WE TAKE CARE OF OUR OWN

A therapist gets drawn into an insidious program for traumatized veterans in this debut novel.

Linda Held is a single mother and early-career psychotherapist who isn’t interested in letting ethical concerns get in the way of her helping her clients. That’s what attracted her to the vaguely named “United Syndicates of Federal Assistance, Worldwide,” which runs the SoldierWell program, a private therapy initiative for veterans experiencing acute PTSD. Her clients are definitely in need of help. Pvt. Carl Boxer is a guilt-ridden soldier whose traumatic experience as a war zone driver led him to attack an Army chaplain (though he has no memory of doing so). Participation in SoldierWell is all that saved him from being court-martialed. Even worse is Marine Sgt. Todd Sparrow, a narcissist and potential sociopath with war crimes on his rap sheet. Linda is prepared to blur the normal boundary lines between patient and therapist to produce results—her early research is in the potential benefits of patient transference—but it soon becomes clear that the ethical standards of her employers are far looser (and darker) than even she imagined. As it turns out, USoFA’s plans for the vets in Linda’s care don’t necessarily involve fixing them. The deeper Linda immerses herself in the program, the more she realizes that she might not be helping to mitigate the effects of America’s “forever war” but simply keeping the machine primed and running. Mixing traditional narration with extended transcripts from therapy sessions, Clancy builds his world with unsettling precision. It’s a novel that leans heavily into psychology, and the characters are wonderfully (and sometimes horribly) drawn. “I can’t remember how I came to lead but I’m sure it had something to do with the way I carried myself,” says Todd to Linda, explaining what he perceives as his own natural leadership abilities. “I have what they call ‘command presence,’ if that’s a term you’re familiar with. That’s just how I see myself, and I’m confident others see me that way.” Readers may be suffering from “forever war” fatigue at this current moment of history, but the author’s parable is more than incisive political commentary. It’s an evergreen story of human frailty and this increasingly dystopian world.

A taut and compelling psychological tale.