The year is 2005. Blood from the Second Battle of Fallujah still dries on the farmlands of the Zaidon. But for Stygian 2-3, a young team of Recon Marines, the war is anything but over.
Plaguing their battlespace is an ancient evil. Those who volunteered to ensure "Iraqi Freedom" must fight not only anti-Coalition forces, but powers older than the United States, democracy... the world itself.
Anyone who enjoys H. P. Lovecraft knows it, lives with it, suffers for it. Arguably the most influential horror writer of the twentieth century, along with his body of work, these days is pilloried then reduced to scrutiny under the blunt knife of modern sensibilities.
But there are still, despite the cowering quagmire known as the current spec fiction industry, new stories coming out; contributing to the canon with the intent of their original master.
One such book is Lovecraft's Iraq, written by David Rose (a former Recon Marine) and has since been included in the 2022 HWA Bram Stoker Award® Reading List.
A few reactions:
"Military hell from a veteran who’s lived it, Rose’s Lovecraft’s Iraq is slick, cinematic, and surreal. An action adventure of the heroes who give their all, even when there is no winning."
—Lee Murray, two-time Bram Stoker Award®-winner, and author of Into the Mist
“Brought me back to the gritty details of the very real and intense moment-to-moment experiences of combat, woven together with the altogether unreal.”
—Brock Hileman, former Recon Marine and David Rose's team leader in Iraq
"Rose effortlessly captures the nuance of an Iraq deployment while conjuring something far more sinister."
—Leo Jenkins, author of Lest We Forget
You can find that far more sinister something here.