No Easy Day - Mark Owen & Kevin Maurer

No Easy Day

By Mark Owen & Kevin Maurer

  • Release Date: 2012-09-04
  • Genre: Biographies & Memoirs
Score: 4.5
4.5
From 11,906 Ratings

Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy SEAL who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moments.

From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden’s compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group—known as SEAL Team Six—has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines.

No Easy Day puts readers alongside Owen and his fellow SEAL team members as they train for the biggest mission of their lives. The blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen’s life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden’s death, is an essential piece of modern history.

In No Easy Day, Owen also takes readers into the War on Terror and details the formation of the most elite units in the military. Owen’s story draws on his youth in Alaska and describes the SEALs’ quest to challenge themselves at the highest levels of physical and mental endurance. With boots-on-the-ground detail, Owen describes several missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11.

In telling the true story of the SEALs whose talents, skills, experiences, and exceptional sacrifices led to one of the greatest victories in the War on Terror, Mark Owen honors the men who risk everything for our country, and he leaves readers with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe.

Reviews

  • A Military Page Turner

    4
    By B7 Alpina
    I don’t often read military books, let alone those that are semi-autobiographical, but I decided to read this one because of the author’s firsthand accounts of some very important recent events in modern history. The book begins by discussing the author’s upbringing and his becoming a SEAL. Then it goes into his becoming of a SEAL Team 6 operator. The info in this section is very detailed and interesting. The middle part of the book discusses various missions the author partook in. The discussion around his emotions and experiences in this part of his life is also intriguing. This part of the book facilitates a lot of suspense that puts you in his shoes at those times. The last third of the book is about the mission to finally locate Osama Bin Laden. This part is extremely detailed, including maps and diagrams of the mission, which can be found at the back of the book. The amount of detail presented on this topic is quite large, and it will make you want to drop everything you’re doing to finish the book because you wind up yearning for more as the author successfully conveys his anxiety and suspense in waiting to carry out the mission. I removed one star because whoever edited the book either left in or rewrote some lines which came off as very stilted and unnatural. For example, whenever a SEAL was placing a breach charge on a door, the author wrote that, in the middle of combat and bullets flying, the breacher would say “I am going explosive.” Speaking the phrase “I am going” almost never happens in native English, as most speakers would say “I’m going” or simply “Going.” In a fast paced situation such as combat, I doubt any operator is going to speak like an English teacher. Throughout the book, contractions are mostly avoided, so it starts to read like an essay waiting to be graded, which just feels very unnatural. I have also never interacted with any military folk who spoke like that either. I don’t know why the publishing team chose to do that, but I found it odd. Outside of that grammatical issue, the book is outstanding and is the best nonfiction military book that I have read to date. I fully recommend it to anyone, no matter their political or military beliefs because it’s written mostly from a historical, journalistic standpoint. The author discusses his experiences from a mostly neutral standpoint; he at one point mentioned that he wasn’t a fan of President Obama’s politics, but respected him as President nonetheless, which is the only political part of the book. Read it, you’ll be glad you did!
  • Good and daring

    5
    By Bonimarci
    True to the point
  • 3 x’s a charm.

    4
    By Eddie buck head
    I’ve read this book 3 times. Not because it was that great but because I always felt like I was missing something. This last go around was the key. I enjoyed this book and recommend it as an insight to the demise of ABL.
  • Excellent Book

    5
    By InHim123
    Mark is a gifted operator, patriot and writer. I couldn’t put this book down.
  • Great read

    4
    By spenny...888
    Started a little slow, but then was great. Was written so anyone could understand. Awesome book.
  • Great book

    5
    By kylordqw0346
    It’s a great book, i fairly enjoyed it
  • Booring storyteller

    1
    By Phucluck
    Guy went into great detail about eating a taco. Lots of filler. Spoiler: He never did say that he shot Bin Laden himself. I just wish Bin laden was killed on Sep 12th 2001. A better book written by a Navy Seal is the one by David Goggins.
  • No Easy Day

    5
    By The Pilot's Daughter
    My son is a Recon Marine and the consensus of many in their community was anger that this man would disclose that which they all promise to never reveal. I learned things and information to some degree that I didn’t already know, having some limited access to special ops., except for details of the raid. I DID finally, I think have a greater understanding AND enormous respect for the daily training and planning that these men rehearsed day after day after day. The details of the story are fascinating and I further learned why the military had NO respect for the current political regime. Promises were made to these brave souls that never came to fruition, though they were simple acts that could easily have been accomplished. I knew that Bush for instance had ordered a single person’s job to be to find Bin Laden - yet Obama was quick to take credit for that which he did NOT earn. But that’s politics. I hope at this later date that the money earned from this book actually did go to the families of the fallen. All in all a GREAT read!!!
  • Couldn’t stop reading

    5
    By SteeVD1223
    This was one of those books I just couldn’t put down. I would recommend the book to anyone.
  • No Easy Day

    5
    By Kiesel89
    I couldn’t put this book down, great from beginning to end.

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