Fire in the Blood

by Perry O'Brien

“A tremendously compelling debut of rare skill” (Phil Klay, author of Redeployment) about a soldier who goes AWOL from Afghanistan and returns home to unravel the mystery of his wife’s death.

When Coop—a U.S. Army paratrooper serving in Afghanistan—is called urgently to his Captain’s office, he fears he’s headed for a court martial. Coop has been keeping a terrible secret from his fellow soldiers, and worries he’s been discovered. Instead, his life is devastated in a different way: his wife, Kay, has been killed in a hit-and-run.

Given a brief leave to fly back to New York and attend to Kay’s affairs, Coop is increasingly disturbed by the suspicious circumstances of his wife’s death. He decides to go AWOL, using his military training to uncover the real story behind Kay’s fatal accident. As he circles in on the truth, Coop must distinguish ally from enemy among a cast of players in the Bronx underworld: Albanian heroin smugglers, shady cops, corrupt rehab doctors, and his wife’s family, a powerful clan of financial elites. Navigating this new battlefield, he’ll have to find justice for Kay while also seeking his own redemption.

Humming with mystery and grief, Fire in the Blood is a compulsively readable thriller about the wars we fight, whether overseas, in our city streets, or in the depths of our own hearts.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Suspense

288 pages, Hardcover

First published August 11, 2020

Reviews

[ScrappyMags · Rating 2 out of 5]

More miss than a hit for me.

Shortest Summary Ever: Coop - a soldier in Afghanistan, 2003 finds out his wife was killed. While home for her funeral he goes AWOL to try to uncover her killer amongst Albanian gangsters and his wife’s wealthy family he’s never known.

My Thoughts. First, I fully affirm I’m usually love it or hate it in the action-thriller genre. You can’t just have guys punching each other and killing each other. I need STORY. The first 30% of the book I wasn’t feeling and almost DNF due to a plethora of unexplained military jargon that I had to define. Then the story picked up and was enjoyable but for me fell apart at about 75%. I think the fatal flaw for me was not being invested in the characters - it finally got to the point I kind of didn’t care who killed whom. 🤷🏼‍♀️ It just didn’t work for me.

All my reviews available at scrappymags.com

Genre: Action Thriller/Mystery

Recommend to: If you have more military knowledge this might work and be more intriguing.

Not recommended to: If you’re over the movie Taken and the Albanian terrorist thing.

Thank you to the author, Random House, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for my always-honest review.

[Donna Wetzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thanks Goodreads for my copy of Fire in the Blood by Perry O'Brien. I was disappointed in this book. Actually was debating between a 2 and a 3 for my rating. There was too much military terminology, too much confusion and characters I didn't care anything about. The author tried to make it suspenseful throughout but I thought it fell flat.

[Marlana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Won this on goodreads. Up until the ending, i would have given it four stars but the way it ends was a big let down. I don’t understand what happened, when, and what caused it. I guess I'll never know.

[April · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you Random House and Perry O'Brien for the ARC of Fire in the Blood. I don't give away spoilers in my reviews.
WOW! I read this book in two sittings in two days. I am now a big fan and hope Mr. O
Brien continues to write books.
I can easily picture the scene he describes and can easily feel what the character is feeling throughout his book - from the main character, Coop, to Kosta to Eva even to Kay. I could easily picture any of the characters having a full blown series.
I found Fire in the Blood to be intense and fast-paced. I read it late into the night last night, woke up, and reached right for it again.
Truly an amazing book any reader (male or female) who enjoys mystery, crime, military, etc. There's even a little romance talked of.
Amazing.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

