Ebook Details Title: Uncommon Valor Author: William Todd Format: Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) Also available in HTML and Microsoft Lit Number of Pages: 34 Summary: During the fall of Fallujah in the Iraq war, two long-time friends Corporals Kyle and Davis find themselves trapped in an abandoned home and surrounded by insurgents after their assault vehicle is hit by an IED. With Davis severely injured, Kyle strikes out on his own to find help for his injured friend and fellow Marine. Davis, a Marine by choice, feels guilt for Kyle, whose sole purpose for joining was to protect Davis. A shocking event when they were eleven years old precipitated Kyle’s obsessive protection of his friend. In the end, he illustrates just how deep friendship goes by showing . . . Uncommon Valor. Price: $2.49 Author Bio: William Todd has been writing online for almost ten years. He was the third most popular author on the website Storiesbyemail.com before it shut down. He has an 8 year old son Kiaran, who is a budding author himself, and a 6 year old daughter Alina, who has Down’s Syndrome. He and his wife Joan have been married for 10 years, and make Erie, PA their home. When not writing, he is a full time histologist and a part time pathologist assistant at a local hospital. His hobbies are writing, running, reading, and watching old movies.

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With a story by William Todd, I guessed something supernatural would happen in Uncommon Valor, but what I didn’t anticipate was getting teary-eyed at the ending instead of spooked. I’d read Todd’s anthology of macabre short stories Bumps in the Night, so I had a feel for the kind of tale he likes to spin. I rightly predicted Corporal Kyle and Corporal Davis would experience something otherworldly when they end up wounded and trapped in an abandoned house in Fallujah during the Iraq war. However, instead of the story ending with the revelational twist as I expected, it continued on with a rather introspective analysis by the characters as to what it all meant. I was actually touched by the ending.

Todd’s stories tend to have a period tone to them (think Victorian England), but in Uncommon Valor he does a great job keeping a consistant modern-day voice to the action and dialog. Though I predicted the main plotline and guessed the “twist,” the story kept my attention, especially when it veered into unexpected territory. I look forward to reading his other works.

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