From Fire to Forge: A walk through the flames

Reviewer's note: I was privileged to read an early version of the manuscript and my physical copies arrived today.

This is one of the most inspiring true stories I’ve ever read. The author took me on an gut-wrenching journey that included combat, trauma, loss, and the moment that changed his life. But what makes this book extraordinary is the heart behind it.

The autor writes with honesty, humility, and a strength that can only come from surviving the unimaginable. His account of the day he ran into a wall of fire to save a fellow soldier is both devastating and profoundly heroic.

The author's struggle with PTSD, the road to healing, and the rebirth he finds through the forge illustrate that we can transform who we are and our place in the world.

This book is a testament to grit, brotherhood, and the power of finding your purpose. It honors the fallen, uplifts the wounded, and reminds you that even in our darkest moments, we can be reforged into something stronger.

From Fire to Forge deserves a place at the very top of your reading list.

This is a powerful work. Larry takes the reader through formative moments in his life, leading to and flowing from a fateful and tragic day in Iraq. It's a straightforward telling of a heroic and traumatic event that still echoes through his life. But its no Hollywood blockbuster full of embellishments or drama for dramas sake. Teakle makes us look at the brutal reality of the events and their consequences.

More importantly, he brings us through the healing process, and how life continues on in a meaningful way, despite everything. An excellent work that while, im sure was therapeutic to write, is to read as well.

I own a custom one of a kind knife the author made, and it’s absolutely the finest quality knife I own. I show it off to anyone I can, and brag up how lucky I am to own it. And yet, as incredible as the craftsmanship and beauty of that knife is, it pales in comparison to the real life story of the man who made it.

This book is a heart wrenching, gut punching, uplifting, laughter inducing, tear shedding, view into what makes a man, a man.

The survivors guilt and the redemption arc both jump off the page and tear your heart out while also giving you hope.

A better artisan, and a better man, were created that fateful day, and though it took years for Larry to realize his worth and potential, the wait was worth it.

This book is a must read for anyone struggling with PTSD, survivor’s guilt, depression, or anxiety brought about by harsh realities.

It’s also a must read for anyone struggling with understanding what goes through the heart, mind and soul of someone they love who is fighting those things.

Buy the book, read the book, give thanks to the author for sharing his fight, and then go buy one of his knives.

As a civilian with PTSD and spouse of a GWOT veteran, I am so glad that this book was bravely written. You’ll be in tears by the end. An important window into tragedy, life, death, and healing. Thank you

This is not a typical war memoir. While Mr. Teakell does describe some of his experiences in Iraq, FROM FIRE TO FORGE is primarily the story of one traumatic event, and the ripple effect it had in his life. He writes frankly and honestly about things like PTSD, survivor's guilt, and avoidance. He also writes with a sense of candid vulnerability when describing his long road to recovery and healing. This is an important, powerful story. We should all be grateful Mr. Teakell had the courage to share it.

I've written my fair share of product reviews here, and they're usually about the design, or the durability, or even the functionality, of the product. This review is going to be different.

So, first off, I am lucky enough to call Larry (the author) a close, personal friend. When he told me that his first book was coming out, of course I made plans to buy it. Of course. I mean, my friend wrote a book -- I'm definitely buying it, and I'm definitely reading it. I ordered it right away.

It arrived a few days later. It's definitely a small book, physically. Something one might rush through and say "yup, I read it." But that impression left almost immediately after I started reading. There is a lot in this book. To me, it was captivating. Not just because I could see Larry sitting there, telling me this story, but because it took me back, to my own time in the Army.

I spent a decade in the Army, in a different time, during a different war, doing a different job. Seemingly unrelated to Larry's story... and yet.... his words took me back. Sure, the situations were different, and yet, it's the same Army. The highs, the lows, the excitement, and the boredom... it all came rushing back. It was like Larry was truly sitting next to me in a camp chair, staring into the fire, telling me first-hand this story... his story, and, at times, our story.

This isn't some exciting war tale, with explosions, death-defying battles, or special operators doing crazy things. This is a story about a life. A life well spent, sometimes doing mediocre things, sometimes doing heroic things, but an American soldier's life nonetheless. If you served, you'll feel it. If you didn't, this might be your chance to see what your dad, or sister, or son or daughter might have experienced. It's definitely a chance to sit by the fire with Larry, all warm and cozy, and listen to him share his life with you.

So, go ahead -- give it a read. I recommend it wholeheartedly. I think Larry is a good story-teller, and his story is now part of mine.

Everything I could say about this book is going to fall very short to doing it justice.

Teakell's memoir is an eulogy that honors Marisol Heredia's life, service, accident, strength, and her death.

He works on healing himself as he grapples with Heredia's tragedy. His tale is honest and direct and heartbreaking.

Civilians have no idea the mindshattering things soldiers endure to secure our freedom. This book is a taste of that.

Anyone who has ever buried stress, illness, Fear, Anxiety, Trauma, deep inside will be able to relate and will be in awe at Teakell's amount of grit to endure and flourish.

The author does a great job of relating his experience with PTSD. He addresses where his came from, relating several personal stories of both civilian and military loss, grief and the repression of those feelings over a career and a lifetime. For those of us who have never seen combat, he does a great job of relating the weight of that experiance, and without getting too graphic. He is honest about needing and finding help, in both a professional setting (therapy) and an occupational, choosing knifemaking as both a nod to his father and a way to master fire, one of the major contributing sources of his PTSD. Larry is a living example of a humble life of service to others. He is a good husband, a good father and a good teacher. He was and will always be a good soldier and he will always my good friend. Thank you Larry for sharing your story brother.

This book moved me deeply and stayed with me for a long time. The focus is on the moment when he rescues Marisol, who was completely engulfed in flames. The description of this rescue is so intense and vivid that you can literally feel the fire and the desperation. You immediately realize that this is someone writing about something he actually experienced.

Larry describes his struggle with PTSD openly and without embellishment, but that is precisely what makes it so valuable. It feels like a conversation with someone who doesn't sugarcoat anything because he knows that only honesty helps.