Veteran newsman and acclaimed novelist Jim Lehrer exposes
worlds both intimate and universal, builds suspense with an
accomplished hand, and reveals a savvy understanding of the
modern social landscape. With The Phony Marine, Lehrer dives
into a highly controversial topic–and delivers his most
compelling character portrait to date.
Hugo Marder is
about as unremarkable as they come. On the floor of the
Washington, D.C., branch of Nash Brothers, one of the
country’s most respected men’s stores, Hugo is a wise,
reserved salesman. At home, he is a solitary, divorced
fifty-year-old with few friends and an eBay addiction. But
he has always wanted to make more of his life, dreaming of
becoming an artist or a cartoonist. When he was younger,
he’d always wanted to be a marine.
Late one night,
Hugo stumbles upon an online auction for a Silver Star, the
medal awarded for bravery in battle. He bids and wins. But
it is only after he places the lapel pin on his jacket that
he realizes the enormity of his actions. Suddenly, ordinary
people begin to treat him differently, with dignity and
respect. Is he really going to pretend the honor is his
own?
As Hugo wrestles with his conscience, a
transformation begins to take place. He studies the life of
a marine, learns the military terminology, body-builds at
the gym, even gets a crew cut. When he is reborn as a former
marine, his life immediately changes. Is it possible that
his deception has unlocked the man he always wanted to be?
Through numerous challenges and more than one terrifying
ordeal, Hugo Marder must prove his worth. And in the end, he
must ask himself: What is a hero?
Alive with detail,
emotional depth, and unexpected twists of plot, The Phony
Marine is a tense, revelatory work of fiction that will
cause every reader to consider his or her own stance on what
truly makes someone great.
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