The way of Ronin Defying the odds on battlefields, in business and in life

Military veteran and reality TV show host Lam shares combat tales, childhood memories, and notes on recovery in his rollicking debut memoir. Lam was born in the basement of a Saigon hospital while it was being bombed by North Vietnamese forces in 1974. After the war ended, his family escaped Vietnam in a small wooden boat, landing first at an Indonesian refugee camp before immigrating to North Carolina in 1981. There, a young Lam endured racist bullying and sharpened his resolve to join the U.S. Army. A member of the special forces, he served in Iraq, the Philippines, and other hot spots over the course of two decades. After he left the armed forces, his nascent addiction to Percocet intensified, fueled by a desire to "numb... the pain of loss, guilt, war, hate, and everything else that was broiling in my brain." While dealing with that addiction, Lam founded a training firm called Ronin Tactics that drew on his combat experience and the mixed martial arts he studied for most of his life; was recruited by the History Channel to host the obstacle course competition show Knife or Death; and became the basis for a character named Ronin in the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare. Throughout, Lam undercuts the testosterone-soaked self-aggrandizement the material might suggest, offering a candid assessment of his own repressed rage. Lam's fascinating life and natural gift for storytelling make this a page-turner even for readers new to his exploits. Agent: John Talbot, Talbot Fortune. (May)

A Vietnamese refugee's sentimental education as a soldier and martial artist. Experiencing racism and discrimination growing up, Tu learned important lessons from his mother ("smile and be brave"), and he has found plenty of occasion to put her cheerful stoicism into practice throughout his life. A student of martial arts, the author signed up to be a soldier. He excelled, but being a regular grunt wasn't enough. First, he decided to try Ranger training: "Combat is easy," someone told him. "Ranger School is hard." Surviving that brutal schooling and numerous instances of racism on the part of his instructors and even some fellow students, Tu then trained as a reconnaissance scout and sniper before becoming a Green Beret and taking up its motto to "free the oppressed." (His other mantra: "Shut Up and Learn.") It's a Horatio Alger story without a wealthy patron and with an endless supply of death-dealing hardware. As the narrative progresses, Tu gets fuzzier with the details, inasmuch as his work is now classified ("even the name of my unit was secret") and would seem to involve targeted killing and other forms of dangerous international ventures. Tu survived it all, only to endure a traumatic brain injury in the field and fall into depression and addiction. "It was like my soul had been taken from me. I couldn't find my purpose....And my only answer was more pills," he writes. Tu's devotion to cultivating his ronin persona helped his recovery, and he went on to star on the History Channel's Forged in Fire: Knife or Death and serve as inspiration for the Ronin character in Call of Duty. Overall, the story has interesting twists and courage to spare, but the narration is merely dutiful--though it certainly can't be faulted for its unfailing earnestness. Good reading for aspiring warriors. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.