Have Snakes, Need Birds

by Travis Klempan

Sergeant John Mackenzie is on his third deployment to Iraq at the height of combat operations. His overriding goal: get his soldiers home safely. That mission is difficult enough when every day is a fight against snipers, roadside bombs, or just plain old boredom-it becomes impossible when John accidentally awakens two ancient spirits, each bent on destroying the other, collateral damage be damned.

A soul-collecting demon named Moonlit Samuel wants to move up in the hierarchy of evil; a malevolent force of nature known only as taliment destroys everything it touches; and John still faces local insurgents, foreign fighters, a belligerent battalion commander, a greenhorn lieutenant, and questions of his own sanity.

John must find a way to protect his men, save the city, and return to the woman he loves before she becomes just another victim of supernatural combat.

366 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 2020

Reviews

[Adrian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Travis Klempan proves himself a writer to keep an eye on in this debut novel His writing is vivid and lively, and full of interesting insights, new similes and metaphors. In his hands the war in Iraq (and more broadly the war on terror in general) springs alive. As someone who has read many books in the genre and is familiar with certain cliches and tropes and perhaps more attuned to them than most, I was deeply impressed by Klempan's characterization. His characters live on the page, and drive the action forward the best way they know how. I look forward to reading more of Klempan's work in the future, but "Have Snakes, Need Birds" is a good place to acquaint oneself with a unique new veteran voice.

[Scott Whitmore · Rating 5 out of 5]

The debut novel by Travis Klempan, the outstanding Have Snakes, Need Birds is two books in one: An engrossing look at the Iraq deployment of an American infantry company during the 2007 Surge; and, especially in the later chapters, a supernatural thriller featuring some truly powerful forces of destruction.

The supernatural elements are subtly woven into the plot as Sergeant John “Mack” Mackenzie and Staff Sergeant Gus Atwood lead their platoon into the uncertainty of Iraq at the height of sectarian and terrorist violence. Both non-coms have completed multiple combat tours and their goal is simply to get their men safely through the deployment. It sometimes helps that Mack the Knife (a story it takes some time to hear) understands what birds are saying; he can’t speak to them and they don’t address him directly — it’s more like he eavesdrops on them.

There are plenty of stories about the superstitions and unusual beliefs of military folks in combat zones, so Mack listening to birds and the other platoon members accepting it as an article of faith is as unremarkable as the corporal carrying his girlfriend’s underwear as a talisman of luck. But Mack’s connection to birds helps to quietly introduce the supernatural into a seemingly straightforward military story, and it gives him the insight to realize what he’s witnessing is more than just the chaos of a war zone.

Around the middle of the story Mack makes a trip back to the States on leave, and initially I thought changing the setting was a mistake. I was wrong, of course, as Mack meets and falls in love with a young woman. Their connection is immediate and powerful, and her presence in Mack’s life is vital to what he must do when he returns to Iraq. As an added plus, his conversations with her and her roommates include some trenchant observations about post-9/11 America.

I greatly enjoyed Have Snakes, Need Birds and look forward to reading whatever comes next from this author.

[Brett Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fantastic book and a must read for anyone who likes military fiction. Klempan does an outstanding job portraying real world operations in Iraq and then slowly leading the readers into the world of the supernatural. The main character, John Mackenzie is a rich, vivid character that's equal parts familiar and enigmatic and serves as a fitting guide through times of complex reflection and chaotic violence. 

Klempan's honest portrayal of operations in Iraq gives the book an instant credibility and as a reader, you can tell he knows from experience. To be honest, books delving into the supernatural are usually not on my reading list, but Klempan's slow burn into that world was a welcome surprise. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves military fiction, speculative fiction, or both!

[Military Writers Society of America (MWSA)]

MWSA Review

Have Snakes, Need Birds by Travis Klempan is an exceptional story that depicts our American service members during a deployment to Iraq. It is exceptional not only in the voice he gives his American and Iraqi characters, but also for the depiction of ghosts, a demon, and an elemental. While snakes, coyotes, jackals, and birds show up sporadically in the beginning chapters of the book—harbingers of nonhuman intervention—the noncorporeal characters do not arrive until after the main character’s mid-tour leave, about halfway through the book. Prior to Mackenzie’s leave, soldiers and Iraqis hold a storytelling contest involving ghost stories, unleashing an unsettling feeling around the FOB and setting the stage for horrors to come.

While most of the action takes place in Iraq, Mackenzie’s leave takes place in America, beginning at an outdoor concert festival in Texas and ending in a small town in Louisiana. Descriptions of places and events are vivid and compelling, and the dialogue is enjoyable (keeping in mind that military members under stress will be using words that some readers may find offensive). More than the ghostly plot line, I found the details and circumstances of what our military forces face during a combat deployment to be enlightening and important.

Review by Betsy Beard (February 2021)

[Eric Chandler · Rating 5 out of 5]

You think it's a novel about the war in Iraq. But then the soldier named Mack seems to be able to hear what birds say. You have questions and read on. The soldier falls in love as a byproduct of luck while back in the States on leave. He returns to war, forces of evil are unleashed, and he struggles to fight them with an improbable ally. You can read this novel as a paranormal take on a soldier's experience in war and you will be enthralled.

But I came to think of the forces of good and evil in this novel as symbolic of something else. People who've deployed "downrange" think endlessly about home: The Good. The swirl of chaos of war around them feels chaotic, like the entropy of the evil described in Klempan's novel: The Evil. The story is compelling on its face, but for me, it resonated more deeply. I identified with the deployed military member thinking about the good of home versus the evil of their war. This is an excellent read. Go get yourself a copy and immerse yourself in the battle between good and evil, however you recognize it.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

You have to go a little spooky, a little surreal, to understand what it feels like to be up late at night, trying to pass the time without falling asleep, hyper-aware of the possibility of real bad guys out there. It messes with your head; you feel it in your BODY, and Travis Klempan puts the reader right inside that soldier's experience at the beginning of HSNB. Being able to understand birds, telling ghost stories on watch - they're a perfect set-up for the supernatural forces that war unleashes later in the story. I found it really affecting on a visceral level and will be recommending HSNB to others who understand that strange, literary fiction gets at the nuances of war in a much more truthful way than genre thrillers. No shade on genre fiction - but this out-there book is the real stuff, y'all.

[Mark Gutierrez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Klempan is a great storyteller. With a voice of an expert, he paints an accurate picture of combat in the Iraq War interwoven with a mythological plot twist. Mack the Knife leaves little to be desired as a real-life protagonist who wants nothing more than to bring his troops home in the face of a relentless enemies some from this world, others not. If you want to go for an adventure like never before, this is a good choice.

[Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book, couldn’t put it down! It’s definitely one of the most unique stories to come out of the Iraq War era.