Brave Deeds

by David Abrams

From Fobbit author David Abrams, Brave Deeds is a compelling novel of war, brotherhood, and America. Spanning eight hours, the novel follows a squad of six AWOL soldiers as they attempt to cross war-torn Baghdad on foot to attend the funeral of their leader, Staff Sergeant Rafe Morgan. As the men make their way to the funeral, they recall the most ancient of warriors yet are a microcosm of twenty-first-century America, and subject to the same human flaws as all of us. Drew is reliable in the field but unfaithful at home; Cheever, overweight and whining, is a friend to no one―least of all himself; and platoon commander Dmitri “Arrow” Arogapoulos is stalwart, yet troubled with questions about his own identity and sexuality. Emotionally resonant, true-to-life, and thoughtfully written, Brave Deeds is a gripping story of combat and of perserverance, and an important addition to the oeuvre of contemporary war fiction.

Genres: Fiction, War, Military Fiction, Adult, Literary Fiction, Audiobook, Novels

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2017

About the author

David Abrams is the author of the novels Brave Deeds (Grove/Atlantic, 2017) and Fobbit (Grove/Atlantic, 2012). Fobbit was named a New York Times Notable Book of 2012, an Indie Next pick, a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection, a Montana Honor Book, and a finalist for the L.A. Times’ Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction. Abrams' short stories have appeared in Esquire, Glimmer Train, Narrative, Salamander, Connecticut Review, The Greensboro Review, The Missouri Review, The North Dakota Review and many other publications. He retired from active-duty after serving in the U.S. Army for 20 years, a career which took him to Alaska, Texas, Georgia, the Pentagon, and Iraq. His blog, The Quivering Pen, can be found at: http://www.davidabramsbooks.blogspot.com

Reviews

[Philip · Rating 5 out of 5]

Iraq — it somehow seems so long ago; an already forgotten war like Korea, or a mistake-from-the-beginning nightmare like Vietnam that we just wish we could forget. And yet within just hours of finishing this darkly remarkable book, I was informed by my newsfeed that "7 US troops (were) hurt in a raid with Iraqi forces that left 15 suspected militants dead," which then went on to tell me — much to my shocked surprise — that the U.S. still has 2,500 troops in Iraq. Who knew??

I read Abrams' Fobbit — an Iraq War update on "Catch-22" (WWII), "M*A*S*H" (Korea) and "Good Morning Vietnam" (Vietnam, obviously), that also harkens back to Homer's "Odyssey" (the original fucked-up road trip) — almost a decade ago, and so it's hard to compare the two as I don't remember Fobbit in any great detail. However, this one was a helluva novel, both in terms or story and in sheer writing prowess. Focusing on one six-hour trek across Baghdad, Abrams goes into the past lives of each of his characters and bounces between narrative voices (mostly a first-person plural "we,” but occasionally shifting into a second-person "you") in a way that never allows us to identify with any particular protagonist (or even identify just who is the narrator), and so remains a true page-turner until the very end, as you're never sure who will live or die, or even who are the good guys and who are the villains, (spoiler: "everybody" and "nobody" to both).

Strong but seriously bleak story, so be forewarned. I listened to this one, but wasn't really taken with the narrator, so would probably recommend the paper or ebook version.

[Jim Mastro · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing book. I don't hand out five-star ratings lightly, but this one rates it. Of course, everyone has different tastes, so I'm sure there are those who will disagree with me, but this book really stood out, for several reasons.

First, it was so real, so unpretentious, so down-to-earth. I think a lot of people write war novels to make a statement, but this book seemed not to have any ulterior motive. It was just a story about six guys trying to make it across Baghdad to attend a memorial service for their dead sergeant. Abrams didn't have his characters pontificate on the war, on our reasons for being there, or any of the stuff you might normally expect in a war novel. In fact, it's almost a mistake to call it a war novel. It's just a novel that takes place in a war zone. The war is almost secondary -- except for the almost mundane but gritty reality Abrams brings to the setting, the characters, and the action. You can feel the heat, taste the sand, smell the fear.

