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Vietnam #3

Free-Fire Zone

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Four best friends. Four ways to serve their country.
Morris, Rudi, Ivan, and Beck are best friends for life. So when one of the teens is drafted into the Vietnam War, the others sign up, too. Although they each serve in a different branch, they are fighting the war together -- and they promise to do all they can to come home together.
Rudi is perhaps the most concerned about whether or not he'll be able to keep that promise. After all -- and he'd be the first to admit this -- he's not the most capable guy. He's not smart like Beck, or brave like Ivan. He lacks the strength of Morris's moral convictions.
But once Rudi is pulled kicking and screaming into the Marines, he at last finds something he's good at: following orders. Will that be enough to keep him alive? And if he does survive the war, will his best friends even recognize him on the other side?

192 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2012

63 people are currently reading
555 people want to read

About the author

Chris Lynch

61 books161 followers
Chris Lynch is the Printz Honor Award-winning author of several highly acclaimed young adult novels, including KILL SWITCH, ANGRY YOUNG MAN, and INEXCUSABLE, which was a National Book Award finalist and the recipient of six starred reviews. He is also the author of FREEWILL, GOLD DUST, ICEMAN, GYPSY DAVY, and SHADOWBOXER, all ALA Best Books for Young Adults; EXTREME ELVIN WHITECHURCH, and ALL THE OLD HAUNTS.

He holds an M.A. from the writing program at Emerson College. He mentors aspiring writers and continues to work on new literary projects. He lives in Boston and in Scotland.

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5 stars
342 (54%)
4 stars
170 (26%)
3 stars
90 (14%)
2 stars
24 (3%)
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5 (<1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 100 reviews
60 reviews1 follower
October 23, 2012
The 3rd book in the Vietnam series. This book is in the voice of Rudi who is in the Marines stationed over in Vietnam. Rudi looked at himself in two ways - failure and that didn't count. If he passed a quiz, it was because the quiz was too easy, so it didn't count. If he pitched a penny closer to the wall than anybody else, then he must have stepped over the line or the wall moved or wahtever so that didn't count. It was during his school years that 3 boys came to his rescue and together, they formed a tightly woven friendship. Rudi, Ivan (the brave one), Beck (the smart one) and Morris (the dependable one) were so tight that they promised each other that should one be drafted to Vietnam, they would all go. And so, this series brings us their stories as each one is stationed in a different branch of the military and experience Vietnam.
Rudi finds that the Marines are good for him. He has stepped up to the plate and has been tested in ways he never was before and realizes that he no longer is a failure. He has found the courage and inner strength it takes to be a good soldier. Great series for middle school students. There is not much out there on the Vietnam War that can actually bring compassion and thought to the soldiers experience over there in an appropriate way as this series does.
1 review
March 17, 2023
Overall I liked the book a reasonable amount. The book tells the story of a Marines' time in the Army from training all the way through his service in the Vietnam War. The author writes the book in a first-person point of view through the eyes of the main character named Rudi. The author Chris Lynch does a very well job of keeping the reader hooked with very descriptive intense moments. The Book starts out with Rudi at a camp called pairs island in south Carolina. Paris island is described as "where guys say the Devil himself goes for summer vacation" (Lynch 5). A bit later Rudi finds out he is being deployed to Vietnam to a place called Co Co village. When he arrives at Co Co Village they give all the people in the village treats and are welcomed by the locals. Then they set up their camp. Farther in the book Rubi goes on a patrol and ends up being attacked by a Vietnam soldier and kills the man. When killing this man Rudi gains a lot of confidence from this and liked it and wanted to do it again. Rudi had always been the weak link of the friend group and after killing this man he felt like had gained a lot of power and proved himself worthy and strong to others. The power gets to him a little bit and brags about it all the time. Shortly after he was patrolling again and accidentally fell into a trap that destroys his legs. His comrades managed to get him out of the trap but his leg is severely damaged and he is sent to a field hospital. Rudi stays at the field hospital for a little while recovering from his injury. Once he finally recovers from the injury he is sent back to Co Co Village. After he goes back to Co Co Village he is sent on a little mission where he had to crawl under the ground in these tunnels made by the Vietnamese soldiers. He crawls through the tunnel until he reaches a point where he can stand and runs into a Vietnamese soldier and ends up fighting hand-to-hand combat with him in the dark. Rudi manages to win the fight and kill the other soldier and goes back to his squad and reports his finding of the tunnels and his conflict with the Vietnamese soldier. At this point, Rudi thinks this is what he is meant for and decides he never wants to leave the Marines. Toward the end of the book Rudi and his squad go to another village and get into a huge firefight with some Vietnamese soldiers and end up winning. At the end of the book, he is evacuated from Vietnam and decided to stay in the Marines and never go back to Boston where he is from because he believes this is his meaning in life and feels like he is treated and respected way better in the Marines. The author left an accruing theme throughout the book of finding oneself. At the begging of the book, Rudi felt like he was useless but as time went on he gained more and more confidence in finding his true self and finding himself worthy. Overall I thought it had a very interesting and meaningful theme and was a well told story with great attention to detail.
Profile Image for Wesley Stevenson.
5 reviews
May 22, 2017
The book is about a kid named Rudi who is drafted into the U.S. Marine Corps to fight in the Vietnam War. When he arrives in Vietnam, he is found to be a very good soldier who is favored among the higher ranks. He makes several friends and even enjoys the way of being a soldier. Most of his squad mates just want to get their tour of duty over with since how bad Vietnam is during the war, but Rudi actually enjoys the whole idea of being a soldier.

