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The writing was plain and a bit simplistic. The characters were interesting but flat. The narration was also flat. Very much a male coming of age story and a good representation of the struggle for Vietnam vets. But nothing original or interesting. There are too many other more interesting Vietnam vet and coming of age books to recommend this one. Maybe for a Father‘s Day present.

A coming of age book for three men - William who served in the Viet Nam War, Vince who worked a construction job with William the summer before college, & Beau, Vince's HS/college-aged son. The structure of the novel was well done. My criticism is it felt a bit “preachy“ at times with some of the parallels forced. If you like historical fiction about Viet Nam you will likely enjoy it. I loved the title.

Reading this backlist book in preparation for an author event! I absolutely loved another of his books:
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell
#AdventuresByTheBook #SuperBookIV

Amazing story. Dugoni writes with a lot of heart and compassion.He illustrates the mystery of war that no one like me would have ever been able to relate to. I'm stunned and humbled by the education. This book was well researched and a time I well remember.

This book didn‘t live up to the hype for me. I wanted to like it, but it was a disappointment. I didn‘t like any of the characters and I found the parts about his summer job working on a construction site to be boring. The parts of the book that were actually set in Vietnam were interesting, but they just weren‘t enough to keep me reading. The book would‘ve been much better if it had been set in Vietnam entirely. I tried, but I gave up.