Book Review: Armor of Glass by Retired Marine R.M.A. Spears

Ron Spears

I recently connected with R.M.A. Spears on Linked In and was happy to read his book. Ron is a retired marine so his work lends some authenticity that only someone who has served in the military service can know.

According to Ron, ARMOR OF GLASS  is based on a true story.  However, if you’re looking for a treatise on weaponry, aircraft special forces, stealth insertion maneuvers terminology and high level suspense this isn’t the book for you.

If you want a gritty, brutally honest inside look at the marine’s mind and a few of his experiences in the Vietnam War and the Iraq war you will find some of that in this book.  However, the book really focuses on Brick, a broken marine, and his return to civilian life which seemed to lack the structure and direction he had learned to enjoy in the military.

Brick spends his time trying to get back to active duty through the reserves while moving from one job to the other and changing marriages almost as often. As an educated man who never seems able to settle, he still wants the comfort of a home but can only relate to women on one level. He is disconnected, and detached.

While in one of his unhappy dysfunctional marriages, Brick has an affair with an old high school crush, Cameo, who he keeps bumping into over the years. Cameo, an officer in the Air Force, is on the fast track to the top. While arguing with his cheating wife, he spills the fact of his affair. She, along with the woman’s husband (who knows secrets) try to destroy both of them.  What ensues is a harsh, brutally honest description of a failing marriage and the destruction and supposed death of Cameo.

The book  told in first person narrative and begins on the Dallas Area Rapid Transit  train and ends there where he thinks he sees Cameo again.

Pro’s: Gives a heart felt account of  a Marine’s transition to civilian life with flashbacks to time in military service and of lost love.

Cons: At times the novel, which it says it is on the cover, read like a diary, and at others like an autobiography.  There seemed to be no real beginning, middle, or end and no real resolution of conflict between characters as in a novel.

Buy the book here: Amazon or Barnes and Noble