Vagabonds: Tourists in the Heart of Darkness

by Nick Brokhausen, Jeff Miller

"A lot of confusion, a lot of humor, a lot of broken dreams and broken promises, an occasional triumph."

Once a soldier has survived the ultimate contest between skill, luck, and happenstance, which defines combat, everything else seems easy and within reach. In his military career Nick Brokhausen had participated in some of the most dangerous and daring operations the United States had undertaken as a nation. After two decades in the Special Forces, including two deployments to MACV-SOG, he decided to leave the service and reinvent himself. Teaming up with Jeff Miller and other SF vets, Nick decided to use the skills he had acquired in his military career to make his way in the world. In his own inimitable style, Nick weaves the tale of a truly unique career path, running counter-terrorism training courses for SWAT teams, testing the security for the Los Angeles Olympics, training private bodyguards for wealthy families in Mexico, working security projects around the world, recovering kidnap victims, and advising resource developers. Things rarely go to plan, but a mere detail like that never stops the Green Berets.

Genres: Audiobook, History

241 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 4, 2021

About the author

Special Forces veteran Nick Brokhausen joined the SOG on his second tour in Vietnam, and took part in some of the most dangerous missions of the war, deep in enemy territory. After Vietnam, Nick Brokhausen has led an interesting life, which has included work in security projects in a number of countries. He now runs a tech company and an armoring company.

Reviews

[Bobby Daugherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fair read about a former MACV/SOG operator working as a contractor on the civilian side. Parts are amusing but overall it didn't hold my interest as much as his two books on the Vietnam War. He doesn't get to detailed in this book as he has to squeeze decades of his life into a few hundred pages.

[Steph B]

Really good. If you enjoyed his other books, you will enjoy this. Different type of action, but his same distinctive writing style.

[Bill Seaby · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from Nick joined by the “Beast”

Fascinating travels, trials, characters and efforts to continue the quest for adventure and a few dollars. No, not a lead slinging epoch of survival in Southeast Asia, there is adrenaline and close calls as the cast of characters work on the “edge.” It was enjoyable and I hope for more.

[Tomasz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yeah, disaster tourists is about right. Brokhausen, for all his flexing, is barely literate, and rarely coherent - five+ decades of massive liquor intake did their job, it seems. Got a song about him, too: "Whoah, here he comes / watch out, guys, he'll screw you up / whoah, here he comes / he's a mouthbreather". Not recommended.

[Christopher Cooper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read.

A really interesting account of an incredible life. Nick has had more than 9 lives and the book has a vivid cast of great characters. Some of the events are truly hair raising. Highly recommended.

[B A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting if true.
It kind of showed a lot of how early private security and military industries grew during the end of Cold War and before GWOT. Also kind of a disturbing mark on police militarization

[Chuckdee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Truly entertaining!

[Aaron E. Allan · Rating 4 out of 5]

ok read.

This is an interesting collection of stories that lacks some details of time and length. Good thing is it’s not one long story so you can start and stop easily.

[Mikael · Rating 3 out of 5]

Of course this guy became an "security specialist" after the vietnam war.

[Jan · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did enjoy the book a lot, it does leave a lot of space for improvement in the storytelling and could be polished a bit more in terms of appealing to the reader that’s not a military head