Stop the Rain: Never Leave a Fallen Comrade

by Kassie Angle

He left his entire world in Iraq. So why did the war follow him home? Harley Keane and his best friend Nigel were just kids when 9/11 rocked their world and changed their lives forever. When they're finally old enough to join the Army, all their childhood dreams seem about to come true. But war wasn't supposed to be like this. A kid's dream isn't supposed to become a living nightmare. Fellow soldiers aren't supposed to bleed out in front of your eyes. Back home, safe and unwounded, Harley feels anything but. Why would God spare him when so many others were taken? Why won't the nightmares stop, even when he's awake? And how long can he hide the truth that threatens everything he has left? When Harley's invisible scars refuse to stay hidden, will he let anyone close enough to help? And how do you go on with life when "okay" isn't okay at all?

Genres: Military Fiction, Contemporary, War

272 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 11, 2020

Reviews

[Katja Labonté · Rating 5 out of 5]

5+ stars (9/10 hearts). Yes, I knew this book would be amazing. And it was just as amazing as I expected. I fangirl over Kassie Angle’s books a lot, but this one I cannot fangirl over. It is too real for fangirling. Somewhere out there, someone like me has their own Harley—a Harley that you can’t shut the book covers on and put down when your heart hurts too much.

Also, the characters are amazing. So, so, SO alive. I need Dallas' story right now. He is the best. <33 And Paul is amazing. And Trey. And... yeah. Wow. Those characters LIVE. And the message is so, so good. God is always at work. God is always listening. God always loves us. God always does things for good. God is THERE. Period.

This book was superbly well written. The style is perfect for this type of story. It was heartbreaking and filled with hope. It was beautiful and terrifying and painful and hilarious. It is just overall beautiful and life-changing. It’s one of those books you need to reread periodically so that it stays in your mind & keeps changing you. And it’s a book that I think everyone should read—no matter your nationality or beliefs. Because this book will teach you something about real heroes and brokenness and beauty and hope and life.

And also can I mention that the ending left me in tears?

A Favourite Quote: "Okay doesn’t have to mean perfectly healed, right?"
A Favourite Beautiful Quote: "He died in my arms in the back of a truck. War is unfair because war kills people like [him]. But we keep fighting. We who don’t have a baby at home, we who no longer have a buddy by our side, we keep fighting because [he] deserves no less. We will miss you. The world doesn’t know what it lost when you closed your eyes, but we do."
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “You know what you could do?” Russell handed the Okinawa book back to me. “Swing by a recruiting office and tell them you’re interested in learning more.”
​“We’re kinda young,” I said meekly. ​Russell grinned.
“I’m pretty sure they’d realize that.”

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author for promotional purposes. I was not required to write a positive review. These are my honest thoughts and opinions.*

[Ellen Senechal · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in two days and have been thinking about it longer than that. Even now, I'm still struggling to find the words that would adequately describe the impact Stop the Rain has made on my life.
This book HURT like few other books I've read ever have (or probably ever will). At times I thought for sure I'd begin crying, which is something I don't usually experience in my reading journey. And now I've reached the end of the book, and my heart's still broken, seeing a trampoline reminds me only of Harley and Nigel, and I . . . won't be the same for a while. But that's okay; this novel was worth it. <33
Harley's story, although at first it started off slow and his own crying fits were constant and confusing, soon wrapped itself around my heart and didn't let go. Especially when I reminded myself partway through that he wasn't even twenty years old yet.
The characters--each and every one of them--were a.m.a.z.i.n.g. Sgt. Rhys, Keith Hayes, Russell, Trey, Levi, Hawkins, Paul, Savannah, & Jakob Carter . . . each with their own story and the longing to reach through to Harley, no matter how rough he may have been with them. (and yes, there were moments when I wanted to shake Harley and say, "These people are looking out for you! why are you acting so ungrateful?" but it made their patience and care for him all the more evident. <3)
So, yes, Stop the Rain has officially entered my very-most-favorites shelf. Excuse me while I go scream to the end of the earth how much I loved this novel by Kassie Angle. 6+ stars if I could.
Due to some violence + scenes of death + the weighty topic of PTSD, however, I wouldn't recommend this to young or sensitive readers.
I look forward to more by this author! =)

[M.L. Milligan · Rating 5 out of 5]

2024 - 5th read - it still feels like my first. 💔


*swallows the lump in my throat that took permanent residence the entire time I read this book*

I hereby give this book 5 stars and 10 bleeding hearts. I have never been so close to crying so many times over one book! Harley is such a deep character, and his story pulled me in and held me tight. So much pain. So much suffering. So much heartbreak.

So many tears.

But eventually, every storm runs out of rain.

