The Kill Switch

By: Phil Zabriskie

Narrated by: Brian Sutherland

What does it mean to kill for your country? How do you learn how to do it? What does it feel like in the moment? Once the killing starts, how do you control it? And what happens when you kill the wrong person or don’t kill someone you wish you had or look back, years later, at the people you killed? America has been at war in two countries for more than a decade. The killing that has been done and is being done is a crucial aspect of war and an integral part of the memories servicemen bring home with them. And yet, with few exceptions, it’s only rarely discussed in public and largely left to the veterans themselves to process, wrestle with, and carry. This is unfortunate because to understand what war is and what war does, it is necessary to understand what killing is and what killing does. In The Kill Switch, writer Phil Zabriskie, who covered both Iraq and Afghanistan for Time and other magazines, reconnects with two marines and other veterans he met in Iraq and finds them ready to talk about it and willing to examine soberly and honestly what they’ve done and were asked to do. From boot camp through the initial invasion to the crucible of Ramadi, the siege of Fallujah, and beyond, they recount firefights, ambushes, suicide car bombers, hand-to-hand combat, and the life-and-death decisions they made about Saddam’s soldiers, battle-hardened insurgents, and people, even children, who were in the wrong place at the wrong time.

©2014 Phil Zabriskie (P)2015 Audible, Inc.

Prepare to think hard and be challanged

Any additional comments?

This was an excellent, non-judgmental exploration of the experiences and feelings of a few subjects who have killed in combat and have talked about it many years later. The subject is handled carefully and with tact and sensitivity. This should be required material for EVERYONE in the military to better help them understand the possibilities and implications of killing for your country. It was also a great performance by Brian Sutherland.

Outstanding

Would you listen to The Kill Switch again? Why?

Yes, You get more out of it the second time around

What other book might you compare The Kill Switch to and why?

not sure

Have you listened to any of Brian Sutherland’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

no

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

I read it in one sitting

Any additional comments?

This book has a great outlook on what Combat Veterans deal with after they get home. I am a disabled Marine veteran that suffers from PTSD and this book showed me that a lot of us deal with the same problems we are not alone.

Brian Bergman