The characters were so well drawn, I have to believe Abrams based them on people he knew when he was in Iraq. I read Abrams' first novel (Fobbit) and enjoyed it, but this second novel is in a class by itself. I especially liked his bold and creative choice for Point-of-View. I'm not even sure what to call it. First person plural omniscient? Who ever heard of such a thing? But it worked, and spectacularly so.

If the F-bomb puts you off, this won't be your book. But soldiers do talk that way, and they do face death, and they sometimes do stupid things. That's the reality.

In all, this was an excellent book. One of the best I've ever read. Abrams has established himself as a force to be reckoned with in the world of fiction.

[Addy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Aside from giving me strong “The Things They Carried” vibes, this book reminded me why certain storytelling templates; in this case, the road journey, have staying power.
The setup of this novel is pretty straight forward, a squad of soldiers go AWOL to attend their sergeant’s funeral. But a road journey thrives on the obstacles that exist along the way. And in this case, the obstacles are many, pushing the characters physically, mentally and emotionally, as they struggle to do what not all of them are sure is right. I thought the structure of the story worked well, a series of fractured memories and observations from the cast of characters. It was also told using the royal “we” or, at times, the second person, which I found to be more personal and urgent, which fit the overall tone.
The characters were pretty likable, but in a book that was as solid as this one, they were the one area I found to be lacking. They didn’t feel as fully fleshed out as the story world was.
This is overall a powerful entry in the genre of war fiction. Over the course of the two days it took me to read it, I was swept up in the intensity of the emotions I felt as we (the soldiering squad) made our way through Baghdad.

[Roman Clodia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"We wonder how it could have gone so wrong so fast"

A short and compact but telling evocation of modern war: Abrams chooses to use a group voice here rather than differentiating the individual voices of the small group of men who go AWOL to attend the memorial service of their dead sergeant.

The narrative is chaotic but works well as it switches between past and present, memory and current attention, offering a kaleidoscopic tapestry of event and emotion. A clever way of reflecting the realities of war in the almost circular form of the narrative itself that ends with a foreshadowing of repetition. Carefully crafted and filled with a sense of authenticity.

Thanks to the publisher for an ARC via NetGalley

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

When our son threw over his obsession with dinosaurs for WWII and later 20th c wars I found myself entering new territory.

For someone who couldn't stand to watch violence, whose high school classes didn't even get to WWI, I found myself watching war movies and reading a lot of war books. At first, our son liked The Longest Day and To Hell and Back. As he grew so did his sophistication. In his mid-teens, he read the book and watched the movie Black Hawk Down over and over. Which meant so did I.

My son's interests expanded my understanding of the world and politics--and human nature.

"Tell brave deeds of war."
Then they recounted tales,--
"There were stern stands
And bitter runs for glory."

Ah, I think there were braver deeds.
Stephen Crane, The Black Riders and Other Lines

The title of David Abrams' new book Brave Deeds comes from a poem by Stephen Crane. What are these deeds that are braver than the 'bitter runs for glory'?

Told they could not attend the memorial service for their leader Staff Sergeant Morgan, six soldiers in Iraq decide to go AWOL. They had the mission all planned out: 'Borrow' a HUMMER, drive to the base where the service was being held, and return to face the consequences.

If something can go wrong it will. They did not count on the HUMMER breaking down in one of the most dangerous sectors of Bagdad. Or a grueling hike through hostile territory without even a map that in their panic they forgot to bring.

The trek takes eight hours, encountering people who sidetrack them into conflicts. But they stick to their mission, determined to pay honor to their fallen leader, "one team, one fight, one brotherhood," hopefully alive and intact at the end.

This journey tale brings the men into danger, but we also learn that their inner life journey is just as tortured. Each soldier's inner dialogue is heard in alternating chapters, without identification. Readers learn the men's fears and insecurities and pain, how they see each other, what has motivated them to go on this arduous, dangerous journey, and what Sgt. Morgan meant to them.

One soldier admits they are not 'great men risking death on a brave mission'. No, we are 'Fucked up and flawed' he thinks.

