A Glimpse of Peace on the Journey to Armageddon — Walter J. Schenck / Walter Joseph Schenck Jr.

Walter's newest novel presents a strong sense of personal, familial, and historic pasts interacting with each other, affecting the narrative in the present moment of remembering and reflecting. Memories of combat in Vietnam, growing up in the house of a grandmother filled with her own conflicts, the love and devotion of a caring aunt, dealing with a wayward sister, leaving home, and learning about his grandparents killed in a genocide by the Turks. A powerful linkage binds the memories through fabulous mastery of language, offering intense, reflective insights with a keen perception into complete characters. Walter's imagery is vividly descriptive, beautifully written, rhythmically subdued, and evocative while grounding the work in the immediacy of the everyday. Walter's book is an engaging powerhouse, filled with lyrical beauty. A superb accomplishment. A master craftsman.