Behind enemy lines: Under fire in the Middle East

by Bill Doyle

Genres: Nonfiction, Military Fiction, War

Paperback

About the author

Author Bill Doyle was born in Michigan, and wrote his first mystery at the age of eight. He has gone on to write critically acclaimed and bestselling children's books, including stories of real-life war heroes in "Behind Enemy Lines: True Stories of Amazing Courage"; the pick-your-own-adventure "Worst Case Scenario Ultimate Adventure: Everest"; the historical fiction mystery series Crime Through Time; the Henry & Keats series including "Attack of the Shark-Headed Zombie"; the Scream Team series about Bad News Bears-type monsters playing sports; and soon-to-be released series "The Prizewinners of Piedmont Place."

Additionally, Bill has served as editor at Sesame Workshop, TIME for Kids and SI Kids. He's written for LeapFrog, Weekly Reader, Rolling Stone, Comedy Central, National Geographic Kids, and the American Museum of Natural History. He is a graduate of Georgetown University and holds an MFA in Dramatic Writing from the film school at New York University where he was taught by the likes of Arthur Miller and David Mamet.

Bill lives with two dachshund-headed canines in New York City, and you can visit him online at www.BillDoyleBooks.com.

Reviews

[Natalie Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This book was so good! Every story was gripping - I was so on the edge of my seat!

A few of my favorite stories were "Escape from Iraq," (I always love a good escape story.) "Bent Spear," "Operation Redwing," and "Duke's Dogs." But all of the stories were seriously so good! And the author's piece at the beginning was amazing, too!

I do not remember anything that needed censored. There is some violence (It is a war book, after all.), but as it was written for kids, none of the violence is graphic. Highly recommended for 12+

[Carson Kester · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response
I enjoyed reading Behind Enemy Lines: Under Fire in the Middle East because it does a great job of building suspense. There are several situations the soldiers are put in where the odds are far from in their favor. This hardly phases them, however, as they always find a way to get the job done.

Plot Summary
This book takes stories from several brave men and women discussing their acts of selflessness. These stories include a young corporal rescuing his trapped teammate from a fire, three stray dogs attacking a suicide bomber, and five prisoners riding a life raft to freedom through the Persian Gulf. These incredible heroes are real, but certain details had to be changed for security purposes.

Recommendations
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the military. The book does a great job of describing how difficult and risky certain missions can be. It also shows the comradery and cooperation required to be successful.

Characterization
Tim Fraust
Tim Fraust is a very determined and selfless Army Sergeant. He always saves the most dangerous missions for himself and even after getting injured, he immediately wants to get back to work with his men. He cares greatly for his family and is very relieved when he learns they know he is alive.

Chris Duke
Chris Duke is an Army Sergeant with a kind side. He rescues three stray dogs and keeps them as pets. They eventually return the favor when they attack a suicide bomber and save Chris’ life. After Chris is sent home, he does several fundraisers to help bring the dogs to America.

Mark DeCorte
Mark DeCorte is an Air Force Tech Sergeant who flies into battles to provide his teammates with medical assistance. Mark even rescues an enemy soldier and gives him the medical attention he requires, having to hold the man back as he tries to fight Mark. Mark sees everyone as a patient and wants to help as many people as possible.

[Dylan Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the nonfiction book Behind Enemy Lines in the Middle East by Bill Doyle, the book had multiple stories about different views of the fights in the Middle East and the hardships many American soldiers faced. Some stories that the book had were very interesting, but a few of the stories were a little boring that didn’t really interest me. The story starts with a young corporal that rescues a soldier that’s trapped in a burning humvee. Another example of a story in this book is when three stray dogs repay an army sergeants kindness by saving his life. Another is when five prisoners steal a life raft and sail on a dangerous journey to freedom through the Persian Gulf. This book exceeded my expectation because when I first picked it up I thought it would be more of a kids book, but in reality it gave some pretty disturbing images that probably aren’t meant for younger readers. I would recommend this book for readers who like short reads and are interested in books about military. I would definitely pick this book up because it gives multiple views and stories in one book.

[Joseph Carroll · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bought it for my kiddos to read as it's a Scholastic book. Wound up being VERY pleasantly surprised. I give it a 4.7 overall. It definitely had a "can't put it down" quality to it. Very well written, interesting short stories.

If you're interested at all in the fighting that has occurred in the Middle East in regards to the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait in 1990, or the War on Terror all over the Middle East, this book is WELL WORTH reading. It will give you glimpses into the lives of every day soldiers and civilians that were in the thick of things in these conflicts. Excellent true stories!

