PositiveThe Wall Street JournalAs a dispatch from the War on Terror, Grunt is in a class by itself. Ms. Roach cares almost nothing about the nuts and bolts of killing—drones, tanks, sniper rifles and the like. What gets her going is the human equation ... Ms. Roach, one of America’s most gifted (and eccentric) science writers, brings a full arsenal of talents to this campaign: humor, snappy prose and a winning naiveté that pushes her to explore things that a more seasoned military reporter would yawn at ... The downside to Ms. Roach’s range is that at times Grunt can feel a bit like a hurried VIP tour of a local military base, what real-life grunts call a dog and pony show ... Despite the book’s shortcomings, Grunt is a welcome addition to the library of military history.
