Alexander Hopkins

Time and Chance: and Selected Short Stories Alexander Hopkins

Prior to 9/11, John Moses is a rising star on a steady path to a conventionally successful future. He graduates from West Point, marries his high school sweetheart, and now serves as a captain in the Army Special Forces. Fighting the war on terrorism, Moses excels in guerrilla combat, establishing himself as a lethal military weapon. Despite his elite training, the traumatic impact of extensive combat in Afghanistan and Iraq causes his superiors to pull him off the front line and send him home, but the war continues to rage inside him. Instead of returning to his wife, Moses drifts through Europe as he struggles to decide whether to maintain the veneer of a good soldier or simply to let himself go. Attracted to other lost souls, he meets some backpackers who introduce him to Amsterdam's Red Light District. There Moses falls for a troubled prostitute and becomes entangled in the underbelly of Dutch society. Once immersed in this lifestyle, it becomes harder for him to contemplate returning to his old life. However, he can't refuse a secret request to help his country. Despite attempts to run from his past, Moses is still surrounded by death and intrigue. Above all, he is bound by the credo "Duty, Honor, Country."