Did you know you can get an honorable discharge from the Army for being a conscientious objector? I had no idea, but that’s pretty progressive. I only learned this just now reading the author’s bio, because that’s what he did. And then went on to write this book. About a man who leaves the military temporarily (but technically goes AWOL) and suddenly to investigate the sudden violent death of his estranged wife. It’s one of those books that seemed like it would be a murder mystery, but turned out to be more along the lines of an action driven thriller. The difference being you know the what, the why and the how of it all and are essentially just along for the ride until the main character figures it out too and dishes out some revenge. So not really my favorite sort of a thriller and aggressively testosteronish to boot on both sides, the good and the evil. But then again in the ever rising sea of female driven genre books out there, it’s practically refreshing to behold such an unapologetically masculine one, between the military mentality and the gang mentality, there are just different aspects of hyperdeveloped sort of maleness. So plot wise it’s pretty straight forward. Testosterone levels didn’t really win me over either. But the writing did. The writing’s really good. Not just debut good, but good all around, the protagonist blazes through the novel driven inexorably on his obviously dangerous, potentially lethal trajectory with his despair behind him like a comet with a strikingly pronounced coma on a collision course. The man goes from one war zone to another and both are bleak in their own ways and rendered starkly devastating. It may not be exactly the literary journey of one’s choice, but it is a compelling journey all the same. A hauntingly dark read as blazingly dynamic as its title. You have to be in the mood for it, so recommended…conditionally. Thanks Netgalley.

[Mac Coulthard · Rating 1 out of 5]

originally gave it 2 to be nice but i actually hated this book

[Janeadams Adams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slow to start, this thriller about a man searching for his wife's killer is burdened by too much backstory, but once the narrative drive picks up, it gets more interesting and worth staying with. The protagonist, Coop, finds himself in an unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers while trying to learn who wanted his wife dead and why. They'd barely been together before he was deployed, and he knew little of her family, who dont exactly welcome his appearance at her funeral. And once he starts looking for answers, they're hard to distinguish from the criminal gangs who had their own reasons for wanting her dead. And every hour he pursues the truth, his AWOL time is getting perilously close to desertion. There's a lot going on here, and the novel needs a good edit. But it's a better than average read.

[Heather Fineisen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the premise of this novel more than the execution. Coop finds out his wife is dead by a hit and run and goes swollen to attend her funeral in New York. He uses his army skill set to find out what happened. And here we enter into a world of Albanian drug dealers. This part of the story has some disconnects that are never really resolved. The chase is on and then everything ends abruptly. Doesn't quite tie things up neatly.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

[Dlmrose · Rating 3 out of 5]

3+

[SLOWLY COMING OUT OF HIATUS!.·:*¨༺♡ Honeydew ♡༻¨*:·. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler free review

Stars: 4.8 (rounded down)
One word to describe it: twisting—this book twists and turns when you least expect it
POVs: Coop (MMC), Eva (FMC I guess), Kosta, and Sean (there may be another POV, but it was either so insignificant or there was only one chapter with their POV that I forgot about it)

My likes: How Coop developed throughout the chapters, the tone, and the dialogue.
My dislikes: How the book went from a fast pace to a slow pace to a super fast pace, the random flashbacks that didn't match up with the present, and the *many* untold secrets.

Why did I read this? I read this because 1) it looked interesting and 2) it was for a book project. I was content with the ending, so that was nice. It's not my favorite, and it's something I don't think I'll re-read, but I will recommend this to people who like books that are/have military-themed, soldiers in battle (whether that's on an actual battlefield or with themselves), a soldier finding redemption (without knowing he was looking for that), solving the murder of a loved one, or New York crime.

Here is the summary by the author: When Coop—a U.S. Army paratrooper serving in Afghanistan—is called urgently to his Captain’s office, he fears he’s headed for a court martial. Coop has been keeping a terrible secret from his fellow soldiers, and worries he’s been discovered. Instead, his life is devastated in a different way: his wife, Kay, has been killed in a hit-and-run. Given a brief leave to fly back to New York and attend to Kay’s affairs, Coop is increasingly disturbed by the suspicious circumstances of his wife’s death. He decides to go AWOL, using his military training to uncover the real story behind Kay’s fatal accident. As he circles in on the truth, Coop must distinguish ally from enemy among a cast of players in the Bronx underworld: Albanian heroin smugglers, shady cops, corrupt rehab doctors, and his wife’s family, a powerful clan of financial elites. Navigating this new battlefield, he’ll have to find justice for Kay while also seeking his own redemption.