This story takes the reader through the pain, loss, and sorrow that Rudi and other soldiers. Rudi makes many friends, and loses very many as well. As he is high in the ranks, many people like him. I rated this song at 4-stars due to it being a little on the lower reading level... but makes up for it with the great details of what Rudi is seeing, and the way the novel expresses his personal feelings. I would recommend this novel to anyone who loves war books, and the Vietnam series.
Profile Image for Suzanne Dix.
1,638 reviews61 followers
June 25, 2013
Rudi is a Marine stationed in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. He and his three best friends from Boston made a pact that if one of them was drafted, they would all join the military in solidarity. While Rudi struggled in school, he finds that he is very good at being a soldier. He can follow orders well and for the first time in his life he really feels as if he fits. The soldiers face many difficult and terrifying skirmishes against the Vietcong all the while trying to understand if they are making any sort of difference to the lives of the South Vietnamese.

While there is no disputing that this will have tremendous appeal for middle school boys, it is not for the feint of heart. The violence is intense, as is Rudi's attitude about killing. Rudi was once a boy who was bullied in school and is now a strong, heavily armed killing machine. Rudi makes no ethical observations about war or killing and many chapters are full of "excitement" or "thrill" for the fighting to begin. A sensitive reader may find several sections of the book very dark.

This is book 3 in the Vietnam series and can be read as a stand alone. Each book in the series is told from one of Rudi's friends points of view.

