James Alexander Thom, best selling author of many historical novels, says this about his modern novel Staying Out of Hell. "Like my character, Scotty Montgomery, I grew up in the idyllic prewar Midwest, was a Marine, and later a journalist appalled by the cheapness of life and the world's casual disregard for human suffering. Like my protagonist, I am unable to reconcile my country's two roles: the citadel of humane idealism, and the leading world merchant of death-dealing weapons. I hope by this novel to awaken our benumbed souls to the awful absurdities with which we live."