The book is written with very clean language as well which is a huge plus!

[Justin Foss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was filled with great stories of American heroes that served in war. I recommend this book to anybody who is in to reading books about current events, action, or war. In one of the stories it tells about a solider who goes around detecting IEDs and discharges them. Well one time he went to discharge an IED and it exploded yet he went back to war even with his wounds. Later on he was blown up by two more and he was released from the marines.

[Hunter ir · Rating 5 out of 5]

Under Fire In The Middle East (Behind Enemy Lines) by Bill Doyle is a book that has several stories in it. Each chapter of the book is a different story told by a different persons perspective of their own time in Afghanistan. I liked the book because it put me in the shoes of the people of the story. There are daring escapes, heart wrenching IED defusing bombs and a family that needs to find each other. I would recommend this book because it kept me entertained.

[Justin.h · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was about story's of soldiers that tell their part in the military and share what they have gone through. There are no main characters in this book but many story's put into one book. Some story's involve them escaping from emery lines and bomb squads preventing an accident. I recommend this book to who ever likes to hear story's of soldiers that help protect our country.

[Jesus Mendez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has to be one of the best books ive read. It packed tight with action and non-fictional encounters. i highly recommend this book if you are into action packed amazing military stories.Because thats wht this is about. Its BOOKGASMIC.!

[Timothy Yencha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have never been one to be interested in the armed forces that protect our country everyday, but this book really opened my eyes. I certainly did not truly understand what these soldiers did and I still don't, but this book let me in on a little snippet of the occurrences that go on.

Have you ever been knocked off your feet 20 feet in the air by a bomb multiple times? Have you been surrounded by Al-Qaeda, fighting not only the war, but food and water shortages? What about the Taliban trying to snipe you after already hitting you off a mountain, and landing a shot in your leg? Now obviously the answer is most likely no, but the thought of that happening is just devastating, and unfortunately for, Tim, Hameed, and Marcus Lutrell, this was reality.

Under Fire In The Middle East is extremely fascinating in my opinion as Bill Doyle is constantly keeping you on the edge of your seat, wondering what happens next. I also enjoyed that Bill did not put in too sad of stories, as that would take away from the big point of the whole book, which is to show that these soldiers put their life on the line constantly, and do an amazing job, with many not giving them the recognition they deserve. This book can be read by kids probably from 4th grade and up because it really isn't too hard to read, but the way this book hit me will not probably be the same if you are not able to understand it.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind Enemy Lines, under fire in the Middle East, by Bill Doyle. I really enjoyed this book because of many reasons and I think that everyone can enjoy it to. In this book every different chapter tells a different story about a person in the army fighting for there country in Afghanistan. Personally my favorite story is about a person who goes on a mission to diffuse LEDs (bombs). Then while he was searching for them one of the LEDs blew up right near him, and got badly injured. He later on came back to the army to fight for his country, because he motivated himself not to give up. If you are interested in action packed books than I definitely would recommend this book to you. I have read some war books before and did not really enjoy them but I am sure that this is the best war book I have ever read, and I hope you will get a chance to read it to.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible stories of heroism, bravery and selflessness.

[Uriel Mejia · Rating 5 out of 5]

one of my first ever reads i loved it. truly aspiring the scene of events that take place make you feel as if you were really there.

[Thomas Fawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Behind Enemy Lines by Bill Doyle. This book has a lot to do with the war that has been going on in Middle East. In this book it was split up into different stories of what happened to different platoons and people. Personally, it confused me because I would get caught up in what was going on in that certain story and then the next one would begin. Although this was confusing at points in this book, the author of this book did a fabulous job of putting these multiple different stories into the amount of pages he did. This book had a lot happen in it. It was just little glimpses of what our troops have to go through to survive, and how much they have to do to prepare mentally and physically. Because you can go into these situations prepared physically, and not mentally and you will be scarred for the remainder of your life with something like PTSD. After reading this short book I have gained a lot more respect for the people who go out of there way to protect the United States. As this book clearly shows, it isn't easy to be in combat, and this is why I am thankful for the people brave enough to do it for us. Hopefully, after you read this book you feel the same way I do.

