Shooting Ghosts

A U.S. Marine, a Combat Photographer, and Their Journey Back from War

By: Thomas J. Brennan USMC (Ret), Finbarr O'Reilly

Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain, David H. Lawrence XVII

A unique joint memoir by a US marine and a conflict photographer whose unlikely friendship helped both heal their war-wounded bodies and souls.

War tears people apart, but it can also bring them together. Through the unpredictability of war and its aftermath, a decorated marine sergeant and a world-trotting war photographer became friends, their bond forged as they patrolled together through the dusty alleyways of Helmand province and camped side by side in the desert. It deepened after Sergeant TJ Brennan was injured during a Taliban ambush, and both returned home. Brennan began to suffer from the effects of his injury and from the fallout of his tours in Iraq and Afghanistan. But war correspondents experience similar rates of post-traumatic stress as combat veterans. The causes can be different, but guilt plays a prominent role in both. For Brennan, it's the things he's done, or didn't do, that haunt him. Finbarr O'Reilly's conscience is nagged by the task of photographing people at their most vulnerable while being able to do little to help, and his survival guilt as colleagues die on the job. Their friendship offered them both a shot at redemption.

As we enter the 15th year of continuous war, it is increasingly urgent not just to document the experiences of the battlefield but also to probe the reverberations that last long after combatants and civilians have returned home and to understand the many faces trauma takes. Shooting Ghosts looks at the horrors of war directly but then turns to a journey that draws on our growing understanding of what recovery takes. Their story, told in alternating first-person narratives, is about the things they saw and did, the ways they have been affected, and how they have navigated the psychological aftershocks of war and wrestled with reforming their own identities and moral centers. While war never really ends for those who've lived through it, this book charts the ways two survivors have found to calm the ghosts and reclaim a measure of peace.

©2017 Thomas J. Brennan (P)2017 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

"The dueling-piano spirit of SHOOTING GHOSTS works because its authors are so committed to transparency, admitting readers into the dark crevices of their isolation. Both are sharp minds whose self-awareness keeps their stories from slipping into banality and their lives devoted to something beyond war." (Wall Street Journal)

“SHOOTING GHOSTS is unflinching, yet it is not stoic. It is sensitive, yet not sentimental.... If you want to know what Trump’s decision means for the lives of thousands of Americans now serving in Afghanistan, SHOOTING GHOSTS is a good place to start.... SHOOTING GHOSTS is no easy story of uplift, but one of hard-won wisdom. Brennan and O’Reilly have tamed, if not broken, their addiction to war. Now if only the United States government could do the same.” (AlterNet)

"A courageous breaking of the code of silence to seek mental health for veterans and the war-scarred." (Kirkus Reviews)

An Excellent "Read"

I picked out this book as a phone ographrr and USMC veteran b cause both interests crossed. This book did a lot more than pique my interest. Many times it left me feeling open and raw, and in a good way. Definitely worth reading/listening to.

Excellent

What a book...I feel like I have better insight into PTSD, journalists on dangerous assignments, soldiers and their families. I highly recommend this book.

Fascinating

The parallels between the characters are immensely captivating. It opened me to check on more details about the characters and what other things they’ve written and photographed.
The book digs into mental health in a way that is palatable and insightful for a fiction reader.

Enjoyed it immensely.

The bare honesty

This is a rare story. The bare honesty of both Thomas Brennan and Finbar OReilly is raw and beautiful. These are stories that need to be told and heard.