Annie by Ron Mahaffey ~ review

• Paperback: 152 pages
• Publisher: Outskirts Press (April 26, 2013)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1478711299
• ISBN-13: 978-1478711292

This book is also available as an ebook.

Cody Miller's lifelong desire to serve and protect the country he loves is a reality now, thanks to the Vietnam War. He has served honorably and well, and he's about to be sent back to the States...along with the woman he loves. But just as his dreams are about to come true, a tragedy strikes, giving him the opportunity to protect an angel of mercy...but at great cost to himself. Cody wakes up in a veterans' hospital believing that he has nothing left to live for. With a cold and angry heart, his only wish is to ride into the Colorado wilderness, never to be seen again. But Cody doesn't know that destiny is following him in a way he doesn't expect. Will it reach him in time? Annie is a deftly plotted, richly characterized novel that illuminates the physical and emotional realities of war with vividness and compassion to create a deeply satisfying story.

My take on this book:

"Annie" by Ron Mahaffey introduces us to Cody Miller, who at the age of thirteen loses his parents and decides that as soon as he can he will follow in his father's footsteps and join the military. In the meantime he lives with his grandparents in the Colorado Mountains. As a senior in high school he enlists in the army and it's along about this time that his eye is caught by fellow classmate Ann Wilson, thing is she is dating a football jock so Cody thinks that he doesn't stand a chance. Cody leaves for the Army two weeks after graduation and as fate would have it Ann Wilson has also enlisted, and it turns out that they are headed to the same post in Vietnam. A relationship develops between the two and as they near the end of their tour of duty Cody asks Ann to marry him. Before she can answer him though they find themselves under attack and when he wakes up four months later in an American Army Hospital his heart is broken at the information he is given. He decides that he will lose himself in the Colorado mountains. Fate isn't thru with Cody yet and he learns that sometimes what we think we know isn't the truth at all. 

Mr. Mahaffey really brings the setting of this story to life! From the jungles of Vietnam to the Colorado mountains the author's rich descriptions allow the reader to feel as if they are right along with Cody. The characters seem so real, the danger so realistic that I could almost hear the shooting as Cody and his troop rushes thru the jungle trying to reach safety! Cody was such a well fleshed out character, even though he is often clumsy when it came to keeping his troops safe he didn't falter once! His feelings and reactions were spot on, and while I thought his plan of going into the Colorado wilderness seemed a bit much, honestly I could understand why he wanted to do it, and his plans had me thinking about all of the other soldiers who returned from that war needing to hide away from society. The romance between Cody and Annie was sweet and it seemed like destiny certainly had a plan for the pair. I found it endearing that Cody named his horse after Annie and often talked to it while he was on the trail.  Along with the romance there is a smidgen of a mystery surrounding Cody and Annie's parents and the connection they shared.  It isn't often that I read books that center around the Vietnam War, but after reading "Annie" by Ron Mahaffey  I am rethinking that. His storytelling brought not only the war to life, but the struggles that were faced when wounded soldiers made it home. "Annie" pulled me in so completely that I couldn't put the story down and finished it in one sitting!  
Reviewed for Reader's favorite.com