Thanks Net Galley

AWOL is always so negative but here we find a cast of characters that if you have served you have seen and the story is well written and remarkable. realistic that men such as these might be so honorable, could be. You let the story decide. I liked it,

An action packed description of the events of the QRS trying to return to the funeral of their late leader despite a continuing series of setbacks. What ensues is a complex potted background of each member of the patrol inserted as the progress of the unit through the hostile environment. I found those details were a slight distraction from the progress of the storyline and on one occasion I had to go back and refresh my own progress through the book. Shorter biographies would have helped to draw the reader towards the moving conclusion. Notwithstanding, I enjoyed the book that encapsulated the high levels of stress that our troops were exposed to in the environment of 21st Century warfare.

I am going to apologize to Mr. Abrams right now because there is no way I will ever be able to do Brave Deeds justice in this review. This "day in the life" story reminds me of The Things They Carried. It has a similar feel to it in the short, vignette-like chapters that bounce from soldier to soldier, past, and present. One of the reasons it is so powerful is that the U.S. still has soldiers in the Middle East; these six soldiers could be your brother, son, husband, father right now. It is a sobering thought while reading.

What Brave Deeds does more than anything is to show how young our soldiers are and how they are not heroes. They are simply six men who are doing their job in an unbearable situation. The death of their leader is the proverbial straw on the camel's back. They are not attempting any sort of heroism. They are not hoping to make a statement or inspire policy changes through their temporary desertion. They just want to say good-bye to the one person in the military they felt cared about them as individuals.

How they get into the dangerous predicament of having to hump it all over Baghdad is rather comical if it were not also so frightening. Their gaffes show their humanity and confirm that they are not professional soldiers. Mr. Abrams does a great job showing how ingrained their training is, which serves them well as they cross the city on foot, but they are young and each distracted by his own thoughts and desires. The mistakes they do make end because of their youth and because of the natural distractions that come about because of their youth are understandable even as they end up having lasting repercussions not just them on them but for the Iraqi citizens as well.

The six soldiers harbor no doubts as to the dangers they face with every step further into the city. Nor do they harbor doubts as to their own lack of heroism. True, there is an innate machismo they exude due to their training and their weapons and their camaraderie, but as we see into the minds of each of them and get to know them, we understand that they are nothing more than frightened young men trying to find comfort among the danger. These men encompass the gamut of society and are a great example of the melting pot that is the military.

Mr. Abrams' writing is superb. Sparse and powerful, it establishes the tone of the novel so well that readers feel the same sense of danger, fear, and urgency as the soldiers do. You can feel the intense heat rise from the pages as you march behind them on their way to the funeral. Every shadow mentioned, every figure they pass on the street, every blind corner they must turn fills you with a sense of dread. It is an intense experience, made all the more so because you find yourself caring about the men. They may not be perfect, in fact one or two are downright nasty, but you get behind their cause and cheer them on their journey. The overwhelming concern as to the eventual success of their mission fuels your reading experience with suspense and dread, and you come away feeling a greater appreciation for and sympathy with all soldiers everywhere. Brave Deeds is an impressive tour de force that gives a proper voice to modern soldiers all over the world just trying to do their job and survive.

I'm of two minds about this short novel about six US soldiers in Iraq. On the one hand, it's hard to approve of what they do, given that they put themselves and others at risk through their actions in going to a funeral- but that's not the point. The point is watching how they interact with one another and their thoughts about their friend and themselves. My quibble with that is that Abrams uses the collective we, which can be annoying at times as I think it keeps you from really relating to any one character, each of whom has a flaw. It would definitely make a good movie. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

Published by Grove Press Black Cat on August 1, 2017

Brave Deeds is a flawed novel, but I liked it more than Fobbit, David Abrams’ previous literary effort. The plot follows six soldiers who steal a truck so they can attend the memorial service of a beloved Sergeant after being told that an unpopular lieutenant and the company commander will attend the service on their behalf so that the rest of the company can pull Quick Reaction Force duty. Thanks to a broken drive shaft and a forgotten radio, the six soldiers find themselves on foot in Baghdad without a map, hoping they can make their way to the Forward Operating Base without getting killed. Good luck with that.

