Back in the Fight: The Explosive Memoir of a Special Operator Who Never Gave Up

Kapacziewski and Sasser (First SEAL) add yet another macho memoir of a special ops warrior, but this one features a unique twist: an amputee Army Ranger determined to put his life and remaining limbs back on the line. During a 2005 attack in Iraq, a grenade exploded inside the armored Stryker vehicle of “Sergeant Kap,” destroying his right leg. After dozens of operations, he gave in to amputation in 2007, but refused retirement. No one took seriously his absolute conviction that he would return to his unit, but he succeeded: training, pestering his superiors, and fast-roping, running, and parachuting till they acquiesced. Since the amputation, Kapacziewski has been deployed five times, completed two New York Marathons, and three triathlons. The persistent soldier checks off the usual boxes of the genre, but military buffs will still relish this fast-paced account of youthful yearnings for military service, brutal Ranger training, and page after page of camaraderie, horseplay, grim humor, and vivid nuts-and-bolts action. Even readers lukewarm to military memoirs will admire the fierce dedication required to be the first Ranger to go to war with a prosthetic limb. 8 pages of b&w photos. Agent: Ethan Ellenberg, the Ethan Ellenberg Literary Agency. (May)