The following review was contributed by: E.Dian Moore &  To read more about

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Paul Brett is a child of the 60’s, struggling to survive his home life in the slums of California and survive the abuse of his alcoholic father. When he discovers a master of the martial art, Pentjack Silat, he sees for the first time a discipline that gives structure to his life and gives him a mature confidence of his own ability to protect himself, and others, using his hands.

Indio-Dutch immigrant Draeger is the master of this fascinating martial art, and he reluctantly takes on young Paul as his student. The relationship is a cousin to the one seen in The Karate Kid, but in this case, the world is much meaner, and the teacher more tormented, and the kid sticks in your gut and has the reader rooting for him at an intense personal level. Paul ends up mastering Silat without allowing the art to master him.  

Paul is tormented by his childhood, and while still in his teens, must bear the suicide of his father. Tormented souls seek dark places, and so Paul ends up in more trouble and cannot understand himself nor seem to form a standard by which to live.

Paul ends up as a soldier in Vietnam and is recruited into a special forces type of group that is secret, even from the other special forces. The Studies and Observations Group, or SOG, needs a warrior like Paul, and he’s recruited into their world.  

“Meltdown,” one of the chapters in Warrior, is a key-turning point for Paul as he  chooses to end the misery of his fellow soldiers by killing them; therefore stopping the enemy’s games. His next choice, to walk out of the jungle and return to America indicates a new level of understanding for his character; but before he can explore this understanding, his country imprisons him in a torturous prison known as The Castle. Inmates kill or be killed, and entertainment is provided by gladiator-style fighting—to the death.

This hero’s journey brings him to a saddened realization that he doesn’t fit into ‘normal’ society and he rejects his wife, not wanting her to witness the monster he feels he has become. How can he reconcile the atrocities he witnessed, and participated in, with a man who deserves to be loved? 

Paul’s story comes full circle as he has no choice but to revert to the Pentjack Silat warrior skills learned from his childhood mentor to survive the duels at The Castle, only to be rewarded by a return ticket to the war overseas.

He realizes he is more comfortable in the midst of battle arena than in domestic America – UNTIL – a final betrayal causes him to see the true hope and value that only ‘home’ can offer. 

Snyder took a courageous step in the writing style he employs in American Warrior. He tells the story in a present tense, third-person narrative. Readers may find this disconcerting, but with a little practice, the rhythm of the story comes through. Critics will notice the lack of editing and might dismiss this book because of it; but the story is compelling enough to survive.

Beware of: determining who is speaking or thinking; scene changes without a scene break, and text that runs all together. Of course, the publishing company has a lot to do with this. American Warrior has the potential of being picked up by a small or midsize press and it deserves the service of a professional editor. The book is hard to put down, even with the formatting problems. 

Men of War will relate to Paul’s character and perhaps understand him more than this reader, who happens to be a woman whose only brushes with violence were minor and never resulted in death. But, American Warrior struck a chord, nonetheless. My heart ached for Paul to realize his own value and worth, while at the same time I admired the warrior he is, a man who protects, no matter what it takes.

I can envision American Warrior as a movie and perhaps we’ll see Paul Brett on the big screen soon.  

All in all, this compelling, intense story kept me riveted to the pages as I watched the boy become a man too soon, forced by circumstances, to embark upon a journey to reconcile violence with the American dream of hearth, hope and family.

Poignant, petrifying, rough and realistic, American Warrior is a tough look at a tough life and all such a life entails. I wanted the book to continue as Paul walked out of Thailand at the end – where does his epic journey go to next?