[Abigail Hawthorne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Um, can I have my heart back, please? No?
Sorry, Harley still has it.
Review to come when this beautiful story is published!

[Kaitlyn Krispense · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some scars can't be seen.

Goooooodness gracious.

I just...no words for how this book touched me.

I adored every one of the characters, but the ones especially worth mentioning are Harley, Dallas, Paul, Trey, Russell, annnnnd...pretty much all of them. *grins* They're amazing.

I mean, Nigel is, too. But if ya know, ya know.

It's a slow book that starts out with lots of flashbacks that, at first confused and frustrated me. But then I realized just how important they were to the plot. Sure, the info gleaned from the flashbacks probably could've just been sprinkled into the rest of the 300-some page book. But...seeing Harley and Nigel as kids was so fun. And all the references to Stratego and the library and the trampoline? *grins* perfection.

There was...a lot of crying. I'm by no means an expert on PTSD, nor do I personally know someone who suffers from it. I just know guys general, and I know that guys in general that try to act all tough and 'okay' are going to keep the tears at bay no matter what. Harley tries to act tough, using a snappy and grumpy attitude to cover up what's really inside, but yet he's crying a lot. I'm not saying that this is necessarily inaccurate, just not what I've known personally.

But I've also never personally known a person with PTSD.

Other than that, I...seriously don't really have any other problems with the book.

It will romp and stomp on your heart, y'all. Let this be a fair warning. Did I cry? Nah. I've never read a book that's actually made me literally cry. I've gotten teary-eyed before, but I still have yet for a book to make me literally sob or at least have a few tears run down my face. So no, I didn't cry. But that doesn't mean my heart didn't break a lil' bit.

Harley's story is...wow. I'm not gonna say heartbreaking again, soooo...raw. Touching. And exposes a bit of the dark side of life that nobody likes to talk about. It talks about how some people come home from war and are forever scarred—not on the outside, but on the inside.

Harley Keene is broken and, in turn, his story will break you.

The cast of supporting characters, though, is phenomenal. I know I've mentioned them before but I'll mention them again. Dallas is incredible. The way he keeps saying "kiddo" is so endearing and he makes me wanna smush him in a hug. Paul is the buddy that everyone needs, and Savannah is super sweet and understanding. Nigel is also the buddy everyone needs. Trey is amazing and needs his own story. Russell has such a tiny part but such a significant part. Keith understands and that's what Har needs.

And the bit about trusting God? Uhhh yeah. So good.

Just...just go read the book, 'kay??

*I received an e-copy of this book from the author for promotional purposes. All thoughts are my own.

[Angie Thompson]

This book ripped my heart out, stomped on it, and left it bleeding on the floor.

So why do I still love it so much? <\3

Better review to come...

[R. L. Peterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Review ||

I cried. Through the entire thing. I barely got into it and I was an emotional mess in the best possible way. I don't talk about this much, but PTSD awareness is one of my heart causes, because so many people with invisible injuries are over looked. Or you have people with fake conditions stealing the spotlight. Kassie put the attention back where it belongs.

I love Harley. Har is my baby. If you don't like him, then oh well, we just won't talk about it... cause I would not take people criticizing him well at all. *halo emoji*

That being said, there is a soldier in this book that I do not hate. Kassie, you know who I'm talking about so that's that. *again, halo emoji*

And my Nigel and Levi. All my soldiers in this book. All of them. Ack! Did I ever mention I love our military???

I have? Oh...Well, I just told you again!

The writing was so deep, realistic and heart-wrenching. I feel like I traveled to the Middle East with them, learned about what it means to be a soldier with them, relived my personal 9/11 trauma with them and suffered with the wounded mind with Harley. This is real people. Step back from Hollywood. Let go of preconceived ideas of what PTSD is and let Harley show you. If this book doesn't affect you deeply, it's not the book's fault. My life has been deeply changed by this book.

Recommended for ages 16+

Buy. This. Book.

|| I was honored to be asked to Alpha read this book by my friend Kassie, but she did not require me to write a positive review. All thoughts a opinions are my own. ||

[Jesseca Wheaton]

When I heard Kassie was releasing a book about PTSD I was excited for the chance to be able to read and review it! “Stop the Rain” is a book that isn’t for the faint of heart. Reading about Harley’s struggle was heartbreaking, yet so well done. I absolutely loved the cast of characters. Dallas is my absolute favorite and I need him to be real so I can meet him. Paul and Nigel and Savannah and the rest were awesome, but Dallas ... that man has my heart. I need a book about him. 

The plot line was very well done and I so appreciated how it showed that PTSD isn’t just something you can “get over”. It’s a real and horrific struggle that so many go through every day. And it can feel so hopeless. But there’s always hope. Because every storm runs out of rain. 

