Nina De la Mer
Published: 2011-08-01
Total Pages: 223
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4 a.m. is an iconic novel of friendship and betrayal, hedonism, and military discipline. The year is 1993 and Cal and Manny are soldiers posted to Germany as army chefs. Bored and institutionalized, the pair soon succumb to the temptations of recreational drugs and all-night raves in Hamburg's red-light district. Life-affirming clubbing soon gives way to gloomy, drug-fueled nights in fast-food restaurants, at sex shows, and in Turkish dive bars. As a succession of events ratchets up the pressure on Cal and Manny, their friendship is tested, a secret is revealed, and a shocking betrayal changes their lives forever. Drawing on personal experience and extensive research, 4 a.m. depicts life in a peacetime Army, and a civilian milieu in which conflict is never far away. Driven by two distinctive voices, and written in a lively and buzzing style, Nina de la Mer's debut novel holds a mirror up to youth culture at the end of the 20th century. The reflection is not always a flattering one.
