A dark read, but I better understand what some PTSD sufferers may experience. I cannot say that I liked the book. There was no hope at the end for the reader to cling. If anything, an expectation of a further descent awaits Walker. Another life wasted due to the inhumanity of war. However, I appreciate Robertson's great skill as a writer.

Walker's memories of graphic violence caused me to spend read through these brief descriptions in the hope that the images would not have time to germinate in my mind. I hope that I was successful. In the end, Walker was partially the source of his own misfortune. The violence that he saw, turned him once and only once, into the monster that he abhorred. Once turned, he could never escape. He was captive to it.

I was reminded of Ali Smith's season series while reading the Long Take. The references to Senator Joseph McCarthy and his Un-American Activities Committee brought to mind Smith's contemporary concerns around the forces of Brexit and the current US President. Similarly, Robertson's film references reminded me of Smith's references to various art forms including photography and sculpture in her most recent novels.