Morgan seen through the eyes of his men is a vivid character. Some saw his death as heroic, those who believed in "the First Church of Bush". Others were there for the paycheck, his death just sad and senseless. His death affected each one, and they now they risk their lives to honor him.

Reading the novel I was sometimes disturbed, sometimes I laughed. I felt compassion and revulsion, concern and sorrow. At the end I was moved.

The novel was inspired by a true story, as Abrams discusses here.

I received a free book in exchange for a fair and unbiased review.

[Elizabeth Marro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review is long overdue. I finished BRAVE DEEDS over a year ago and when I did, I wrote David Abrams to tell him how much I loved his book. Here is what I told him:

I just finished Brave Deeds last week and, this weekend, I caught up on some back issues of Quivering Pen. Your essay for LitHub made me want to cry and cheer, both. Anyone who reads it will never see a man or woman in uniform without thinking about it. It offers a challenge to drop the stock response of "thank you for your service" to veterans and our military families and, as importantly, and showed how much could be gained if we all just focused on the human in or out of that uniform.

I felt the same way when I finished Brave Deeds. You are one of those magical writers who can go deep into the hearts of everyday people and show what makes those hearts beat. As a reader, I see the world a little differently because of the people you have brought alive on the page. I can relate to them and I learn from them. As a writer, I am transfixed by your deceptively easy prose and the way you understand how to pack so much dimension into a few lines. And you are able to be funny in a way that is heart-breaking. Your writing makes it look like it is easy but I know it is not.

One more thing -- in these works and in Fobbitt too, I've been struck by the wisdom reflected there. There is an open-heartedness in your story-telling that draws me even to people that would frighten me if I met them in real life (Fish, for example). You give us glimmers of the whole human package.

[Brett Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent novel. As a former Soldier and Platoon Leader, I found Abrams' characters to be stunningly accurate and refreshingly (sometimes shockingly) real. From the first to the last page, the author gives the audience an authentic look at what it's like to serve in a squad size element in the Army and how people of diverse backgrounds, ideologies, and personalities are forced to work together and often end up finding common ground toward a common goal. Brave Deeds is shocking and sad at times and laugh out loud funny at others, but most of all it is honest and a must-read for those wishing to understand the human aspect of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

A funny, heart warming, and heart-breaking tale of one day in the life of a platoon in Iraq. It’s a great perspective into the lives of soldiers and the horrors of war in the Middle East. It’s a great, great (and quick)!

[Yvonne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3* but almost a four. I am wavering on this one a little bit.
I would like to thank Netgalley for my ARC of this book for an honest and unbiased opinion.

MY REVIEW:
The story focuses on a group of six American soldiers in Baghdad. They have gone AWOL in a stolen Humvee to attend the memorial service of their Sergeant Raphael (Rafe) Morgan.

When the Humvee breaks down, they decide to continue their journey on foot. They find that their last-minute plan has not been well thought out and their preparation is lacking.

As the story tells of their journey through a hostile Baghdad, it also tells of their individual histories. Their time together as a group and their relationship with Rafe.

I did enjoy this story to a point, but found at times it was a little bit erratic as it jumped to and from from present to past very quickly. Their personal pasts were good but I found a little to brief, and would have enjoyed knowing more of their individual stories.

The part I had a little trouble with was the initial stealing of the Humvee from a secure Army base. The trick they employed seemed a little too simplistic, but then sometimes the simpler the better. Each to their own opinion. But the lack of training I struggled with the most. I feel that soldiers go through rigorous training, this training would instill an instinct in them, an instinct of being prepared at all times. I would imagine hours of training and drills, also the hostile environment would make it second nature to remember the basic items that could be the difference between life and death. Again this is my personal opinion and i have no military experience.

That being said, I did enjoy the way the relationship between the characters gave the story some depth, and the observations during their journey was insightful. It gives me, as a reader an image of a place where i will probably never go or have any experience of. I will be looking at purchasing other books by this author, as i think the story basics are good and interesting.