Amazon suggests this book for ages 10 and up. I highly suggest grade 7 and up.
6 reviews1 follower
February 10, 2017
I really liked this book. It is one of the best nonfiction books I have ever read. I really liked how the author helped you feel like you were inside the book. It helped me understand what it was like being a soldier in the Vietnam War. Overall I really liked this book and I recommend it to anyone who is interested in war and action.
1 review
February 24, 2023
Free-Fire Zone is the 3 book in the Vietnam Series by Chris Lynch. The Vietnam Series follows a group of friends from the New England area. They decided that if one of them gets drafted they all will sign up to go Vietnam. Since one of them did, they all decided to go. Rudi is the person from their group that this book follows. He is also the one that got drafted unlike all the other ones that signed up.
My favorite part of this book is when they get sent on their first Search and Destroy Mission. It is a really big part of the book because before that they don’t see much action. Rudi who is the main character in the book and is my favorite in this book. Seems to be at times really skittish about things. But at the same time he will run head first into things also. I really like Chris Lynch’s writing style that you never know what is going to happen next like one second they are talking and joking around. The next they could be getting ambushed by the Vietcon. I also like how Chris Lynch doesn’t skimp out on the gory parts. Some authors will just say they got shot, he will say how they got shot and describe what it looks like. Not just like blood oozing out everywhere but a whole lot more descriptive words. Like when he gets his first confirmed kill. “He sits there just soaking in it, soaking and oozing and covering his belly as if he can still hold it all together, hold it all in” (Lynch 34).
I really don’t like how long it seems to take for the book to get going. Finally halfway through the book they see some action. Before that they see some action, not a lot. But the rest seems like it's to be just Rudi’s emotion about being in Vietnam. Him complaining on why did like why did he have to be here. Also how run down the place is and how it feels like hell. “The feel of fire is everywhere, heat rising up off the ground and pouring down from the sky, it seems like half of everything is actually on fire half the time” (Lynch 8). At times it is nice but at the same time we get its hell on earth I want some action in the book. Also through the other books Rudi is shown as the scaredy cat in the beginning it really seems to emphasize that. Toward the end he finally seems to man up and not run from everything. I think Chris Lynch could have made the book a little bit more fast pace in way and make is a lot more intresting. It was interesting but in my mind it needed a little more action. It goes dull at some points but it seems to keep the flow nice but still a little slow for a book. Maybe because it is a shorter book I can see why it doesn't have so much action. But still I may be repeating myself. It is a slow book in my mind.
But overall the book was a good read. I would rate it higher but like said before it seems slow and needs more action. That why I give this book a ⅗ star rating. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a book about Vietnam. It is also a good book because it is a part of a series so you can see what Vietnam was like from different points of views and for different military corps. I really think that kids 12 and up would enjoy this book. Warning this book is very gory and likes to be descriptive on how things look.Also the story also has a few violent parts to it.
7 reviews
October 11, 2018
Vietnam book three Free-Fire Zone by Chris Lynch the lexile level of this book is 860. This book is about this guy named “Rudi” and he got drafted go to Vietnam. So he was really scared to do it because he did not want to leave his friends. It is also about keep on going no matter what happens. Just like we should no matter what happens with us we should go go go until we can’t go anymore. When he got there he met a lot of knew “friends” which helped him when he got there.
The major theme of this book is keep on pushing no matter how scared you are or how hurt you are. Rudi fell in a trap during a war and a spike went through his leg. He had to go to the hospital there and he wasn’t there long. When he got out of there he was limping but he pushed through that and now he he is back into the wars. Then all of the other people found this underground cave or dug out area, and nobody wanted to go down in it so Rudi did it. They lowered him down with a rope and he started to explore it. Their were a lot of mice down there, then he ran across a ammunition stash. He started to explore it then somebody grabbed him and they were fighting underground in the dark. They went from tunnel to tunnel and Rudi was finally able to grab his gun. He shot the guy then hurried up to the lowering tunnel and to pulled up. Then he told the guys what happened and he had blood all over his hands. “That leaves me, Cherry, and Hunter, and Cpl. Cherry wouldn’t go into a tunnel if you filled it with water and set it on fire (Pg.131)”. This shows that he is more daring than the other marines, and can show the sergeant that he has the strength to do anything that he needs him to do.
I really liked this book because it was a lot of pages but not to many to where I could not get the book done in time to do my book review. The bad thing about thing book is that I got the book done early and I did not do anything on it. I also think that this book has pretty easy words besides the Sargent name the book was pretty easy and had pretty easy words. If you like older books that talk about Vietnam this would be a good book for you. It’s just it has pretty easy words in it, and they were really easy to understand just like the book was in all. This is what I thought of the book and how I liked it.
7 reviews1 follower
March 8, 2019
Free-Fire Zone
Free-Fire Zone is a novel by. This book is about an eight-teen-year-old Rudi who got drafted for the Vietnam War. it all starts out with Rudi getting drafted and being really scared because he always counted on his friends to have his back. But to everyone's surprise, Rudi is a very good Marine because he only has one rule “Follow all orders no matter what”. And with his mom already thinking he will die as soon as he gets to Vietnam, Rudi has nowhere to look forward to but Vietnam. Will following orders keep him alive until his time is up or will he not make it? But if he does come back will his friends recognize his other side?

This book leaves a few things to keep the reader reading such as cliffhangers and flashbacks. One of the cliffhangers is when Rudi goes into an abandoned hut when he walks a few feet in he screams bloody murder, but then the chapter ends. One of the flashbacks is when Rudi has to go into a tunnel and search it and right before Rudi goes in he thinks of a rollercoaster that he was always afraid of and he keeps going anyways. Another cliffhanger is when Rudi gets shot in the leg and screams but there is cut time so you don’t know if he is ok or not.

I would recommend this book to a sixth or a seventh grader, I would recommend it because it swears and talks about gross things. This book is one of my favorites by far mainly because it is really relatable. Like when Rudi gets drafted, I was scared like him when we were trapped in a bad storm one time. But overall this book is great I would 10/10 recommend.