Here is my summary: U.S. Army soldier, Coop, goes AWOL after hearing his wife, Kay, dies from a hit-and-run, heading straight for New York. He doesn't stop to grieve as he deals with Albanian junkies, corrupt rehab doctors, Kay's manipulative family, and more who tries to stop him from finding out the truth.

The theme of the book is we don't always fight our battles on physical land or overseas. Our battlefield can be our mind, our emotions, our problems, and our health. This is seen throughout the book when we look at how Coop's mindset has changed throughout the book when we see the junkies struggle with their addiction, and how Kosta fights for his freedom/ife from a Mafia who won't let him go.

Possible trigger warnings: addiction/drugs (heroin), guns, blood, animal's death, murder, strong language, sexual scenes (we don't see it, but it's implied heavily), mental health, war, bombs, PTSD/trauma, protesting, death of children.

[Garrett Zecker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fire in the Blood is a fast-paced and heart-stopping debut from Perry O’Brien that tells the story of Coop, a US Soldier serving in Afghanistan whose wife is killed back home in a hit and run that leads him to have serious suspicions around the circumstances of her death as he learns more and more about it. He learns that through a new job he wasn’t aware of, Kay has been working as a drug addiction counselor at a clinic that blurs the line between doctor-patient relationships and being a part of the problem that they set out to solve for their patients. And what does a small team of Albanian drug dealers have to do with it? And a college student that has disappeared? And why is her family of bankers seemingly uninterested in finding out what really happened?

Overall, I enjoyed this book. It has the hallmarks of those armrest-gripping mystery thrillers where the lone wolf protagonist with a past to hide is suddenly thrust into the investigation of their life with everything on the line. It is structurally exactly what I was expecting in reading it, and I found that I finished the second half a great deal faster than the beginning. What is so compelling about this novel is that it not only explores a gripping mystery from the point of view of an AWOL soldier, but manages to subtly explore the true victims in this novel without noisy preaching: those truly suffering from PTSD and the opioid crisis in America. The writing is taut and at times beautiful for a mystery of this kind, and the violent, exciting ending comes at somewhat of a surprise in its violence and gentle landing of beautiful sympathy.

Unfortunately, I read this at the exact same time as Nico Walker’s Cherry, and finished them a day apart. Honestly, I liked that book a great deal more. While they are both novels about some of the same motifs and overall thematic leanings, Walkers spoke to me a great deal while O’Brien’s seemed a bit too flashy – but this is all to say that the difference is a great independent film (Walker) versus an exciting blockbuster (O’Brien), of which the former I prefer a lot more. A great book that was a lot of fun to read, this certainly fit the ‘page-turner’ genre of a great suspense of adept storytelling. An exciting thriller.

[David Freas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book through a Goodreads giveaway.

The story had an interesting premise: After learning his wife Kay has died, Coop, a solder in Afghanistan heads home on emergency leave. Back in the states, he learns her death was anything but accidental and goes AWOL to track down those responsible.

O’Brien’s writing is stellar. He paints clear word pictures with spare, taut sentences, putting the reader firmly in the grit of sandy Afghanistan or the squalor of a depressed New York neighborhood. He does equally well putting us inside Coop’s head

But I had a hard time getting into the story. Partly it was the chapters (including the opening one) in the POV of the man responsible for the wife’s death. Had they shown up regularly, it would have created a rhythm to the narrative that would have enhanced the flow of the story. But their random appearance broke that flow for me.

The narrative doesn’t really take off until around 100 pages into the book. That’s too late for a story like this. Much of that early material is set up and backstory that could easily have been trimmed back radically or slipped in later in the story.

