Russell Phillips

Leading tank and M3 Bradley platoons

Revisado: 12-11-14

Combat and Other Shenanigans by Piers Platt

This is a memoir of an American lieutenant in a cavalry unit, covering his year in Iraq in 2004. It's available in paperback, ebook, and audio book editions. I bought the audio book and Kindle versions, and switched between them. The audio book narration is very good.

The author states at the start that he has been asked what it was like to serve in Iraq. He eventually wrote the book as a way of answering these questions. Platt initially deployed to Iraq in charge of an M1 tank platoon, and was subsequently moved to an M3 Bradley platoon.

The book has plenty of anecdotes as well as descriptions of combat. For anyone interested in armoured warfare, it's a good source of odd little details, such as why towing a tank with a thrown track will cause the wheels to catch fire. It's written in an easy to read style, with plenty of humour.

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Gritty, raw, and realistic

Revisado: 09-09-14

I will admit that I was a little concerned that the author was writing another book set during the Battle of the Bulge. I really liked The Losing Role, and wondered if this could be as good. I needn't have worried. This is a very different book, but every bit as good.

The depiction of combat is gritty, raw, and realistic, holding nothing back, but not gratuitously gory or violent. Equally, the characters are believable. I can honestly say that I didn't want to put it down. I desperately wanted to know what happened to Wendel, Holger, and Heloise.

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Hard-hitting, fast-paced

Revisado: 12-06-13

Good, hard-hitting, fast-paced thriller. Like the previous books in the series, the ending really kept me on the edge of my seat.

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Excellent, fast-paced thriller

Revisado: 11-27-13

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For me, it's better than Pentecost, the first in the series, but like Pentecost, towards the end I was loathe to put it down.

It's full of action and adventure but has a slightly different feel to the previous one, though I can't quite explain why. If you like fast-paced thrillers and don't object to supernatural occurrences, you'll enjoy this.

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Not entirely realistic, but fun

Revisado: 08-29-13

What did you love best about Pentecost?

The suspense increases dramatically in the last two chapters. Morgan Sierra is an interesting character, as is Everett

What about Veronica Giguere’s performance did you like?

The narration on the audio book is very good, my only complaint on that score being that it's by an American, and so she uses American pronunciation for words like "shone" and "route", rather than the British. That's a minor complaint, though.

Any additional comments?

The time frame means that events happen too quickly to be realistic, but it keeps the reader interested.

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