In Our Other Lives

A Novel

By: Theodore Wheeler

Narrated by: Dan John Miller

A provocative novel about abandoned faith, heartbreaking loss, and inescapable government scrutiny in the heartland of a post-9/11 nation.

American missionary and ROTC cadet Tyler Ahls, long missing in Pakistan, has just surfaced, proselytizing in an Afghani terrorist propaganda video. For Omaha nurse Elisabeth Holland, it’s a shock that her brother is even alive. Now she must ask herself a more grave question: Is he a hostage or a traitor?

Seasoned FBI special agent Frank Schwaller is asking this too. He’s come to Nebraska armed with countless hours of video, audio, and email surveillance. The object of his unyielding gaze is Elisabeth. But the more Schwaller uncovers about her - from her and Tyler’s evangelical Christian upbringing to her shattered youthful dreams to her broken marriage to a drifter - the more mystifying Elisabeth and the two men in her life become.

To find out the truth about these entwined lives - and the desperation that comes from love, fear, and the need to disappear - Agent Schwaller will discover how even the most lonesome corners of the Plains can be darkened by the long shadow of war.

From Kings of Broken Things author Theodore Wheeler comes an exploration of love lost, the failure of humanism, and the revelations of how deeply the US government spies on the personal lives of its citizens.

©2020 Theodore Wheeler (P)2019 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved.

timely American story

In Our Other Lives is a very modern story of the effects of terrorism on a culture and loss on an individual. The book takes lace mostly in Nebraska where Elizabeth Holland lives. She is a single mom after her husband abandoned her and their son shortly after his birth. And her brother disappeared in Pakistan some time ago. Then her brother, Tyler Ahls, show up on a propaganda video bringing the FBI to town.

FBI Special Agent Frank Schwaller arrives in Omaha, Nebraska, to investigate the family of Tyler Ahls, a young man who disappeared in Pakistan but has now shown up in a terrorist propaganda video. Schwaller’s task is to determine if Tyler is a hostage or a traitor who poses a threat to American people.

The novel is told in a series of 12 files which detail the information gathered through interviews and surveillance. The book emphasizes the trail of information that each of us leaves behind every day. Elizabeth lived a quiet life off the radar before her brother's activities and yet the FBI agent builds an extensive file on her.

Elizabeth is a stoic woman who seems to have taken everything in stride. She is simply and quietly moving on with life, not trying to understand the actions of her brother or her husband. Unfortunately, the FBI agent wants to understand everything. He is easily frustrated when he thinks people are uncooperative.

The interesting dichotomy here is that despite all the ways each of us is surveilled on a daily basis people remain mysterious and unknowable. Even though Elizabeth loved her brother she doesn't understand what his motive was to travel to Pakistan, or her husband's for leaving her.

I think this is a smart and interesting story, but have a couple complaint:

1. This is a completely American book. It is based on America's laws, culture, fears. It relies heavily (and assumes you have the knowledge before opening the cover) on the Patriot Act and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I found it ethnocentric and a bit jingoistic.

2. None of the characters inspired much compassion or empathy. I didn't particularly connect with any of them or care what happened.

2.5 stars rounded up.

Interesting

While I found this book’s topic interesting, the characters were not likable or relatable. There was something a bit sloppy and amateurish about the writing style, which made the narration a bit tedious plus the narrator should have made more effort to pronounce Wenceslaus correctly. There were a lot of “red herrings” that had little bearing on the plot as well. I can’t really recommend it.

Don’t waste your time or money

There’s no plot. I kept waiting and waiting, but nothing! Cannot say what was the point of this book.