Adrenaline Rush: Pain Games by Bevin Goldsmith is the kind of military thriller that hits a lil different feat. Katie Molsin and her struggle in Iraq. But the Intels are not always true..
Let’s find out.
“But here I am, in Iraq, the sandbox. I’ve been here for 6 months working on a Female Engagement Team.(FET short form) The Infantry and Special Forces units use FET teams to talk to local female
nationals and children. One such incident is When the kids asked who the Krampus was, one of the guys pointed at me, with my dark blonde hair, blue-green eyes, and skin as white as ivory.”
Book Review: Adrenaline Rush Pain Game
Bevin Goldsmith doesn’t just write missions. The writing is messy, painful and nice where the sole goal is to stay alive.
At the center of it all is Corporal Katelyn “Rubi/Krampus” Molsin, and honestly? She’s one of the most interesting narrators I’ve read in war fiction.
You follow Molsin from her terrified first steps off the bus at Fort Leonard Wood all the way to Iraq, where she becomes the female half of a FET (Female Engagement Team) attached to a Special Forces unit.
Her job?
Talk to the women.
Find the kids.
Dig up intel nobody else can get.
As missions goes on, casualties increases, and the emotions starts to get heavy, what you’re really watching is Molsin trying to hold on to her identity while the war keeps trying to rewrite it.
It’s intense, it’s sharp, it’s averagely funny, and it hits your heart way more than you expect.
“I adore you so much, it leaves me feeling incredibly fearful.”
Also Read: The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
Now, talking about the action part, some of the scenes run a little long for readers who aren’t action geeks. The humor is very “soldier dark comedy”—authentic, but sometime seems to come in between emotional moments.
A few side characters could’ve had even more depth, especially given how lively the unit is. But honestly? These are tiny bumps in an otherwise gripping ride.
| Genre | Thriller Action |
| Number of Pages | 192 pages |
| My Rating | 4.0⭐⭐️⭐️⭐️ |
What I Loved
- The female soldier perspective is refreshing and not so seen in most of the books.
- The emotional parts are also very good.
- Goldsmith isn’t trying to glamorize war. The book shows how changes one’s life in reality with action, humor and heart
- You have an interrogation experience which feels real. It never lets you forget what’s at stake Not just missions, but relationships, sanity, identity.
Adrenaline Rush: Pain Games is a high-stakes military action story, but it’s the emotional too—the pain, the loyalty, the fear, the love—that makes it stick.
Quotes:
“The next time I say your last name, there’ll be a ‘Mrs.’ in front of it.”
Also Read: The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose
Final Verdict?
Overall, the book is Very Much Worth Your Time..
Who should read it:
- People interested in modern warfare, especially bts intel, operation etc.
- People who want military fiction but not a male pov repeated one.
- Fans of memoir-like realism novel.
- If you like high-action stories with emotions.
Books like Adrenaline Rush:
- The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
- Charlotte Gray by Sebastian Faulks
