The Way of Ronin: Defying the Odds on Battlefields, in Business, and in Life

Tu Lam. Hanover Square, $30 (320p) ISBN 978-1-335-49086-5

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)