The Severance

This flat debut novel from a former paratrooper tells the story of a group of screwup soldiers fighting insurgents both on the battlefield and within their own platoon in Afghanistan. Kodiak Platoon is made up of drug addicts, alcoholics, deserters, insubordinates, and other castoffs, and at the helm is Capt. Jake Roberts, who has his own dark secrets. Amid firefights and jocular card games, the men bond and become an elite, frequently called upon unit. But after the platoon discovers $4 million in cash and a plan is formed to smuggle it back home and divide it among themselves (they come to call the money their severance), Roberts must maneuver battles, career-minded superiors, an affair with a nurse, and possible subterfuge from within his own ranks, all the while protecting his platoon and their secret stash of cash. The story can't quite figure out where it wants to be, neither catching fire as a full-on military thriller nor finding in its cast the material for a solid ensemble story. It clicks during the battle scenes, but loses its way once the safeties are back on. (Nov.)