Because I got this as an electronic ARC , Ifound that the abbreviations were explained as i read, this meant that i didn't have to mess around finding a glossary of abbreviation terms, really annoying when i read on a Kindle.

[Curtis Edmonds · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the odd things about America's long and fruitless military operations in Iraq is that most Americans don't know a great deal about it. What I mean by saying that is this: I can go to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, and show you around the battlefield there, point out all of the major landmarks, and tell you where both forces were arrayed and what kind of weapons they fought with and how many people died. And that battle was a hundred and fifty years ago, and everyone who fought in it is long dead. I probably know ten times more detail about Gettysburg (or Vicksburg, or Shiloh, or the Somme, or Pearl Harbor) than I know about any single battle of the Iraq war, even though the Iraq war was fought in my lifetime, and I have access to the world's greatest repository of information here on my couch, through my battered old Dell laptop.

Why is that?

I don't have one good answer. Part of it is that the Iraq war happened on the far side of the world, in unfamiliar territory. Part of it is that there isn't a great deal of easily-digested popular history that has come out of the war--and certainly no great movies, although those may come. Part of it is that there is so much else to distract us from the events of that war. And part of it--I am just saying this for me, now--is that maybe I haven't been as good a citizen as I could have been with respect to that war.

But one element that makes the Iraq war so hard to grapple with is its sameness. The old adage is that if you are not the lead dog pulling the dog sled, the scenery doesn't vary much--and being very far back in this particular pack, the mental scenery I have of the war has a great deal of sameness--mortar attacks and IED explosions and suicide bombers, following each other in a semi-random progression, with the pattern broken by a helicopter crash here and there, or the capture of an important prisoner. There is an indistinctness about the whole thing, half-remembered news stories, soldiers coming home over and over to be greeted by happy families and excited dogs, other soldiers coming home with brain injuries, or in flag-draped coffins, and all of this going on for years without a victory, or a parade, or whatever it was that the soldiers were over there fighting for in the first place.

So BRAVE DEEDS, the second novel by Iraq vet David Abrams, does two brave things. It tells the story of a day in Iraq, but not a day like any day. It is, for the six soldiers who experience it, fundamentally different for two reasons. It is different not because one of their comrades has died, but because they defy orders to travel across Baghdad to his indifferent funeral. And in doing so, the six soldiers manage to proceed from one incredibly stupid mistake to another. (It is one thing to remember that FUBAR and SNAFU are military terms, but the screw-ups here are on a plane above even that.) This is helpful from a structural perspective, not only because it avoids some of the listlessness inherent in Abrams's earlier novel, FOBBIT, but because it propels the story forward to a logical conclusion.

The other brave thing is entirely literary. BRAVE DEEDS is told from the perspective of the squad--the whole squad, a "hive-mind" of all six soldiers together. The narrative does alight on the individual squad members from time to time--the cowardly radioman, the dutiful corporal, the murderous slacker--but never stays with any of them for very long. BRAVE DEEDS is--and I don't mean this in the pejorative meaning of the word--a collectivist novel, told from a six-headed perspective, and it is pitched at just the appropriate level of disorientation. Abrams compares his squad to a bug, traveling across an alien landscape, and the reader gets a necessarily distorted fly-eye view of the journey.

I stress this, because I found myself asking myself who the actual narrator was--whether one of the six soldiers will step up and become the hero of the piece and save the day. I was, frankly, hoping to find that there was a likable, relatable character in the group. But no such luck; Abrams is not about to let us off that easy. This is not a novel that provides easy thrills or cheap grace, and it is all the better for it.

BRAVE DEEDS is a thoroughly honest and unsparing look at six (very) ordinary Americans thrown into the chaos of wartime Baghdad. Abrams tells his story with hard-earned authenticity and brutal honesty. It is a sharply-edged look at a war that few of us wanted to look at while it was happening.

[Charles McCaffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you think all war stories are the same, think again. Brave Deeds is a well-written, heartbreaking novel about the bonds of brotherhood in combat.

