Fearless by Eric Blehm: Story of Navy SEAL Team SIX Member Adam Brown

Fearless takes you deep
into SEAL Team SIX, straight
to the heart of one of its
most legendary operators.

One of Adam Brown’s final wishes, written by hand on his CACO form, was that his spiritual testimony—his complete story—be told, including “my life before I met Jesus Christ and Kelley.” You can appreciate now just how fearless Adam had been when he requested others to share that dark period [of drugs and addiction] from his past. Even in death, he selflessly and publicly risked tainting his own legacy so that others might be inspired to seek faith and overcome their own struggles.

Excerpted from Fearless by Eric Blehm

 About the Book (from publisher):  

Fearless takes you deep into SEAL Team SIX, straight to the heart of one of its most legendary operators.

When Navy SEAL Adam Brown woke up on March 17, 2010, he didn’t know he would die that night in the Hindu Kush Mountains of Afghanistan—but he was ready: In a letter to his children, not meant to be seen unless the worst happened, he wrote, “I’m not afraid of anything that might happen to me on this earth, because I know no matter what, nothing can take my spirit from me.”

Long before Adam Brown became a member of the elite SEAL Team SIX—the counter terrorism unit that took down Osama bin Laden—he was a fun-loving country boy from Hot Springs, Arkansas, whose greatest goal had been to wear his high school’s football jersey. An undersized daredevil, prone to jumping off roofs into trees and off bridges into lakes, Adam was a kid who broke his own bones but would never break a promise to his parents.

But after high school, Adam fell in with the wrong crowd and his family watched as his appetite for risk dragged him into a downward spiral that eventually landed him in jail. Battling his inner demons on a last-chance road to redemption, Adam had one goal: to become the best of the best—a US Navy SEAL. 

An absorbing chronicle of heroism and humanity, Fearless presents an indelible portrait of a highly trained warrior who would enter a village with weapons in hand to hunt terrorists, only to come back the next day with an armload of shoes and meals for local children. It is a deeply personal, revealing glimpse inside the SEAL Team SIX brotherhood that also shows how these elite operators live out the rest of their lives, away from danger, as husbands, fathers and friends.

Fearless is the story of a man of extremes, whose courage and determination was fueled by faith, family, and the love of a woman. It’s about a man who waged a war against his own worst impulses and persevered to reach the top tier of the US military. Always the first to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments, Adam’s final act of bravery led to the ultimate sacrifice.

Adam Brown was a devoted man who was an unlikely hero but a true warrior, described by all who knew him as fearless.

My thoughts:  First of all, a caution - There is some rough or course language at a few points.  This is not prevalent and is indicative of the occasion - unredeemed.

Now about the book and the life and men it is about.  This is a biography.  A story of the courage of a man and of men.  It is also a stronger story of redemption.  A lost soul is redeemed by a Saviour, Jesus Christ.  And a struggling, lost individual who is given a chance to redeem himself personally by that "second chance" repeated more than once by other men and by his work.

It is about a dark period in the life of Adam Brown.  But you see his childhood.  You see how he comes through and out of that dark period by the grace of God and the support and love of a woman.  You see  a man who seeks constantly to prove himself and who seemingly doesn't let fear get in the way of making it to the top.

I can't really say more and certainly can not say it better than the publisher has in the overview of the book (see above).  I can say, though, that it awes me to think that American men can push themselves to such physical, mental, and emotion limits and still push on.  It awes me the sacrifice they are making to provide a safe America and a safer World.

I would say this is basically a man's book.  It will appeal mostly to men.  However, it behooves all Americans to know this story.  And to know the story, the book should be read.  Is this "Southern Lady of-a-certain-age" glad she read it?  Yes!  You see, I had no concept of what our military endured and sacrificed for us until I read it.  Now I've had a glimpse into that world.

About the author:  Eric Blehm  Eric Blehm is a bestselling and award-winning author of nonfiction books. In 2006, he won the Barnes & Noble Discover Award for The Last Season (HarperCollins), a gripping account of the disappearance of legendary National Park Service ranger Randy Morgenson; The Last Season was also named by Outside magazine as one of the ten “greatest adventure biographies ever written” in 2009. Blehm’s next book, New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller The Only Thing Worth Dying For (HarperCollins, 2010), was hailed by former congressman Charlie Wilson, of Charlie Wilson’s War, as a “must read” among books about the current war in Afghanistan. (click his name above to read more...)

Disclosure:  I was provided a complimentary copy of Fearless by the Publisher, WaterBrook Press and Blogging for Books in order to provide an honest review.  I was in no way compensated and under no obligation to render a favorable review.

NOTE:  You can now listen to the song written by Mark Dowdy "Fearless" which is based on the life of Adam Brown and the book written by Eric Blehm.