Cherry

Cherry by Nico Walker, 317 pages.
A great, somewhat depressing, and moving debut novel by a man who, like his main character, served as a soldier in Iraq, was a heroin addict and a bank robber.
Adrift as a teen in Ohio, the narrator joins the army, not out of a surfeit of patriotism, but more because his girlfriend has changed schools and is due to leave him. Soon he is off to Iraq as a medic, but he doesn't find much in the Army or in Iraq that inspires him. There is no heroism or patriotic awakening in the narrator's experience, it's mostly grim, stupid and wasteful. Once back home, and reunited with his wife, the narrator mostly focuses on his opiod addiction. That's where the bank robbery comes in. Walker presents his characters with a grim humor and empathy and makes the book a compelling read.