Fiction by Annabel Smith
Charlie and his identical twin brother William are estranged as adults, although they had been very close as children. Back then they used to play walkie-talkies, and memorized the NATO phonetic alphabet. (Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, etc.) That's when William began to use the name "Whiskey," which was the designated word for the letter W, and he was called Whiskey ever after that, except by his mother.
When Whiskey is involved in an accident and languishes in a coma, Charlie is racked with guilt and afraid he'll never have a chance to make up with his brother. The book goes back and forth between the past and present, juxtaposing the current vigil at Whiskey's bedside with the story of the twin boys' growing-up years.
I liked the story, but I found the construction of the book's plot a little awkward. For one thing, each of the 26 chapters about the past was named after a letter of the phonetic alphabet, which felt forced to me. It was like, "Oh, we're on 'M', so let's introduce a character named Mike!" Also I didn't like being continually pulled back to the present business of hanging around Whiskey in a coma. These things bothered me bit and slowed down my reading.
Overall, this was a good book though.
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