The Preserve

In 1948, U.S. Army deserter Wendell Lett, the reluctant hero of Anderson’s unusual WWII-era thriller, who was last seen in 2014’s Under False Flags, is living in Belgium and suffering from combat fatigue that evidences itself in violent psychotic episodes. In exchange for a cure, he agrees to relocate to the Preserve, a special training camp in Hawaii, where he will train for mysterious missions that are never clearly explained. At the Preserve, he comes under the care of Edward Lansdale, who says he’s sort of a doctor. Wendell’s first assignment is guarding the unloading and transportation of heavy, unmarked trunks. He soon comes to several conclusions: the true purpose of the Preserve is far more complicated than anyone has told him; his duties are in support of a secret mission to recover Japanese war booty; and that the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers, Gen. Douglass MacArthur, is involved in the recovery. The uniformly bleak atmosphere won’t be to every taste. Still, readers will root for Wendell, with his unrelenting demons, as he soldiers on, fighting for his sanity and his life. (Sept.)