The Whisperers (the Charlie Parker series) by John Connolly

Pandora's Box:  "A lead casket, Persian, 16th century, containing a slighly smaller sealed box and so on, a box within a box within a box, made of red painted iron.  [Date: unknown.  Provenance: unknown.  Value: minimal]  Come closer.  Something inside is speaking in unfamiliar tongues.  No, not speaking.  Whispering."

Connolly's tenth book focuses on the issue of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and military suicides affecting returning soldiers of war, especially the injured, maimed and the scarred, whether physically or psychologically.  It is absolutely harrowing to read that the military and the government refuse to recognize PTSD as an illness.  Most soldiers are ignored or forgotten when they come home from the war.  They experience difficulties adjusting back to society and most often, do not know how to deal with it.

If you want to know more about this subject, Connolly has listed down a number of books on his acknowledgement page with a special mention to Richard Currey's Fatal Light.  (http://www.richardcurrey.com/)

Or Ilona Meagher's Moving A Nation To Care: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and America's Returning Troops which lays out personal accounts of returning veterans adjusting to civilian life and their families.  Meagher writes extensively and eloquently on this subject on her blogspot at http://www.ptsdcombat.blogspot.com/

I have only high praise for Connolly and will not be reviewing long winded because I think you should read the book for yourself and anyway, if you have not already scour the web, there are already plenty of reviews out there on this book.  Strongly recommended read for everyone. 

Check out Connolly's supernatural website at http://www.johnconnollybooks.com/  for his other books and further information. 

Rating: 5/5 (100% enthralling, terrifying and chilling)