[Susan Henderson]

BRAVE DEEDS follows six soldiers in one single day as they risk their lives to attend their sergeant's memorial service. The prose is such a thing of beauty, I was tempted to read aloud. The journey is tense, occasionally brutal, with surprising moments of humor and heart. Somehow this day's trek across the desert shows the arc of an entire war. The great payoff is the perfect (truly: perfect) last chapter.

[Michael Ferro · Rating 5 out of 5]

After I first read FOBBIT years ago, I’ve been anxiously waiting for David Abrams to follow it up with something equally spectacular. With his second novel, BRAVE DEEDS, Abrams does not disappoint. In fact, in my opinion, BRAVE DEEDS not only captures the same unique magic of his first effort, but also delights in entirely new ways. It’s still bitingly funny and visceral, but also showcases a stunning depth of character and compassion.

I have no personal experience with war and soldiering (and much thanks goes to the brave folks like Abrams himself who have defended our country), but BRAVE DEEDS gives average citizens like myself a wonderfully humanizing look at a generation of heroes we may not always fully understand. Throughout my reading of BRAVE DEEDS, I was often reminded that these characters who make us laugh, cry, and ponder some of the biggest questions in life are always out there, suffering through some of the same things that we all suffer through, only they do so in a world of constant threat and danger (and, to the delight of the reader, some scenes of hilarious absurdity).

Abrams took me on a daylong journey alongside a cast of madcap characters that I will not soon forget. The visual imagery in his prose is both sublime and meticulously constructed. The emotional climax of the novel reminds us that the humor, violence, and camaraderie we find in our everyday lives will eventually lead to some conclusion, and all that we experienced on the way to that end can help shape us as a better society of caring individuals. I can't recommend this book enough!

[Briana Gagnon · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. I need to read Fobbit now. Honestly think I’ve found my next instant buy author.

[E.P. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We double-time across Baghdad on our twelve feet, a mutant dozen-legged beetle dashing from rock to rock, confident in its shell but always careful of the soft belly underneath."

One of the bravest of the brave deeds in "Brave Deeds" may be the daring decision to narrate the book in the first person plural. Six American soldiers have slipped off their base to make an unauthorized appearance at the memorial service of one of their number. But when their vehicle breaks down in the middle of Baghdad, they find themselves on a wild adventure of life, death, and most things in between.

The use of the "we" form for the narration could have been profoundly irritating, but Abrams makes it work. Each of the six soldiers is in fact a unique individual, and gets at least one chapter of his own in which is his story is told, but from the perspective of the omniscient "we." The effect is somewhat reminiscent of the omniscient narrative style of many 18th and 19th century novels, in which the narrator and the reader are joined in watching the characters from the outside, but it also sets up the characters as a single group, united against the outside world even as they fight amongst themselves. Although I can't see this succeeding in every book, for this particular story it is both attention-grabbing and effective.

It also highlights one of the features I've noticed in contemporary war writing: the uneasy push-pull between trying to reach out to others in order to create an emotional connection with them, and the desire to assert the narrator as the possessor of a particular kind of knowledge and pain that only others who have been through what he's been through (funnily enough it's almost alway a he) can understand. Only, as "Brave Deeds" shows, even soldiers experiencing the exact same conditions are all having different experiences, and the "we" of the us-against-them group is still made up of an only semi-coherent group of individuals.

Readers looking for an exciting war story should not, however, be turned off by these musings: "Brave Deeds" is full of the kind of action you'd expect from an American war novel, full of the lingo, the mistakes, the strangers-in-a-hot country, and, of course, the thoughts of porn. Honestly, what is it with American war stories and porn? If the books are to be believed, it's a wonder the US military manages to function at all, as you'd think its members would be unable to fire their weapons, their wrists long since seized up from excessive self-gratification. It's so bad sometimes I have to go read a story of torture in Chechnya just to act as a palate cleanser.

Anyway, that was more of a side note about American war writing in general rather than a criticism of this book, which by American standards has relatively little porn. What it does have is a cleverly constructed plot that ratchets up the tension until the death-and-life denouement. Definitely a must-read for those interested in contemporary American war literature.