It’s a bit of a slower book, but I think it worked well that way to tell the story. And the look at the future we get at the end of the book made me smile. 

This book showed PTSD for what it is. An hourly struggle that is fought by those who made it home, but are forever changed. It does an amazing job at opening your eyes to the reality behind the many preconceived notions of PTSD that are out there. 

Also a final note on just how much I loved Dallas. I need more of him in my life. 

[Chalice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, where do I start?
This book was good. Not an easy, or especially fun read (although there definitely were some fun parts), but good.
I really liked the characters and how they felt like they could have been real people. Harley wasn't just the brooding soldier with PTSD that you might expect when reading a story about a soldier with PTSD, and I kind of loved him. (Also, someone else mentioned that Trey needed his own story, and I second the motion. :))
The Plot was a little slow, and at points it just made be feel worn out because the theme was SO heavy, and characters were crying, I just kind of wanted to watch a Disney movie... But I was never bored, and I say that as someone with a very short attention span. ;)
You can always tell when an author is passionate about a story, and I can tell Kassie was passionate about telling this story. She wrote it beautifully, with strong themes that never became too preachy, and a message that more people need to hear.
So, yeah. Those are my honest thoughts. :)

[Natalie Claire · Rating 5 out of 5]

WOW! It was an amazing book. Had me crying more than once, but I don't care. God knows it's a story I needed to read.

You can find my full review, as well as interviews with author Kassie Angel and book character Paul Carter, here on my blog:

Stop the Rain review and interviews

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest reveiw.*

[Abigail Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beta-read... My review may come once published!

[Lydia Willcock · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow... Just wow. After having read and loved both O To Be Like Thee and Tattered Wings, I went into this book with high expectations. I had been warned it was somewhat different, though, so I wasn't really sure what to expect other than that it would be heartbreaking. Well, it was. More than the other two books for sure. And in a more... heavy way, somehow. Harley is a character pretty different to Corey and Andrew from the other two books. And his book is not a happy one. But that's the whole point of it, and after having read the author's note at the beginning of the book, I can only say it served its purpose.
I love the characters, so much. Dallas especially, and Paul. And Nigel. Despite how heavy Harley's story is, the frequent switches to his childhood with Nigel kept it from being depressing. I loved those scenes. And then Dallas and Paul... Wow. What amazing characters, and what friends to Harley even when he couldn't see it.
The storyline, Harley's ARC, is very gradual and very sad, but very real. I've heard the whole book describes as real, and really that is the best description.
And that ending!!!!!!! I can't even begin to say how happy that little twist made me. I was so not expecting that, and it was perfect.
I'd say this definitely needs to be read last of the author's three books, for more reasons than one. And don't expect it to be the same as the other two, but in some ways even better. OTBLT is still my favourite, but this is a close second.
This is only a short review for now, and doesn't do the book justice, but I'll probably update it after I've reread the book and have more solid thoughts about it. But for now, I'll just say this is a book that needs to be read. I'm glad I did.

[Chelsea R.H. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Writing Style

First of all, Kassie’s writing style is so casual and friendly, reading STR kind of feels like having a friend tell you a story about themselves. Occasionally, there were a few parts where slang was used that I found hard to understand, but that might be just my Aussie brain getting confused. There were also a few spots where what was happening was a bit unclear, such as characters turning up and it not being mentioned clearly enough and that sort of thing.

However, I really enjoyed Kassie’s casual, conversational tone. And she also did a really good job at portraying Harley and his unique voice.

Characters

Ah, my absolute favourite part of any novel. Suffice to say, the characters in this book are awesome. It’s honestly difficult to choose a favourite.

First up, we’ve got Harley Keane, our main character. An Military Policeman in the American Army, he watched his best friend and whole world die in Iraq. Then he’s unceremoniously dumped back into his Texas life, suffering from PTSD and haunted by memories of his battle experience. Honestly, Kassie brought this boy to life and it is remarkably easy to relate to Harley, even if you aren’t an almost nineteen year old Iraq veteran with PTSD. Kassie really put me into his head and showed me the chaos and horror, but also the hope, of his condition.

Next comes Nigel Manning, Harley’s best friend. It’s hard to say much about him without straying into spoiler territory, so I’ll just say that I liked him quite a lot.

Last but not least, there’s the Carters, Dallas, Russell and Keith. These are the blokes (and lady!) who support Harley and constantly push him, whether he likes it or not, to seek help, and they are there with him through the process of healing. And just between you and me, Paul Carter was definitely my favourite.
Plot

The plot was a pretty slow, meandering one, but that fit the subject matter perfectly. Healing from PTSD isn’t a quick or linear thing, so neither should this plot be. I enjoyed the way the first half of the story was told through sections of flashback as well. I’m not a huge fan of flashbacks in general, but this was handled very well and the flashbacks were clearly labelled. They also helped build a sense of foreboding, because I knew something bad was going to happen, but I didn’t know what it would be yet. So that was very good.

