Feast Of Bones

by Daniel P. Bolger

Book by Bolger, Daniel P.

Genres: Fiction, Military Fiction

357 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Daniel P. Bolger of Aurora, Illinois is an author, historian, and retired Lieutenant General (promoted 21 May 2010) of the United States Army. He currently holds a special faculty appointment in the Department of History at North Carolina State University, where he teaches military history.

Lt. Gen. Bolger retired in 2013 from the Army. During his 35 years of service, he earned five Bronze Star Medals (one for valor) and the Combat Action Badge. His notable military commands included serving as Commanding General of the Combined Security Transition Command in Afghanistan and Commander of the NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan (2011-2013); Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood, Texas (deployed to Baghdad, 2009-2010); the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team in Iraq (2005–06); and U.S. Army Assistant Chief of Staff for Operations. He is also the author of books, such as Why We Lost, Americans at War, The Battle for Hunger Hill, and Death Ground.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely done. The author's extensive knowledge of Russian culture and the Soviet government and its military really shine, making the institutional setting almost a character in itself. I think it does compare favorably to Tom Clancy's work, as one reviewer was quoted as saying in a cover blurb.

The only thing I found lacking was any real suspense about whether the protagonist in particular and he soldiers he led would succeed in any mission they got - they ran into problems and lost people, but the protagonist always came up with ingenious solutions effortlessly and almost instantaneously. As a retired Marine and former company commander, I can say I never knew anyone quite that good, and I served with some superb leaders. But in this story, it never felt as if their success was teetering in the balance.

I wish the author had spent more time exploring his protagonist's personality, too. Other than his amazing expertise, he was kind of a cypher. Hints of what was going on within him at several points, but he was basically a Soviet paratrooper Energizer bunny.

This author's first book, Dragons at War (a factual account of his unit's training time at the U.S. Army's National Training Center at Ft. Irwin, CA) was excellent, and I wish he would write more fiction.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this back in 1992.

With the current events in Afghanistan, I thought I'd read this again.

It is as good as I remembered it the first time.