[Melle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not even sure how this wound up on my library holds list, because I will be the first person to admit I don't like reading war stories, even the really well-written ones like Tim O'Brien's Vietnam War classic The Things They Carried (1990). War stories are uncomfortable, they are harsh, they are a reminder of humankind's worst qualities and the seeming inevitability of those worst qualities, they are a reminder of suffering beyond what many of us know and understand, they incite fear in those of us who haven't been faced with life-or-death situations, moral quandaries, and ultimately-irrevocable decisions. They make me worry about those I care about -- soldiers like my friend Brandon and his platoon mates, Brandon's family who love him very much, the lives and loved ones of all the people involved in world conflicts, the lives of those unable to consent to participation in those conflicts but who are still affected by them (including animals). That being said, war stories are necessary, war stories help us understand humans in impossibly difficult situations, war stories help us to aspire toward our greater goods of sacrifice and bravery and to hold a mirror up to our worst in hopes we stop and learn and change, and, done well as with The Things They Carried and this Brave Deeds, they really should be required reading for those of us not on the front lines, those of us who don't pay the price of our elected officials' decisions to put at risk and at peril the lives of our country's service members and of other country's service members and of civilians and of all beings affected by these armed conflicts. David Abrams humanizes the American front lines of conflict like the Iraq-U.S. War, and he paints the complex and complicated emotional landscape of war and what it does to the humans who are fighting it because other humans deemed it necessary. I still don't like war stories, and I still don't want to read them, but books like Brave Deeds will keep making me do so.

[Michele · Rating 4 out of 5]

A single military unit of 6 men sneaks off base for the sole purpose of attending their leader's memorial service which in the imperfect sense of U.S. government decision-making is being held at another base. Events become ridiculously comical and life threateningly serious in turn as the group tries to make their way on foot through the streets of Baghdad when their humvee breaks down along the way. Along the journey we get to know the men--each of them are sometimes admirable, sometimes deeply faulted, but always crushingly human. One unit, one mission gone completely sideways, and one war torn and very dangerous city. You'll have to read it to see if and how they come out the other side. Recommended.

[Justin Freeman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this sophomore novel by David Abrams immensely, even though the dialogue was eye-roll inducing.

Six soldiers go AWOL in Iraq to attend a memorial for their recently deceased and beloved Platoon Sergeant Rafe Morgan. Within minutes, their hijacked Hummer breaks down and the soldiers are forced to make their way through the streets of Baghdad to Forward Operating Bass Saro on foot.

Brave Deeds is an incredibly human novel
and a gritty look at the lives of junior soldiers subjected to the horrors of the Iraq War.

[Threasa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book on Goodreads, and I was kind of leery to read it. I am so glad I did, however. This is a story of six AWOL Army men who travel across Baghdad to go to their sergeant's memorial service. It tells how it is to walk across enemy country and the things they face. There are many hardships, sad moments and moments of companionship.

[Joe]

“Novel Captures Fear, Fellowship – Even Humor – of Soldiers in Baghdad”

The men loved Sgt. Morgan – most of them, anyway. After a suicide bomber kills Morgan, only the lieutenant, the company commander and a few other men in the platoon are allowed to attend the memorial service. But Arrow and his soldiers don’t let a little thing like orders prevent them from attending Morgan’s memorial service. The guys decide to steal a Humvee from the motor pool, so the squad can drive to the service anyway. What could possibly go wrong?

Go to my blog: Have Words-Will Write 'Em


and then to News & Observer

--Joe

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an odd book, and a troubling book, and a delightful book. It isn't long and it reads easily. The whole thing involves only a few people in a period of just 8 hours.

