And that's the problem with Yank book titles: they turn a benign little sentence or clause into something completely out of control: also, they have to have an amplifying clause to avoid Wal-Mart livestock having to think. Anyway, on with the review.

This one did not sound at all promising, and I only took it to get back in credit with Ageing Gracefully. However, I finished it overnight. It's flawed and hasty, but it's also very, very good. It has the ring of authenticity (the writer is a former member of 6 so I suppose that makes him their Cyril Clunge. His views on OPSEC are that it has been violated for political gain by everybody in the command chain, so he is recycling stuff that is already open source) insofar as it ties in with a lot of the other history on the subject, written by the likes of Richard Marcinko, Eric Haney and Charlie Beckwith.











Starting with a look at the SEALs, the book then has a less detailed look at SEAL Team 6 and its genesis. At this point a couple of shots are fired back down the bearing at the 'Rogue Warrior' era, and then a massive salvo at the Intelligence world. A lot more of the political backbiting and rivalry between organisations is on view than I would really expect to read about, to be honest. The book covers the maritime hostage rescue of the Master of the MAERSK ALABAMA in good detail, before moving on to Bin Laden's life and progress towards AQ. Pfarrer writes well, and sells a compelling narrative about Bin Laden's motivations and the internecine bickering in AQ. I'm certainly going to read up more on this subject now, as several parts of the book actually challenged my assumptions - time to check the intel.

The operation itself, having been set thoroughly in context, is then covered. I don't know if it is accurate (Pfarrer has enough deep knowledge to conceal where required), but again it is at least consistent and logical.

As I said, Pfarrer got this out quickly so there are errors and bloopers here and there. His politics gets in the way here and there as well - OP EL DORADO CANYON would have got Gadaffi, but apparently he got a tip off from the Italian PM Bettino Craxi. Pfarrer calls this 'treason' - sorry, mate, passport check, call him a 2 faced tube instead.

In summary, very, very good. A worthy addition to the US SF literature world, and is awarded 4/5 fastroping Belgian Malinoise dogs wearing Wileys.

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/john/Documents/four%20anchors.gif[/IMG] Review by Subsunk.








4/5