Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book's subtitle is somewhat misleading. It reads: "Autobiography of one of the deadliest special ops snipers". The story that this book tells is the personal story of the deployment of a Ranger sniper during a 100 day deployment to Afghanistan, during which this sniper has 33 confirmed kills. The book is written like a series of war stories, but it flows very well. The author tells us of his feelings and his actions during the various encounters, and while he does not tell the story of each and every one of his kills, it is a gripping story of how the modern battlefield works in places like Afghanistan. Throughout the story of this one deployment, there are sprinklings of the author's early life as well as some anecdotes from his earlier career in the Army. The book weaves these anecdotes in to the storyline in a very compelling way to help explain why and how the author ended up where he did. During this deployment, the author was the sniper team lead with the rank of Sergeant and was already in his sixth year in the Army. This deployment turned out to be his last as he left the Army afterwards. As you read this book, you'll understand more about how and why a young American decided to join the military, the path that he took over the six and a half year contract that he signed, and why he decided to leave the Army. While not the meat of this book, this story arc is behind the individual stories in the book and tells the larger story in a very clear and compelling way. The book starts with his deployment to Afghanistan when he is expecting a boring 100 day deployment. An expectation that is shattered on his very first night when during the operation he ends up killing two Taliban gunmen. He tells the story of that night, and then the next, and then goes on to tell stories of the more complex operations that he ended up being involved with throughout the deployment. Each of the stories is told from a very personal point of view which is what makes this book work, and work very well. We are told of his feelings towards his comrades, his attitude and approach to the others, and those little anecdotes of daily life that are either humorous or poignant. He experiences his comrades deaths as well as various injuries and he also experiences plans that go awry and situations where nothing happens. I think that the author sat down with his co-author and relived each event in his own words. These recordings (probably) ended up being transcribed and then arranged and edited into this book. This approach works very well in this case. Because of the "war story" nature of the narratives and the naturalness of the writing, this book is a very quick read across its 310 pages. As a first person account of a short deployment, this book will help us all in understanding what took place in Afghanistan. It also helps in understanding why there appears to be no resolution to the conflict there and why there will be no resolution in the coming times. This is not to lay blame on either side, they are each so culturally different from each other that there is really no central meeting point outside of the battlefield and in the battlefield there is only death. I found this book to be very easy to read yet disturbing at the same time. Here is a normal American kid who kills people regularly and manages to come home to his wife and continue on with his life. He is not unchanged by the experience; he is significantly changed, and his story shows us another price our society is paying by being in Afghanistan. This is a good read and is well worth your time.