Overall

This book was brilliant and I honestly wasn’t expecting it to hit me as hard as it did. I read Kassie Angle’s last book Tattered Wings (you can read my review here), but this book just had something that Tattered Wings didn’t. It was raw, honest and Kassie’s passion for the topics was so incredibly obvious. It also took me way longer to read than I thought it would because I had to keep stopping I was getting so emotional.

So what did I think of it? 9/10. It would have got 10/10, but there were a few grammar and style issues that I found, but I’m mostly just nitpicking. Definitely go and check it out if you haven’t already.

[Ejayen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I got an ARC to this book. Read it. Planned to review it on release day. Got distracted. Anyhow, here is my review of a cool new book.
I had forgotten for a moment what this book was about. Then suddenly the whole plot came back. Whole plots aren't much more helpful for righting reviews than nothing.
This is a book about PTSD. From the beginning you know that it is going to be tragic. That a character who is super close to the main character is going to die. I really enjoyed seeing Harley grow and overcome.

[Michelle D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book by Kassie Angle that I have read and I was not disappointed. Kassie made me laugh and cry right along side the characters and I loved the ending that Harley got.
Great job Kassie, and keep writing!

[Lacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was rather tentative going into this book. Previously, I had already read Tattered Wings and really enjoyed it, but I wasn’t sure about a story about a soldier dealing with PTSD. Seriously, I know next to nothing about that topic. However, in I jumped and don’t regret it a bit.

The storyline was great. It’s been awhile since I read it, so I don’t remember it verbatim, but I remember being able to step into the story as if I was there. The emotions didn’t come across as fake, and the character arcs were realistic.

Out of all the characters, Dallas was my favorite. Don’t ask me why. He just was. While Harley’s journey was heart wrenching, it was Dallas won my heart. (He’s their leader.) Maybe it’s because of the pain so evident behind his wall. Such a minor character has never touched me so much before.

As a side note, the writing was a bit choppy. It may have something to do with the tense and flashbacks. However, it detracted nothing from the storyline. Just thought I’d mention that.

[Grace Elizabeth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so I knew this book was supposed to be heart-wrenching. And really good.
It was!

I have this little thing when I'm reading a... cryable part of a book that I put it down and come back in a little and finish that part. That way I don't start crying violently over a book. Well, let's just say, I read this in a ton of increments! Then, I needed to finish before I went to bed so I read the rest of it and used quite a few tissues;)

I don't think I can say I loved this book, because how can you love something that was so... heart-breaking? But then again, I kinda do love it....

The characters....<3<3<3!!!!!!!
Trey, Russel, Dallas, Paul, Keith, Savanah... Manny;) And Nigel. With so many similar characters I sometimes get confused or like "Wait! Who is this again?" But that didn't happen in this book.

Anyway, I've never read a book quite like this, and I'm glad I did!

[Elisabeth Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

There's just something about this book, something that's completely hooked me and the reason StR is in my top favorites. Despite that the writing itself is not the strongest, it's one of the best books I've ever read. I can't pinpoint the exact thing that makes it stand out--maybe it's everything. So if you like a good book about the Army; broken, hurting characters; tail-always-wagging cattle dogs, and the feel of the sun after a good storm, you will treasure this novel.
And StR has a song, too: Gary Allen's "Every Storm (Runs Outta Rain)."

[Gabriella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good story! I loved this book and personally found it much more well written that O To Be Like Thee. I really enjoyed every minute of it, although I was confused in the beginning and slightly annoyed when I didn’t understand why it kept swapping to when the main character was a child and then his current situation. At the end, however, I was glad that I had that extra little bit of insight.
I love how this book also features no romance! It’s so refreshing.
Also, it’s very enlightening and eye opening in regards to what PTSD is like, which I never really knew.
Over all, great read, and I hope there will be hard copies/paperbacks of this book available soon!

[Lucia M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Contemporary and indie-pub fiction aren't my usual genres, and it took me a little while to get into this book; but once I did, Stop the Rain blew me away. Angle's emotion is SO palpable - I've never cried so many times while reading one book! I felt like I really experienced the events with her characters, rather than just watching the plot play out - they were all so real, I could practically hear their voices! Her raw depiction of grief, trauma and PTSD is sensitive and well done, and the slow process of Harley's recuperation isn't cheesy or rushed - it's cathartic and hopeful, beautifully showing that healing is possible, even if the scars remain. 10/10 recommend giving it a read!

EDIT: full review can be found here 👉 https://vellakarman.com/2023/07/20/st...