Title: Along the Watchtower
Author: David Litwack
Publisher: Double Dragon eBooks
Genre: contemporary fantasy
Rating: Teen (little bit of non-descriptive cursing, rehab for injuries due to IED)

I awoke on a slab.

No. Too soft for a slab. Softer than a corpse would need. Not a slab but a stretcher.

A fog swirled in my brain. I picked through its wisps, searching for a thought to cling to. Then my combat training kicked in. First rule-assess the situation. I steadied myself and tested my senses, starting with touch. I flexed each finger until it grazed the pad of the thumb. So far, so good. Next I listened. Not much to hear. More of a hum than silence. But I could feel a vibration nearby, a throbbing like the heart of a dying beast. My sight might tell me more, but I was afraid to open my eyes. Instead, I sucked air in through my nose.

The smell of jet fuel. Then a wind so strong it rippled my cheeks into folds.

I was outside on a runway. Alive.

After Lieutenant Freddie Williams is caught in an IED explosion in Iraq, he’s sent home to recover. He spends time in a medically induced coma, where he retreats into his mind and the rich fantasy world therein. When he wakes, he faces the hard road of recovering from his physical wounds and dealing with mental injuries he doesn’t even remember.