I think it should have taken John a bit more than a day or two to get there. But killing somebody else is an extremely difficult thing to do in any circumstances soldiers on the battlefield struggle with it, and have nightmares about it for years afterwards. Again, I don’t doubt that, in such a situation, people would resort to extreme measures. He approaches this grim task with such level-headed detachment, matter-of-factly explaining to his horrified wife that it’s now kill or be killed, that you find yourself reading the book with an eyebrow cocked. However, it is John who - within a space of literally a day - becomes a cold-blooded murderer, killing without compunction, including people who are unarmed. John is a mild-mannered architect from London, a family man, as juxtaposed by his more rambunctious friend Roger. My difficulty is not that the murder, rape and loot happens - I can absolutely see this happening rather, it is how quickly this happens. This does, however, give rise to my second main criticism of the book.
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