 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com On a clear night in late June 2005, four U.S. Navy SEALs left their base in northern Afghanistan for the mountainous Pakistani border. Their mission was to capture or kill a notorious al Qaeda leader known to be ensconced in a Taliban stronghold surrounded by a small but heavily armed force. Less then twenty-four hours later, only one of those Navy SEALs remained alive.
This is the story of fire team leader Marcus Luttrell, the sole survivor of Operation Redwing, and the desperate battle in the mountains that led, ultimately, to the largest loss of life in Navy SEAL history. But it is also, more than anything, the story of his teammates, who fought ferociously beside him until he was the last one left-blasted unconscious by a rocket grenade, blown over a cliff, but still armed and still breathing. Over the next four days, badly injured and presumed dead, Luttrell fought off six al Qaeda assassins who were sent to finish him, then crawled for seven miles through the mountains before he was taken in by a Pashtun tribe, who risked everything to protect him from the encircling Taliban killers.
A six-foot-five-inch Texan, Leading Petty Officer Luttrell takes us, blow-by-blow, through the brutal training of America's warrior elite and the relentless rites of passage required by the Navy SEALs. He transports us to a monstrous battle fought in the desolate peaks of Afghanistan, where the beleaguered American team plummeted headlong a thousand feet down a mountain as they fought back through flying shale and rocks. In this rich , moving chronicle of courage, honor, and patriotism, Marcus Luttrell delivers one of the most powerful narratives ever written about modern warfare-and a tribute to his teammates, who made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. Average Customer Rating:  
I couldn't put the book down
| Customer Rating: | "Lone Survivor" is an incredible account of what a Navy Seal goes through to get that trident pin and what they do to keep americans safe. I thought it was extremely well written. It was as if I was there on that mountain side with them. It really was a great read.
I'm proud that there are people like Marcus out there keeping us safe.
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Great book, sour grapes
| Customer Rating:  | | This is a fast paced thriller and an incredible true story. Gives great insight into military operations in Afghanistan. However, Petty Officer Luttrell's professed love of country apparently doesn't apply to the Bill of Rights in particular freedom of press. As far as blaming the Rules of Engagement, which by the way were not established soley by the "liberal" policitians, for his team's demise, perhaps, Marcus should consider the command who sent a team in harm's way outnumbered 35 to 1, SEAL team or no. Or LT Murphy who accepted a mission without adequate intel on the surrounding terrain. As a former Naval Aviator and Aircraft Commander in the U.S. Navy, I would have had a difficult time explaining to my superiors why I chose to put a life and death decision to a vote. What resulted in this instance was a heavy cross of guilt for Petty Officer Luttrell to bear rather than the decision having rested with the senior officer. I understand SEAL teams are a tight knit group but the Navy assigns an officer to each team for a reason, to make the tough decisions. An outstanding book but perhaps better told with more passage of time. |
A good read
| Customer Rating: | | This book was a gift for my Dad. He read the book in a couple of days and then gave it to me. I have not finished it yet but so far it is an awsome book. The training these Seals go through is just amazing. |
Predictable and Loaded with Cliché
| Customer Rating: | I admire the author and his fellow soldiers for their courage and for their service. But it's the book, and not their actions, decisions, or anything else which is being reviewed - and that's the reason why it really can't receive anything but a very low mark.
As a piece of writing and a historical account, this book is really difficult to take seriously. I really wish the author had chosen to have his story told objectively by an experienced military writer or war historian. As is, it really reads like something out of Team America.
The book's biggest failing is that it's too politicized. His anger toward and mistrust of people with opposing political or religious views is halting, and clouds his objectivity. I also think it's fine that he loves God, Bush, and Texas - I just couldn't help wishing it was conveyed or explained in a more interesting or compelling way.
The book is also full of contradictions that are never even superficially explored. For example, his decision to shift blame for their release of the goat herders to "G** damn liberals" and the "left-wing media" runs contrary to his admission that it was actually the Christian (as opposed to the military) side of his brain which told him to let the herders go. So the reader is left to sort it out: Was it his Christian conscience and his faith in God, or a cowering fear of Rush Limbaugh's tired old caricature of "left wing liberal elites" ready to persecute him on his return which forced his hand and caused him to vote "let em' go"?
Contradictions and poor prose aside, I think the author could have easily avoided politicizing a story which at the heart of it has nothing to do with politics. I've already mentioned Team America, but I think it's appropriate to have this film in the back of your mind if you want to dive into this book. Avoid the temptation to read lines aloud to the laughter of friends and colleagues, as one reviewer admitted to doing. The clichés start early and don't ever really end.
I would look forward to reading an objective, detailed account of what these brave men encountered - as well as a follow-up on the investigation into what went wrong. The author makes no attempt to discuss the obvious problems with mission planning, which was the reason they all had a bad feeling about this mission from the word "go".
But questions linger: How could it be that their years and years of careful training hadn't prepared them for the eventuality of encountering bystanders or civilians while involved in a special operation? Why were they so utterly confounded by what one would think was a foreseeable scenario? Or at least not an implausible one. Yet when they encountered the herders they were so unsure of what to do that they contemplated murdering them, and then eventually tried to radio operations for "advice".
Again, it's even more surprising given the author's early reservations about the mission itself and the degree to which they would be exposed due to a lack of cover. I am not pretending to know more about special operations or anything else military related for that matter - I would defer to the author any day of the week on these matters. Still, a careful reader can't help but wonder why there were no routines or protocols in place for what was a pretty predictable scenario.
I have to say I don't enjoy slamming the work of anyone, much less that of a true patriot, but I wish he'd had a better ghost writer or mentor - or a publisher wise enough to have brought in an experienced war writer and Pulitzer Prize winner such as Rick Atkinson. The result might have done the author's incredible story better justice.
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Reviewer's note: I consumed this via audible. I don't think the reader helped this book, and in retrospect I think this review is more harsh as a result. I can say with very little doubt that I would have enjoyed this more had it not been read to me by this particular actor. Still, my problems with the content and style of writing remain. |
Unbelievably Fabulous and Enlightening
| Customer Rating: | | I have always been a fan of our military, our soldiers, our intelligence and our President George W Bush. But after reading Marcus's book, I am an absolute devotee of the US Navy SEALs. It instills an education as to the training and the dedication these men have to serve and protect our country, our freedoms and our future. Any liberal idiot who thinks that we have no reason to protect ourselves , especially against afghanie and pakastani and Syrian and Iraqi muslim radicalism , needs to read this book over and over and over again. George W Bush is a man , a fighter , a protector and will be seen as a much better President of the United States than the liberal media has awarded him in the present. I am proud and grateful that he was our leader, and to these men, I thank you for my life, my family's life and our future. Your fight is not in vain. Please know that. Thank you Marcus. |
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