[Scottnshana · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot; it’s like a hybrid of “Black Hawk Down”, the “Hangover”, and “House to House”. I dug its authenticity. When Abrams puts a line in there like “The Camelback water is warm and tastes like the inside of tires,” after the NCO tells everyone to stay hydrated, I could feel the hotspots on my heels and ruminate on changing the funky sweatband in my Kevlar. He brings the “been there done that” to a scene as mundane as the squad showing up en masse for the mandatory hearing test (“We sat on our stools, straining, closing our eyes—as if that would help—stopping all breath whistling in and out of our nostrils, all so we could hear the tones. Several of us pressed the call button, even though nothing was actually there.”) or being lost in the woods during a land navigation exercise. In the end, though, this is a book about a bunch of guys who know each other intimately, under pressure and sharing grief. The characters, though common to the genre (i.e., the squad psycho, the Dear John, the screwup), are vividly drawn and their dialog is another testament to Abrams’ experience as a combat infantryman. It is in his prose, though, that we see the intellect. “We had a plan,” he writes, “but then that plan went all to shit and we had to improvise, like a jazz saxophonist who loses his place halfway through ‘Birdland.’ Now we’re flinging notes all over the place, hoping they’ll stick.” This passage could be about a theater troupe ad libbing their way through “West Side Story”, but in “Brave Deeds” the actors are sweating and bleeding in full battle rattle while striding menacingly (but frightened) through an Iraqi city. There is plenty of death and mayhem in this fine novel, but Abrams has also tapped into a “No greater love” vibe that resonates. Recommend.

[Milana Marsenich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I was surprised by the language and the story. I guess I really didn't know what I was getting into, but once I did I couldn't stop. Brave Deeds is full of heart, courage, and a dark humor. It is an excellent choice if you are looking for a really good, moving book to read.

[Ted · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant and compelling novel of a war without end.

[Abigail · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is about an adventure of a group of men who are trying to attend the memorial service of their Sargent. The author tells the story of how the soldiers deal with personal problems while being at war in Baghdad. I really enjoyed the flash backs, as it would, build up the story and explain the characters. The journey was tense and a very good insight to modern warfare. How people deal with death and more.

[Tony · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved Abrams' first novel (Fobbit), about an army public affairs drone working a desk job in a hermetically sealed Forward Operating Base in Iraq. This page-turning followup takes the reader beyond the base with six infantry soldiers who've gone AWAOL to attend a memorial service for their beloved Sergeant at a base across Baghdad. Unfortunately, their Humvee breaks down and in the confusion they leave behind both radio and maps, and so they are adrift in the streets of a huge hostile city, and if they try and call for help, they won't get to the memorial service.

The telling of their attempt to cross the city to pay their respects plays out in short chapters written in the unusual first person plural form, and is intercut with flashbacks and background stories of each of the soldiers. This gives you a taste of each, but they are more sketches than fully-developed characters, which almost gives the whole book the feel of a fable. The details of the setting and specificity of speech and thought are what bring spark and color to the story -- it's a must read for anyone interested in war fiction or the modern American soldier.

[John H · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this book free in exchange for a honest review. As a Veteran I had several issues with this book. He tried to cram every stereotype into one squad and even the most green soldier would see the holes in this. The concept was solid just execution lacking.

[Ned Frederick · Rating 5 out of 5]

This grunt's-eye view of a day in the Iraq War is stunning in its authenticity much in the way that Saving Private Ryan was so vivid and enthralling. Brave Deeds is brilliant, hilarious, poignant, hair-raising, and totally engaging. I found myself clenching my teeth at times with worry as this band of brothers plunged deeper and deeper into the cluster f#@k of an odyssey they walked themselves into.

[EB · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book of 2017 for me. Magnificently layered story that really lingers once competed. Flawless writing, which is quite the accomplishment for a novel written in the collective "we." I had my doubts about whether that would be distracting, but thought highly enough of "Fobbit" to give it a go. Couldn't imagine the story conveyed any other way. A unique experience on the page that blends seamlessly with the material.

[Larry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Six American soldiers steal a Humvee so that they can attend their squad leader's funeral. The Humvee breaks down, they lose their radio due to the squad malingerer's carelessness, and they move on foot across a very dangerous Baghdad, facing the certainty of company punishment if they live through the experience. It is expertly and vividly written.