2,783 reviews44 followers
February 13, 2020
When Rudi joins the military during the height of the Vietnam War, he appears to be in deep trouble. He is one of those kids that were heavily picked on in school until he acquired his buddies Beck, Morris and especially Ivan. They faced down his tormentors and kept him safe, but starting at Marine boot camp, he is alone. Life as a soldier is hard at first, Rudi is laughed at, with a common statement referring to his actions is, “Is he for real?”
Once Rudi is in Vietnam and assigned to a combat unit, he begins to adjust and even thrive in the very rigid environment of doing what you are told. Over time and with a little help, he becomes a killing machine, a man that shoots when and where he is told to. Rudi begins volunteering for dangerous actions and when he has a phone conversation with Morris, Rudi tells him that he is in Vietnam for the duration. Morris recognizes the difference in Rudi and tells him to lighten up and remember what he was before he took on the life of a soldier.
This book is about how combat action changes young men to the point where their best friends before they became a soldier find their attitude unnerving. Such transformations are common, an elderly woman I work for told me that her grandson went to fight in Iraq and now she is unnerved by his attitude and approach to life. It is an old, sad story but one that humans seem destined to repeat ad infinitum.
2 reviews
October 12, 2017
my favorite book this is about a boy named Rudi and he is a loser in high school he's always bullied and he has three friends who made a pact with him when the war broke out that if one of them gets drafted the other three boys will enlist well with Rudi's luck he gets drafted in the marines so he others join as well and Rudi is a changed man when he reaches Vietnam he feels he has more worth now and he excels in everything he loves the war .... a little too much he says he will not go back home and gets wounded very many times and they are bad enough to send him back home yet he stays.
7 reviews
January 9, 2018
I thought free-fire zone was a really good book. It was about a guy named Rudy with all of his friends and they are all in the Vietnam War. They all stick together and they all help each other out. In general, I thought the book was a great book and I would recommend it to many people. I also thought this book had a really good plot and ending.
5 reviews1 follower
March 16, 2017
In my book you see a soilder go threw vienam And you fell his pain and I really like being apart of a chracter. You really feel like your veinam you fell the pain of the main chracter Rudi as he enjoys being the army wich is a rare accurence when your being drafted in a war
22 reviews1 follower
May 7, 2018
The book holds up well against it's predecessors. I liked that the book just starts with Rudi in boot-camp since we already know what happens before that from the first 2 books. It is interesting to see Rudi turn from a cowardly young man to Marine. The plot and side characters were also great.
1 review1 follower
October 4, 2017
Pretty good book lots of action. I would recommend this book for anyone interested in war novels or historical fiction.
Profile Image for Billy.
5 reviews4 followers
December 1, 2017
I was nice i'm hooked on these books know.
20 reviews1 follower
December 18, 2017
What a great story. It really kept me anxious to read.
Profile Image for Evan Smith.
54 reviews
January 23, 2018
Great book about the Veitnam war VS America. Thrilling ride of Free Fire Zone.
1 review
September 20, 2019
I lovely all the twists and turns it really keeps you wanting to read more and more it also has really good description of what the terrain looks like from the main characters perspective
Profile Image for Barb.
95 reviews3 followers
August 4, 2021
Enjoyed this series following 4 young friends who joined 4 different branches of military and their experiences.
1 review
November 26, 2019
It was a very interesting book and kept me reading and it just made me feel like I was there in some of the parts. It just totally made me zone out.
18 reviews1 follower
December 12, 2012
Free-Fire Zone by Chris Lynch was an amazing continuation of the series of Vietnam books already made. Rudi starts off by getting drafted into the marines and is finding it easy to understand what is going on and how to do it right. He was in his second year of high school until he was drafted into the marines. Upon arriving he meets his Lieutenant, Lieutenant Jupp and as soon as he saw Rudi he called him Cabbage. He then meets Squid, Gillespie, Hunter, and Marquette that will eventually be his best buds in the whole marines. Rudi's first type of mission was a candy run to the people living in a village with Vietnam people. Then they get lucky and get to go on a real mission, to get some Vietcong out of a popular route. On the way there they get attacked by some Vietcong and get out of there truck to fire rocket launchers at them. Then he team heeds on to a ridge and end up firing mortars and rocket launchers at a little town full of Vietcong. Then they head down to the town to check it out and make sure it has all been destroyed. Rudi along with someone else go into two huts. When Rudi goes in, his leg goes into a very sharp trap and injures his leg very badly so that he is sent to the hospital. After he gets out, Lieutenant Jupp's hut gets blown up and a detective comes to ask and find out who did it. In the end, they never find out who did it and just get a new Lieutenant, Lieutenant Silva. He is there as the new leader and helps them out a lot more than Lt. Jupp did. On their last candy run and end up having to help their soldiers out who are living there. Some of the soldiers there have been taken out one by one and they need help to stop whoever is doing it. Then at night, a battle starts and the marines and settle it by firing M-60 shells into everybody on the opposite side. They win and now have the village under control.

This novel was a fabulous continuation of the series and is the most action packed one in my opinion. Chris Lynch has done an amazing job describing what is going on and letting the reader picture what is going on in the book. The plot is amazing and I can't wait until all of the books end and the epic battle in the end hopefully happens. I think that these books are one hundred times better because they are in first person. It also is explaining the novel in the extreme descriptiveness that makes it almost like you are there. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes war and shooting extremely amazing guns.
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