Tribute Books: "Echoes From the Infantry" by Frank Nappi Book Review

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Echoes from the Infantry Book Summary:

Echoes From The Infantry is the tale of one Long Island World War II veteran, the misery of combat, and the powerful emotional bonds that brought him home to Rockaway Beach and the love of his life, Madeline Brandt. It is about a father and son, and their ultimately redeeming struggle to understand each other's worlds - one a world at war, the other shaped by its veterans. Nappi moves artfully between the present and past, weaving a fictionalized tale of this Long Islander's struggle to reconcile with the demons from long ago and his family's neverending battle with many of the intangible burdens caused by the private life of a man they never really knew. He touches our hearts with a story of courage and perseverance...a story of men who faced the greatest challenge of their generation.

Excerpt Link to Chapter One:
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/304983-excerpt-from-echoes-from-the-infantry


Echoes from the Infantry: A Novel by Frank Nappi
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Let me preface this review by saying that when it comes to books that involve war the military, I am often rather torn in reviewing them.  The reason is that I know the author is normally painting a very honest picture of the military and the horrors of war, and the profanity is generally very strong.  I sometimes find that the profanity can be overlooked, but I feel the need to let my readers know that this is not one of those books.  I am not necessarily marking it down for the profanity, but I will say it did hamper my enjoyment of the book.

As to the writing and story of the book, it was fairly good.  I believe the author is truly able to capture the absolute horrors of war and how it affects the lives of people long after the conflict is over.  I found the writing style rather easy to read, but the story was sometimes a bit confusing.  This is a book where the story jumps around a lot.  Quite often, this style does not work for me.  I struggle to keep everyone straight and to follow the story in a cohesive manner.  I did find myself sometimes getting involved in the emotion of the story, but sometimes the stories lacked the closure I would like.  But then again, I suppose that is real life, isn't.

Although this was not one of my favored books, I will say that the book indeed has merit.  I think that those who are familiar with military life would appreciate this book more than I.  But all things considered, the book was a strong read.

I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.  I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.

View all my reviews

Bio:
Frank Nappi has taught high school English and Creative Writing for over twenty years. His debut novel, Echoes From The Infantry, received national attention, including MWSA's silver medal for outstanding fiction. His follow-up novel, The Legend of Mickey Tussler, garnered rave reviews as well, including a movie adaptation of the touching story "A Mile in His Shoes" starring Dean Cain and Luke Schroder. Frank continues to produce quality work, including Sophomore Campaign, the intriguing sequel to the much heralded original story and the just released thriller, Nobody Has to Know, which received an endorsement from #1 New York Times bestselling author Nelson DeMille. Frank is presently at work on a third installment of his Mickey Tussler series and his next thriller. He lives on Long Island with his wife Julia and their two sons, Nicholas and Anthony.

Frank Nappi's Web Site:
http://www.franknappi.com/

Frank Nappi's Blog:
http://www.franknappi.com/blog.html

Frank Nappi's Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/authorfranknappi

Frank Nappi's Twitter:
https://twitter.com/FrankNappi

Frank Nappi's YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/FrankNappibooks?feature=watch

Frank Nappi's Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/fnap33

Echoes from the Infantry Goodreads:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1214973.Echoes_from_the_Infantry

Tribute Books Blog Tours Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tribute-Books-Blog-Tours/242431245775186

Echoes from the Infantry blog tour site:
http://echoesfromtheinfantry.blogspot.com/


Price/Format: $3.99, ebook
Pages: 256
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Release: October 13, 2005

Kindle buy link ($3.99):
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008BTN8EW?tag=tributebooks-20