when a tragic accident divides the academy, they must decide whether the not-so-perfect world of the military is worth the sacrifice it demands.

Not since Pat Conroy's The Lords of Discipline has an author written so cogently about the world of military training. The Last Blue Mile is a telling narrative about the clash between identity and honor.

By Kim Ponders

Price: $24.95