Waiting on Wednesday: Fives and Twenty Fives by Michael Pitre

Waiting on Wednesday meme

Waiting on Wednesday is a weekly meme hosted by Jill at Breaking the Spine where we spotlight upcoming releases that we are anticipating.

FictionFives and Twenty Fives, Michael Pitre, fiction, Iraq war
Release Date: August 28, 2014
Publisher: Bloomsbury

400 Pages
Affiliate Link: Pre-Order from Amazon

I’ve seen this book on multiple blogger’s “ones to watch for Fall” lists and, since I’ve had such good luck with debuts this year, I thought I’d give it a shot. I also like to read war books occasionally and figure it could be a good fit for my Books for Guys List if I end up liking it.

 

Plot Summary from Amazon
It’s the rule—always watch your fives and twenty-fives. When a convoy halts to investigate a possible roadside bomb, stay in the vehicle and scan five meters in every direction. A bomb inside five meters cuts through the armor, killing everyone in the truck. Once clear, get out and sweep twenty-five meters. A bomb inside twenty-five meters kills the dismounted scouts investigating the road ahead. 


Fives and twenty-fives mark the measure of a marine’s life in the road repair platoon. Dispatched to fill potholes on the highways of Iraq, the platoon works to assure safe passage for citizens and military personnel. Their mission lacks the glory of the infantry, but in a war where every pothole contains a hidden bomb, road repair brings its own danger.

Lieutenant Donavan leads the platoon, painfully aware of his shortcomings and isolated by his rank. Doc Pleasant, the medic, joined for opportunity, but finds his pride undone as he watches friends die. And there’s Kateb, known to the Americans as Dodge, an Iraqi interpreter whose love of American culture—from hip-hop to the dog-eared copy of Huck Finn he carries—is matched only by his disdain for what Americans are doing to his country.

Returning home, they exchange one set of decisions and repercussions for another, struggling to find a place in a world that no longer knows them. A debut both transcendent and rooted in the flesh, Fives and Twenty-Fives is a deeply necessary novel.

What book are you waiting for?

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3 Comments

  1. Haven’t heard of this novel. It sounds very intense.

    My WoW: http://www.bookclublibrarian.com/2014/08/waiting-on-wednesday-missing-place.html

    Posted 8.20.14 Reply
  2. This does sound interesting…thanks for sharing; and thanks for visiting my blog.

    Posted 8.20.14 Reply
  3. Cleo wrote:

    An interesting sounding book that I hadn’t heard of. Thanks for sharing Sarah.

    Posted 8.20.14 Reply

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