[Kay Mcgriff · Rating 3 out of 5]

These stories focus on more recent conflicts in Iraq (both Desert Storm and more recently) Pakistan, and Afghanistan. In addition to the courageous acts of military personnel in these wars, “Caught in the Crossfire” illustrates the devastation that war creates for civilians. A group of orphans, including two brothers, must flee across the war-torn country to escape the fighting that has taken their parents. ”Duke’s Dogs” highlights the lifesaving actions of a trio of strays that accompanied one platoon in Iraq. Again and again, the men and women in these true stories (some names and details were changed to protect those involved) show courage under fire and sometimes receive help from unexpected places.

First published on my blog at http://kaymcgriff.edublogs.org/2013/0...

[Andy Casson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was what was going on in the middle east like places in Iraq and doing missions and how this book was made a little bit after the wars where done so that is cool.
Again all of the book is about short story's and this book had more detail and socializing with things like dogs.


One of the reasons I rated it this way is one of the short story's has social contact with a animal to be exact it was a dog actually three dogs but he was trying to get the army to let him keep the dogs but they wouldn't because they didn't have enough money to keep up with them. It also interested me on what they were doing in the missions with the detail and how they executed what they where doing. The author of this book also knew what he was doing and what he wanted to tell the reader about from my point of view. It was like he planed it for a year or two.

[Hollyholland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think this book was fantastic. It was a compilation of different stories that happened to military personnel. Experiences from several different wars and years were shared here. From the Persian Gulf in 1990- Afghanistan in 2010. This was a chance for me to read different experiences and hear new stories that I'd never heard before about our troops. It gave it a more real texture to war. It was easy to tap into these stories on an emotional level because it was raw and well told. I would recommend this book to 7-9 graders and perhaps use individual stories even in later grades. It would be good to use in text sets.

Language: At times strong language
Length:136 pgs.
Duration: 1 week

[Jeffrey Q · Rating 5 out of 5]

Behind enemy lines under the middle east by: Bill Doyle


in my opinion i did like the book it was very intriguing with many stories that show our military and its strength and all the sacrifices each member takes to protect our country.

As i said there are many stories but my favorite story is Duke's dogs placed in Afghanistan were Chris duke is stationed And the conflict was when a suicide bomber walks in the door his dogs attack the man but the man then explodes his bomb injuring the dogs after healing them he is sent back home and he fights to get them out of Afghanistan. i would recommend the book to Scott Pentecost because of his interest in a good story and dogs.

[Josh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book "Under Fire In The Middle East" by Bill Doyle there are 8 stories of soldiers. The first story called the "Demon Platoon" in Iraq during 2006 there is a team that tries to disable IEDs. The second story is called "Escape from Iraq" at the Persian Gulf during 1990. It's about five men men being held captive and attempt to escape on a small life raft. Read this book and hear the rest of the great stories.

[Camdenb12 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked Behind Enemy Lines because it has several little stories that were all interesting in their own ways. In one story, while soldiers were escaping from a Taliban jail by motorboat, they passed through several minefields without knowing it. They were later rescued by an American boat when they thought all hope was lost.
I enjoyed this book because it had several interesting stories of American heroes.

[Andres Reyes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like this book because it a store about a solders that go to war.

Spaghetti book club said this book was awesome because it tells true stories about real people.

"War takes it toll, and in ways that are not always obvious". Quote by Bill Doyle

Other book by bill Doyle

Iced!

Silenced!

[Tim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished this book. It wa really intresting reading about what some of our soliders do when they are out at war. They risk everything for this country. They are some of the bravest people to walk on this planet. If you want to learn more about our soliders then you should read this book.

[Bobbi Skipper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a good book for teaching perspective of the events in the Middle East. They are great first hand experiences that would give students insight to what it's like to be a soldier defending the country. This would make a lesson on war in the Middle East relate-able.

[Bryce 11-12]

It was a great book about soldiers who cared for their troops. It was about 3 great stories about very couragous men. I would recommend it to anyone who likes military books.

[Noah · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. It has great stories. Defiantly read.

[Adam Gutschenritter · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the stories given and the detail provided. For elementary and middle school readers it would be a great, if sometimes easy, read.

[Ian F · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a good book if your a fan of realistic/fiction.When I started reading,I was trapped into the stories in it!

[Laura Brewer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book had about 10 different stories about soldiers in real life situations it was a good book

[Thomas woodbery · Rating 5 out of 5]

AMERICA!!!!!!

[Jakeekaj · Rating 5 out of 5]

How do you read a book?

[Jonny Tanaka · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very good book. I really enjoyed reading this book. It has many good and interesting stories. I recommend this to everyone.