A Test of Courage

The Lassiter Tales, Book 2

By: A.J Graham

Narrated by: Tim Welch

Length: 7 hrs and 56 mins

Publisher's summary

Kyle and Sue climbed into a beautifully crafted, long white limousine. The car roared to life as the driver, a young man by the name of Jim, pressed down hard on the accelerator. Kyle and Sue were unceremoniously thrown back into their seats. Suddenly, without warning, the two were rudely ejected, ending up in the center of the car as the brakes were brutally applied. A black Mercedes had pulled in front of the sleek white car before it could make its escape. Three men jumped out of the Mercedes and began pulling savagely at the door handles. Suddenly three shots rang out. Only a moment later, the driver was yanked roughly out of the driver's seat; his lifeless body falling head-first onto the pavement.

A new man jumped into the driver's seat and unlocked the rear doors. With side-arms drawn and pointed straight at Sue, the remaining two men climbed into the limousine. Kyle and Sue were trapped, and there was nothing he could do about it. The engine roared to life once again as the oversized car careened wildly around a corner and down the block. The driver, seemingly unaffected by this, looked casually into the rearview mirror and said, "Hello, Mr. Lassiter, I believe you have something that belongs to me."

©2016 Andrew Jack Graham (P)2016 AJ Graham

P.R. Chris Higgins review

After spending a few hours listening to the audiobook, “A test of courage” by AJ Graham narrated by Professor Tim Welch. I found this to be quite interesting as it is the first naval tale that I have ever listened to before. I find military history to be one of the most interesting areas of literature because it gives you detailed inside views of what life was like for these men during their times of service, and describes to you what it was like to go through difficult situations. I appreciate the opportunity to learn about stories from a real ship in our U.S. Navy. The conversation between commander Lynch and First Sergeant Buckner towards the beginning of the book was an excellent example of a real lockdown situation and how it was handled by the crew. Around chapter 8 I appreciated the interaction between Kelly and the officer after the shooting, the way the officer was able to analyze her emotions and he adjusted the way he was acting with her because he knew how nervous she was, the author did a tremendous job of describing the situation and how the officer had to ease kelly into giving him the details he needed to know despite her reluctance, and then as the chapters develop, the author shows her slowly attempt to comprehend the situation she is in despite how much disdain she has for those who brought her into the station, but then once she knows she is going home it is clear how elated she really was after going through such a hard 2 year period. I loved the inside view of military life, and the author does an incredible job of showing the interpersonal interactions between the characters, in casual situations, and in much more serious military related conversations throughout the entire story and even details some tactical situations such as the one in chapter 11 as well as in chapter 12. This book does a tremendous job of detailing Navy life and the situations that these men and women go through, as well as perfectly describing all the situations that they went through on the ship, and how they came up with many ways to strategically get through those situations. This was a wonderful audiobook not only because I have a personal preference for military literature, but because it was written so well, and very well narrated with true emotion for each character.