"Fearless" by Eric Blehm

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I want to state up front that I did break my rule to read and review this book. I state under the header of my blog that I will not accept books with swearing in them. However, my husband (who is ex-Navy) read this before I did and based on his and my sister's recommendations I decided to go ahead with this book. The swearing is not extreme (though certainly way more than I like), and some of the worst words just have the first letter and a line to complete the word. That said, I'll move on to the actual review.

This is a very powerful book. Adam Brown was a man with many personal demons who overcame incredible odds to eventually become a member of the elite SEAL Team Six. This is a no-holds-barred, brutally honest story of his life--his failures and successes. There is plenty of swearing, drinking, drugs, etc so I would not recommend this book for kids (including teens) without the parents checking it out first. From a drug addict with multiple arrests to an Navy SEAL, Adam lived life full-out. He didn't know the meaning of the word quit. Towards the end of the book someone states that Adam "surrendered only once, and that was to Jesus Christ." ...well, except all the times he surrendered to the call of drugs. That part really broke my heart. This couple is supposed to be sold-out christians who know that even though he's now kicked the habit, he'll fight cravings for the drug all of his life. They know that if Adam drinks, his willpower drops and that's when he usually falls to the drug again, but instead of staying away from alcohol, he still goes to bars and partys and puts a one beer limit on himself--which he doesn't always stick to. It broke my heart that some of the awful times they went through could have possibly been averted from staying away from anything that might bring it on. Please don't think that I'm denigrating them or their story. I'm just being honest.

The book starts off a litte slow, but certainly doesn't stay that way. No book about this guy could stay slow and boring! He never did anything halfway, but barreled ahead at full speed no matter what the danger was, and it definitely took a toll on his body with multiple injuries, any one of which would have given him a medical discharge no questions asked. Adam, however, refused to quit. He overcame injuries that NO ONE would have thought he could overcome and even stay in the military, but he went on and AFTER these injuries passed the brutal tests to be a part of DEVGRU (SEAL Team Six). An inspiring story that I recommend only with the reservations on language.

"I received this book for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for this review."

http://fearlessnavyseal.com/
http://waterbrookmultnomah.com/blog/2012/04/03/sneak-peek-fearless-by-eric-blehm/