Anyone fortunate enough to catch the Unbound Book Festival panel featuring veteran writers, The Things They Created, will be aware of the extraordinary richness and complexity of work being made by ex-military personnel about their experiences serving their country. Adding to that already rich body of work is River City One, the debut novel by John J. Waters. We’re very pleased to welcome John to Skylark on Saturday, May 18. Come and join us for what is going to be a compelling evening.

The hardest part of going to war is coming home to face yourself.

The tale of a man and the memory that haunts him, River City One is the poetic and compassionate story of John Walker, a lawyer and ex-Marine adrift in a nameless city. Home from the war, he has become a man on the edge, quietly raging against the people he must now work for and live among—the kind of people incapable of understanding the terror he felt in combat and the guilt he carries in his heart.

When he meets Ruth, a beautiful, famous singer traveling through the city, John discovers a new passion for living. But as the lies pile up, he takes more and more foolish risks to hold onto his family and the newfound love that threatens them both. Moving and lyrical, River City One is the story of a man discovering that the hardest part of going to war is coming home to face yourself.

John J. Waters graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy. He served in the Marine Corps as a scout sniper platoon commander and intelligence officer, deploying to Afghanistan, Iraq, and East Africa. He lives with his family in Nebraska, where he was born.