Deployed

Deployed
Mel Odom
Tyndale Publishing
Fiction, Suspense
October 2012

Sergeant Lance Corporal Bekah Shaw joined the United States Marine reserves to help support herself and her son. On a peacekeeping mission to Somalia, Bekah and her team meet Rageh Daud, a man determined to seek revenge on the terrorists who killed his wife and son. To defeat the terrorists and bring peace to the region, Bekah and her team must convince Daud that they are on the same side.

Bekah is a single mom who just wants to provide for her son. Little did she know she would be thrust into the heart of war torn areas on a number of deployments. She has trouble at home with her ex and trouble overseas from terrorist.

Rageh was content to live with his little family in Somalia. When a terrorist attack tears his family apart he determines to avenge his loved ones whatever the cost. Intent on revenge he goes through the countryside gathering up his own army from displaced people groups. He has one thought in mind until an orphaned little boy opens his eyes.

Bekah and Rageh's lives will intersect in war torn Somalia and neither one will be the same again. 

I have always enjoyed Odom's novels. He's a good author that writes with detail and intrigue. Deployed has much detail and intrigue but it lacks a certain gripping factor. I found myself putting it down often out of boredom and because I was lost in the details. Bekah and Ragehs' stories are told separately and I found them both a little hard to follow. Rageh's character was heart-breaking but I had to dig deep to find that part of him. Bekah comes across as rather flat. Her mother's heart is sweet but there is something about her that doesn't read very true.

I found the war action a bit hard to follow but it was well written. Odom's detailed writing serves him well in that area. This is the first book in the series and I'm interested to see where book 2 might take the reader. All in all this is a decent read. Odom doesn't fully grab a win but this certainly isn't a fail. Be ready to concentrate to fully follow the storyline and I think you'll be glad you did.

My thanks to Tyndale Publishing House for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.