Audiobook7 hours
Brave Deeds
Written by David Abrams
Narrated by Paul Costanzo
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
()
About this audiobook
From Fobbit author David Abrams, Brave Deeds is a compelling novel of war, brotherhood, and America. Spanning eight hours, the novel follows a squad of six AWOL soldiers as they attempt to cross war-torn Baghdad on foot to attend the funeral of their leader, Staff Sergeant Rafe Morgan. As the men make their way to the funeral, they recall the most ancient of warriors yet are a microcosm of twenty-first-century America, and subject to the same human flaws as all of us. Drew is reliable in the field but unfaithful at home; Cheever, overweight and whining, is a friend to no one-least of all himself; and platoon commander Dmitri "Arrow" Arogapoulos is stalwart, yet troubled with questions about his own identity and sexuality. Emotionally resonant, true-to-life, and thoughtfully written, Brave Deeds is a gripping story of combat and of perseverance, and an important addition to the oeuvre of contemporary war fiction.
Related to Brave Deeds
Related audiobooks
My Life in Dire Straits: The Inside Story of One of the Biggest Bands in Rock History Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: Quest Mode: An Unofficial Minecraft Adventure Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Cold Millions: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz: A Radio Dramatization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Philosophical Strangler Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Somme Battle Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fear Bubble: Harness Fear and Live Without Limits Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Dark in Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Walls Around Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dead Spark Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Black Kids Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Escape, Collection 2 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Release Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Downriver Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Too Much Lip: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Coffin Troopers Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsProbing Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Stephen Crane's The Red Badge of Courage: A Radio Dramatization Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGolden Hell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hauntings and Horrors From Times Ago Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsKinflicks Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The Sound of Stars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Her Majesty's Servants: The First Jungle Book Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsUnder the Diehard Brand Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Twelve Dead Men [Dramatized Adaptation] Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Atomic Lobster Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5In Place of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5On the Wrong Track Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Asking for Trouble Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Outlaws of Time #2: The Song of Glory and Ghost Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
General Fiction For You
A Man Called Ove: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Court of Mist and Fury Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Court of Thorns and Roses Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A Court of Frost and Starlight Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Hunger Games Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5All the Light We Cannot See: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Court of Wings and Ruin Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5It Ends with Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Alchemist Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Good Omens: A Full Cast Production Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Bell Jar Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Name of the Wind Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finn Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cloud Cuckoo Land: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Overstory Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Leave the World Behind: A Novel Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dutch House: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Return of the King Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5American Gods [TV Tie-In]: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/511/22/63: A Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Ocean at the End of the Lane: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finding Me: A Memoir Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for Brave Deeds
Rating: 4.624999875 out of 5 stars
4.5/5
8 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/54.5 stars. I read this on a plane trip from Portland to Atlanta, then finished it late at night at home. It’s been compared to Ben Fountain’s BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK, for good reason, but it is working it’s own narrative magic. Read this one, friends.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When 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 standsAnd bitter runs for glory."Ah, I think there were braver deeds.Stephen Crane, The Black Riders and Other LinesThe 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.