At one point in the book, the bad guys force-feed Coop a mix of LSD and other drugs to render him no danger to them. Much of the rest of the book read as if O’Brien had written it while on LSD. Those early clear word pictures devolved into hard to follow rambling imagery

In the end, this book falls apart. Kay’s family and the cop investigating her death seem to be thrown into the story just to have them there. Was Kay having an affair? With who? Why did the Albanian kill one of his associates? Did he kill another one as well? Is Coop alive or dead? There is no definite wrap-up, just vague clues and hints to what happened at the end. And then the book stops.

In truth, Fire In The Blood is only worth 1½ stars – disappointing. It was a good premise ruined by poor storytelling.

[Diane Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 2003, a soldier named Coop in Afghanistan is told his wife, Kat, is dead in New York City. She was killed in a hit-and-run in the Bronx. Coop goes AWOL to find her killer and avenge her death with Fire in the Blood.

Kosta is a mid-level drug dealer and an Albanian expatriate. One of his low-level dealers, Sean, has run off with some inventory. While bringing Sean back to his lair, Kosta’s driver runs down a woman. Little does Kosta know but he has set off a terror storm of revenge headed his way. You see, Coop’s specialty in the Army is explosives—big explosives.

Fire in the Blood would make a great action movie. While reading it, I kept picturing how each scene would look with Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Coop. Anyway, if you enjoy action movies, this is a great choice for you. For me, it started with a tad too much detail about war and crime syndicates. The pace was slow until about halfway into the book when it finally sped up to thriller speed. For that reason alone, 3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars.

Thanks to Random House and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

[Carissa Burks · Rating 4 out of 5]

(*This book was received through Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.)

This book was well-paced out and easy to read. I found myself enjoying the story line, the characters, and the ending. I felt that the ending suited the book and did the characters justice. The book is over 250 pages long, but it didn't feel like a long book. Each time I picked it up, I got sucked into the story, wanting to know what would happen next and if Coop, the main character, would figure out the mystery behind who caused his wife's death and how he would deal with it.

I found that the characters were relatable and that the expression of grief was well done. It affected each of the different characters differently and Perry O'Brien did a good job of exploring it as well as exploring Coop's emotions and thought process during his book. The story telling was paced well and easy for the reader to comprehend the timeline of events and how long everything took place.

I look forward to seeing what else Mr. O'Brien comes out with, especially if it's as well written as this book.

[James B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for getting me an ebook. This is a thrill ride of a book. It moves fast, is really smart, at times quite violent but always very emotionally engaging. Coop, who is stationed in Afghanistan, right before the invasion of Iraq, is given the devastating news that his wife had died in a hit and run accident back in NYC. He goes on leave for the funeral, but ends up going AWOL as he tries to find out if his wife was killed by accident or something more sinister. A former soldier, the author paints such a vivid picture of Army life, but there are so many characters and worlds that he also has a sharp eye and keen ear for, including a small group of Albanian drug deals, mysterious, rich in-laws, Bronx detective among so many others. It’s amazing watching Coop deal with all these people as he comes to terms with the truth about his relationship with his wife and the things he’s done in Afghanistan.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire In The Blood by perry O"Brian is a literary jewel that has more than sufficient mystery traits to appeal to a wide swath of readers. Mr. O'Brian has vividly painted his characters and place in a way that grabs the reader and makes it impossible to not finish in the initial reading. All of his characters are well defined and relatable, even with their serious flaws and frailties. Fire In The Blood is a superior mystery that combines the best components of mystery, crime, and perhaps a touch of romanticism.

[Reid Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perry O'Brien's Fire in the Blood does a fantastic job of putting the reader into the mind of his protagonist, Coop. Suffering from grief, PTSD and rage, Coop's emotions and thoughts suffuse the story, with hope for redemption in each passing chapter growing dimmer and dimmer. O'Brien has done a masterful job setting tone and building tension, never allowing the reader to become complacent or mollified by the actions of Coop. When the book ends, the reader is left feeling drained, the sign that O'Brien has been able to impart the feelings of his principal to the reader.

[Teresa Silva · Rating 3 out of 5]

I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway last August & was asked in return to give an honest review.

