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278 reviews for:
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden
Mark Owen
3.72 AVERAGE
278 reviews for:
No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden
Mark Owen
3.72 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
I wanted to resist buying and reading this book, since I don’t agree with the Navy SEALs who broke the “code of silence” and talked about this mission, and I don’t think anyone should make money off of the death of Osama bin Laden (an idealistic point of view, I know). But I was stuck in an airport, saw it in the terminal’s book store, and figured, why not, it’s an interesting piece of history and I have a long plane ride ahead of me.
For the most part, the book was enjoyable, as evidenced by how quickly I read it. To be honest, though, most of it felt like filler. The actual Osama mission only took a few chapters to tell, and even that was drawn out more than it needed to be, in my opinion. But you can’t sell a 40-page book, so it had to be fleshed out with a lot of information I didn’t care about: a montage of scenes from “Mark Owen’s” (that’s a pseudonym, of course) SEAL training and his previous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. And even after the Osama raid, the book goes on for at least four more chapters, detailing the SEALs’ lives after the mission. And, of course, being a military history book, it had to get in a few potshots at Obama, which personally I found to be in poor taste, given that Obama was essentially the SEALs’ boss. (I come from a military family, so I know that soldiers officially see the president as their boss but typically still have opinions about him—just as I have opinions about my own boss—but I still think it’s unprofessional to write them down.)
The book reads pretty fast, which is partly because it’s written in an easy, journalistic style. At times, it felt more like it should be called My First Navy SEAL Primer. The writing is chunky at times, too, as though the writer (I’m assuming Mark Owen had a ghostwriter) was trying too hard to use similes and metaphors and different sentence structures.
Still, it is a good look at the Osama raid, so if you’re interested in that, it’s worth a read. Personally, I’d recommend seeing Zero Dark Thirty instead, which uses No Easy Day as its basis and is much more interesting. I saw Zero Dark Thirty when it came out (Christmas night 2012, in fact), and re-watched it while reading this book, and on the whole found the movie to be a lot more interesting than No Easy Day.
For the most part, the book was enjoyable, as evidenced by how quickly I read it. To be honest, though, most of it felt like filler. The actual Osama mission only took a few chapters to tell, and even that was drawn out more than it needed to be, in my opinion. But you can’t sell a 40-page book, so it had to be fleshed out with a lot of information I didn’t care about: a montage of scenes from “Mark Owen’s” (that’s a pseudonym, of course) SEAL training and his previous missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. And even after the Osama raid, the book goes on for at least four more chapters, detailing the SEALs’ lives after the mission. And, of course, being a military history book, it had to get in a few potshots at Obama, which personally I found to be in poor taste, given that Obama was essentially the SEALs’ boss. (I come from a military family, so I know that soldiers officially see the president as their boss but typically still have opinions about him—just as I have opinions about my own boss—but I still think it’s unprofessional to write them down.)
The book reads pretty fast, which is partly because it’s written in an easy, journalistic style. At times, it felt more like it should be called My First Navy SEAL Primer. The writing is chunky at times, too, as though the writer (I’m assuming Mark Owen had a ghostwriter) was trying too hard to use similes and metaphors and different sentence structures.
Still, it is a good look at the Osama raid, so if you’re interested in that, it’s worth a read. Personally, I’d recommend seeing Zero Dark Thirty instead, which uses No Easy Day as its basis and is much more interesting. I saw Zero Dark Thirty when it came out (Christmas night 2012, in fact), and re-watched it while reading this book, and on the whole found the movie to be a lot more interesting than No Easy Day.
The issue with this book is that Owen is a SEAL and not an author; and so he often repeats himself within the same paragraph. I also found that since he took such care and attention to ensure that no military secrets were revealed, some of the descriptions couldn't go into the detail that would have provided more tension to the scenarios.
Interesting read? Sure.
Great military read? No. But I'm happy to have the majority of the proceeds of sales of this book go to help veterans.
Interesting read? Sure.
Great military read? No. But I'm happy to have the majority of the proceeds of sales of this book go to help veterans.
My favorite line "After the speech, we posed for a few pictures. Biden kept cracking lame jokes that no one got. He seemed like a nice guy, but he reminded me of someone's drunken uncle at Christmas dinner."
Wow. Well written. Gives great insight into the training, focus and sacrifices of those who took down Osama Bin Laden.
3 stars for the story 5 stars for the event! The first half of the book was about Owen's life as a SEAl. Which I've read before through a different SEAl, so meh. But the second half of the book gave details about the prep work and the take down of Osama Bin Laden, which I found interesting to read and to really hear the true story. What I learned...Bin Laden, had to have known they were coming once he heard the Black Hawk crash in his court yard, yet he did nothing to defend himself. There was an AK-47 and another gun in his room that had no ammo in it, and he had 10 minutes to prepare. Interesting, considering he continued to get a following of men to self-sacrifice, yet he didn't even fight!
first read 3 march 2013, re read again in Jan 2016. amazing book, and the subject matter interests me like nothing else i have read.
I enjoyed reading this book to help understand the mentality and hardships encountered by the SEALs. I would not consider this a complete memoir, the author briefly talks about his childhood, and briefly mentions his early training. If this man had a personal life, he does not mention it. Do not read this book to get heavy, psychological insight. I found the story, particularly an insider's view of the Bin Laden raid, compelling. I listed to the Audible.com version, but I imagine it would be a quick read.
It may not be your cup of tea if you're used to a more elegant and literary style of writing, but if you're looking for an easy read that will get your blood pumping and spark some motivation and inspiration in your life, this is your book. It details the impressive and honorable life of a Navy Seal in the context of the hunt for Osama Bin Laden; the story is told in a way that allows you to easily picture everything that happens and puts you right into the action. It's an important piece of American history, and I'm happy this author took the time and energy to not only share his story with us, but have us experience a little piece of it.