John Weisman

My longest posts are always the ones I liked the least.

I'm pretty sure this is the worst book I've read this year at least. Oh my god, it's just packed full of testosterone laden drivel. It's not that he's a macho doofus, I'm a macho doofus. It's that they are painfully juvenile.
This is the way it works. Dick Marchencko was a SEAL and did all these tough guy things. No problem. Sounds like the Yank version of Andy Mcnab. However, this series is Dick writing a fictional men's adventure show more series, like Remo Williams the Destroyer, or Mack Bolan the Executioner (both of which I have read an embarrassingly large amount of, so I'm not new to the realm of men's adventure fiction) except Dick is writing himself as a fictional character. To me, this is just daft as bats.
So this whole real person/fictional person thing is weird enough, but they are also written really really badly. They are a lot like the adventure fiction I wrote when I was in high school and I was able to rebel on paper by killing a lot of fictional characters and writing "fuckwad" a lot. Yes, very fierce. Oh, and his "Heart of the Warrior" speeches are as tiresome as when I first heard them in the SCA. Similar to the "What is best in life" speech in Conan.
The last pitiful element of the writing is that Dick is always right, and EVERYONE else is always wrong. Not only wrong, but in disagreeing with Dick, they also become evil, weak and cowardly. He isn't sophisticated enough to realize that when all your opponents are pussies, victory is not impressive. This is why I quit fencing in the Outlands.

I want my time back. show less

Right off the first page this book grabs your attention. A beggar in Pakistan, no legs, true to Allah, going through his day as usual. However for Shahid the usual wasn’t usual at all because Shahid was Charlie Becker, Army Ranger; VOLUNTEERING his time to help catch the ultimate bad guy in Osama Bin Laden.
KBL is the story of the months leading up to the capture/kill of Bin Laden by telling us stories of all involved. Backgrounds, names changed but a straight from the scene tale. You can show more easily figure out the ”who’s who” in this novel and Weisman certainly get his revenge on some pretty high profile people.
Plans shot down, reconstructed and shot down again. People seeking reparation in the form of capture. People trying to dissuade the President of the United States from the decision he ultimately made (and good for him!). This book has everything that makes John Weisman an author4 to be read each time a new story/article comes out.
A++++++ here and if you are old enough to remember 9/11 you must read this one! show less

He's honestly not terrible at writing, but this is a very bad book, bursting with self-indulgent preening. You'd almost think it was written by a 4-foot tall man.

MY THOUGHTS
REALLY LIKED IT

The story recreates what happened when SEAL Team Six that night of the Bin Laden raid with fictionalized members and recounts what we know about the events filled in with a bit of speculation. Reading recent news reports about that night when Obama made the fateful decision goes somewhat against what is written in the book and I am sure that more details will be released in the upcoming months. I really have to say whether the story told here is true or not, this is show more one fast ride!

The characters are well defined and interesting making you care about them as individuals and not some crazy guys bent on murder and revenge. They training and their resources is just amazing to read about. The back story in how they figured out where Bin Laden was is probably the most fascinating thing in the story. This really had a Mission Impossible theme going on since what the SEALS accomplished. Don't try and read this one before going to sleep sleep since it might keep you up wondering what happens next. show less