Deployed

Deployed by Mel Odom.

This is the first book I've read by Odom. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect.

Bekah Shaw is a Marine reservist. She's a single mother trying to make a better life for Travis. Unfortunately life isn't making it easy for her. An altercation with a drunk friend of her ex-husband drops her into trouble with the law. Her trial is delayed when she is given orders.

Heath Bridger is fighting to free himself from the shadows of his father. Heath followed his father in the family business and is a successful lawyer. He is also a Marine reservist who is called away in the middle of a case in which he is trying to save a man from Death Row.

Rageh Daud was trying to live a peaceful life. He'd walked away from the violent life his father had groomed him for. The death of his wife and son hurdle him back into the lifestyle he was comfortable with. With renewed vigor Rageh builds an army to stand against the militia taking over Mogadishu.

There is another character that we meet in the beginning. I remember his name being Pike.  Is that first or last? I don't know. He appeared to have an interesting story but we were introduced to him and he made fringe appearances before disappearing.

Odom writes a great military story. I've recently read three autobiographies of military men. They were each fascinating reads. Odom captured the action of war with the same ease as these men. He broke into more detail and at times that had me skipping a paragraph or two.

However, Odom missed his mark when it came to fleshing out the stories of each character. As I mentioned Pike has what I would say is a very interesting back story. I would have loved to have learned more or seen it at work more within Deployed. It was as though Pike was there but he wasn't. Which is odd given the amount of time we spent being introduced to him. The end of the book came rather abruptly by the time the story started rolling. I'm hoping his second book in the Called to Serve series picks it up, but I haven't read a synopsis for it.

The theme of Deployed  is peace. Bringing peace in the midst of war and finding peace within yourself. While Odom doesn't dig too deep there are lessons to be taken from the book.

The story within Deployed belonged to Bekah Shaw and Rageh Daud. However, we were thoroughly introduced to some other characters all which now have large question marks above their heads. As well as the fate of Rageh Daud.

Odom writes military action with ease. I felt transported over there as easily as if I was watching Black Hawk Down. I'll be looking for the second book because I want to know what Bekah, Heath, and Pike are up to.