I'll be honest this book was... Okay. I had trouble getting into the book at first. After I read the first few chapters, not sure how many, that's when it started getting interesting. The middle was definitely good, and it was starting to get better but then came the end... I didn't like it. It seemed l like it was written too quickly amd ended too soon. The last two chapters were just a no for me. I wish it had ended a little differently I guess. More detail or something...

[Dennis White · Rating 2 out of 5]

I only give this book two stars because the writing is well crafted. But the book itself is boring, self indulgent and comes off inauthentic.

I find myself struggling to care about the author characters and wonder how this book was ever published. I suppose it pays to be born into New England wealth and connections.

It sounds like a fantasy the author wishes to be, rather than an interesting piece of literature. I guess good job on the editing, but the story is more purple writing from a north east Ivy leager living a hipster fantasy in Brooklyn. Can’t wait till this era is over.

[Emma · Rating 2 out of 5]

This feels like an undeveloped story. I felt no connection to the characters. The deaths did not phase me. What I disliked most was that the main character, Coop, fell in love with his wife’s colleague, such a short time after his wife’s death. It was only like a week and it felt like he movedon from his wife so quickly. If the author took more time to develop the story, and develop the characters, then this would be a good book.

[Kelsey Vredeveld · Rating 1 out of 5]

Look, I think Perry O'Brien clearly used the writing on this book to process through some trauma or some real-life-shit-turned-fictional-plot. So ok, he should be able to do that. But for the reader, this book was just not it. The plot holes were astounding, the potential for edge-0f-your-seat excitement was possible but not achieved, and by the last page there was no care or concern for the main character. Sorry not sorry would not recommend.

[Joy Murphy]

Thank you to Random House for the Advanced Copy of Fire in the Blood in exchange for a honest review. This story of an AWOL soldier returning home for his wife’s funeral, only to stay in hopes of gaining more details of her unexpected death fell short for me.
Main issue was the lack of foundation for the characters and the fact the “mystery” of her death wasn’t much of a mystery at all. It felt like 3 separate story ideas that were shoved together to try to make a novel without clean up or enhancing the edges to make this a true page turner. Perhaps they’ll finesse that a bit for the final publication. I’ll be eager to grab a copy to see the research done for this and background of the author, which wasn’t included in my advanced copy.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like this genre. Action. Mystery. The writing was descriptive. It gave me a visual of how things were in a war zone and also a good visual of New York. I’m a veteran so I mostly understood the military jargon but it might have need more explanation for civilians. I would have liked about 50 more pages to better develop the characters.

[Lizenbyl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coop a US Army paratrooper is stationed in Afghanistan when he finds out that his wife Kay has been killed by a hit and run driver. Coop returns to the US to attend her funeral but becomes AWOL in the process as he tries to find the person(s) responsible for Kay's death.

This book is action packed and a great first novel.

[Kerry Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this novel in a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you.

This is an action thriller regarding Coop, a soldier who goes AWOL from Afghanistan when he learns his wife was killed in a hit and run accident. Determined to understand why, and if it was intentional, he begins to investigate, and ends up embroiled in more intrigue and injury than he ever expected.

[Aida Alberto · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly good. Wasn't too sure when I started but I got drawn in right away. Lots of twists and turns as you try to figure out what is going on. Writing is spot on. Definitely check it out. Happy reading! #FireintheBlood #NetGalley

[Lynn Rowe · Rating 3 out of 5]

At first, I thought this was a "guy" book. Lots of strong language and military initials that I did not understand. I kept reading to find it was a mystery, one in which he tried to solve his wife's murder. Action-packed read, but would not recommend it to my book club ladies.

[Bob Morrison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sloooow moving book- kept waiting for something to happen- GI in Afghanistan finds out wife murdered back home- goes awol,returns to states,and then it plods along with flashbacks,a little action,then him still searching- bad guy dies,GI dies- boring lousy ending

[Marcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had my total undivided attention! I enjoyed every word of it! Fast read finished in a couple hours. Would read again!

[Bellaluvbooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

O'Brien wrote a brilliant book in "Fire in the Blood". Must Read!