Shake the Devil Off: A True Story of the Murder That Rocked New Orleans

Shake The Devil Off is set in two places that at first seem dissimilar: Iraq and New Orleans. The story first follows soldiers stationed in Kosovo who end up among the first to enter Iraq, where they suffer losses and horrifying setbacks during the fledgling insurgency. We then follow Zackery Bowen, a soldier who returns home to New Orleans just before Katrina hits. The book provides a heartbreaking portrait of physical and personal destruction, and how both Iraq and Katrina influenced Bowen’s tormented inner landscape. The author, who moved to New Orleans to research this book, presents a haunting depiction of a town still reeling from natural and political disaster. Brown overlays this with the graphic story of what happened to Zackery Bowen, leading to themes that are still getting front-page attention—the war, and the failure of government to deal with PTSD and suicide among returning veterans.