Like all soldiers, the six have definite opinions about the stupidity of their superior officers. It is clear, however that the soldiers are not all that bright themselves. Nor do they distinguish themselves as representatives of the United States. Apart from stealing a Humvee (not smart) and abandoning the Humvee and the equipment it contains to whomever finds it (really not smart), a soldier named Fish clubs a civilian female with his rifle for no reason other than his psychopathic desire to kill and maim. I give Abrams credit for not shying away from the fact that some soldiers do not deserve to be thanked for their service, but I found little reason to care about these guys.

The story of the stroll is frequently interrupted to tell background stories about the individual soldiers or the dead sergeant, or to relate dreams or snippets of seemingly random thought. An unfortunate percentage of the interruptions come across as filler rather than purposeful contributions to the story. Some of the stories humanize the soldiers (one cheated on his wife while she was delivering his baby, one can’t stop thinking about male genitals that are not his own) but for the most part, the characters suffer from a lack of development.

Putting aside the interruptions, the plot is: soldiers who have no way to communicate (having stupidly left their radio in their abandoned Humvee) walk through Baghdad and things happen to them. They come across cellphones on their journey but apparently their training didn’t include how to make a phone call, or perhaps they don’t know the Army’s phone number. The first eventful thing occurs beyond the midway point, when an Iraqi offers to show the soldiers where is cousin is making bombs. After that, the story suffers from fewer interruptions and becomes progressively more interesting, if not particularly deep.

The attitudes reflected in Brave Deeds (“get out of our way or our big American boots will stomp you”) illustrate why the American occupation failed to win the hearts and minds of Iraqis. Again, I commend Abrams for not whitewashing that. The story has merit and the second half has some entertainment value, so I recommend Brave Deeds, but I can’t regard it as a significant contribution to the literature of war.

RECOMMENDED

BRAVE DEEDS by David Abrams follows a squad of six men who make it their mission, despite orders not to, to go the funeral of their fallen leader, Staff Sergeant Morgan. Being AWOL and not having their radio forces them to band together in ways they didn't even know they could so they can complete their mission of making to their sergeant's funeral.
Abrams writes the book in an odd style; its written from the perspective of all six soldiers mashed together into a singular thought. While unique and interesting at times, at other times I wanted to read how the individuals felt about a situation or in a moment, not how the collective reacted. Because the singular perspective of the more likable characters isn't displayed, it's harder to sympathize with their tough decisions along the way. The story carries these men through dangerous areas providing action and tension that provides excitement. There are no pulled punches on describing the harsh realities of war and while I appreciated the candidness, it could be tough for some readers to work through.
While I had a tough time connecting personally to these men, I enjoyed their mission and admired the purpose of honoring their fallen leader, who was a father figure to most of them. BRAVE DEEDS reminds the reader of the grim conditions of war and creates appreciation for the non military lives most of us lead.

(5) star review on Amazon and I haven't even finished reading yet. It's THAT good.

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.

David Abrams is one of a growing community giving voice to current happenings in the contemporary war genre since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Brave Deeds, a present-tense, stream-of-consciousness sort of collective narration, six AWOL soldiers cross Baghdad to attend the funeral of their fallen Sergeant. There are no “I’s” here; there is only we, and as they move forward from one bizarre circumstance to the next, the narrative moves in and out of all the minds of the hive at will. This is one for which a reader must suspend your belief (hijacking a Humvee for example…) that left me wondering if I hadn’t missed something even more clever Abrams had accomplished. An antidote to our sudden obsession with special forces, perhaps? These are common guys, out to accomplish the uncommon, which is probably a better picture of the state of things than we are receiving elsewhere.

3* but almost a four. I am wavering on this one a little bit.

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.

"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.

To be posted on Amazon

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.

A moving story of a squad in Iraq on an expedition to get to their deceased sergeants memorial service