“Despite author Ethan Brown’s political views interjected intermittently, Shake the Devil Off was an excellent read. Army life, war, PTSD, veterans issue, military suicides, New Orleans crime rates and culture were all captured and portrayed both fairly and accurately. Ethan handled the gruesome murder/suicide that lead him to write this book with the utmost respect. He told a story that needed to be told and did it well.”
~Greta “Hooah Wife” Perry~

On January 30, Ethan Brown, the author of Shake the Devil Off contacted me on Facebook and said, “Would love to talk with you about my book Shake the Devil Off which is about a SGT from the 527th MP Co. who was involved in a notorious murder suicide here in N.O. The book deals with a lot of vets issues and has been endorsed by a number of vets groups, including Veterans for Common Sense.”

I informed Ethan that my radio show had just ended but that I would be willing to read it for review on my Milblogs. A friend said that it was a good book and I was anxious to read it. Of course, an endorsement from Veterans for Common Sense is not a quality endorsement from the Milblog perspective. You can read about them here and here.

This story is about a gruesome 2006 murder/suicide committed by a war veteran by the name of Zackery Bowen in New Orleans. By page 15, I could see that the author and I would not see eye to politically and philosophically regarding politics, however, I persevered. To my surprise, he did not portray Zack or the others in his unit as victims, but portrayed their stories of war time very well. Ethan is an excellent writer and story teller and did an excellent job interviewing and reporting this story.

c/p at Hooah Wife