Bruce

Disjointed and poorly conceived

Revisado: 06-23-24

I’m familiar with the plague of trucker murderers. I was hoping for some real investigational and case study on the subject, as well as lively writing.

It seemed that half the book was devoted to talking about trucker life, the trucking industry, and the author’s adventures on his ride-along. None of that interested me enough that I wanted to listen to 4 or more hours about it.

I get it that human trafficking and murder are very complex. And traveling serial killers are complex crimes. But that should have been the majority of the focus, with enough about trucking to get context…but no more. I wanted to read a book about a crime pandemic, not a book about the trucking field. The focus was lacking.

I felt let down and I wouldn’t recommend this book.

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I tried to like it

Revisado: 11-06-22

I have had a hard time with this book.

I wanted to like it. I'm not a cop, and I have all the repect in the world who do the job right and preserve the peace. To that end, I believe Mr. Smith put in a tough career in some of the toughest precincts in the US, and did a good job. He saw the aftermath of a lot of trauma and experienced his own trauma as the result. But he had fun too. Paraphrasing one of Joseph Waumbaugh's characters, there is nothing more fun in the world than good police work.

But, the book has problems.

First, Mr. Smith makes a promise he doesn't keep. In his opening pages, he brings up the "92 LA riots and insinuates that he's going to tell us about his experience somewhere down the line. He also suggested that extralegal measures were taken that day, which is likely true. But that's all he says...about any of it...he got the call, he went out, they kicked ass, and maybe...not always within bounds of the law. That's the substance of his promise, if not the exact words, and it's about this long. After this insinuation, he never returns to the subject. Maybe he never intended to discuss the riots more than than he did, in which case why bring them up if he wasn't going to say anything about them? More than any thing else, I was really disappointed that the book didn't deliver on this experience.

Next, he fell for the fundamental danger in the memior; they tend to be self serving, and this book is just that. To this end, Mr. Smith is as guilty as most memiorists, and a bit amateurish at that. He presents himself, and most of the people he's worked with as heroic. There is no self-criticism...no real personal insight that he reveals other than maybe at the end when he talks about his PTSD.

Contrast this with...here's a heavy reference...Twain in the book Roughing It. Twain as an example of a great memiorist, is at least equally, if not more, interested in the people, places and things that encounters as he is in himself. Twain spends considerable ink discussing the people he encounters because he finds them interesting. I'm not comparing the two writers, but just making a point about what makes for me an interesting memior. Other than a narrow scope of acquaintences, I don't think Mr.Smith found people all that interesting over his 20-plus-year career, and the book kind of shows that.

The also book presents a mindset of "them against us" in which the police are the embattled and agrieved party.Mr.Smith seems to have forgotten that the real embattled and agrieved are the victims of crime, some people too poor or too looked down upon to escape to better circumstances, some people who are stuck for a variety of reasons...some their own making and some of that are beyond their control. and others who are just random victims. I think his own injury caused him to not see the need of those around as he focused more and more on himself. But he didn't reveal that he had any real insight about it, or at least none that he put forth.

Finally, with the exception of a couple of spots, there is little real detail or action the book. Mr.Smith cruises across the details of various scenarios very lightly, like he doesn't want to give too much away. But I paid to read/hear those things he doesn't want to give away. If that's the case, then he should write fiction where at least he can give details while denying that any of it actually happened. In a lot of ways, the book reads like an overlong and sanitized after-action report...short of detail and short on insight.

I would skip it.

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This book takes a critical look at SEALs.

Revisado: 10-12-22

The headline says it all. If a reader is looking for a book of "attaboys" that buys into the the SEALs mythos or seeks to vicarsiouly enjoy the death and destruction these men have wrought and the injuries they have endured as the result, this isn't the book. This an attempt at a critical snapshot of one specific group of SEALs, how they are trained and led, and how they are managed (and in some cases mismanaged) and deployed. It's a thoughtful book that deserves consideration,

I am unfamiliar with Cole's previous reporting, but I am aware of many of the issues he outlines because much of this has been reported in the press. Special warfare seems to be his beat, and I sense that a lot of operators were willing to talk with him, including Richard Marcinko, which testifies to his crediblity. Whatever his political leanings, I think he wants what we all want which is a compentent military that is both battle ready and moral; they are not mutually exclusive. And you can't have that if you're not willing to learn from mistakes, and make adjustments. And you can't have that if careerist officers ingnore, enable and pass the buck on bad behaviors and outcomes. And you can't have that if you won't look at the facts. He makes the point well.

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Well done Mylar Krauze.

Revisado: 07-10-21

Krause is an excellent writer pulling no punches in a straightforward telling of his trajectory into adulthood. Things were what they were, and I admire Krauze for his unapologetic memoir. Enlightenment isn’t always teddy bears and unicorns, but perhaps a clear-eyed view of how things are. That’s what this book relays.

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A good thing: Informative.

Revisado: 07-10-21

Who knew? Turns out Mark Essig does, especially about the humble pig. He takes us through the evolution of a truly remarkable and useful planetary animal inhabitant. Much is explained both why they were shunned and embraced and shunned again and embraced again over millennia. This was a very good read. I was reminded of what comedian John Oliver once said: If God hadn’t wanted us to eat pork, then why did he make them so delicious?

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Beevor gets it right

Revisado: 07-23-10

I've read two of the author's books and part of a third. This would be the fourth book by this author. What I like about Beevor's histories is that he presents the subject from a broad range of perspectives. Like past books, in D-Day he examines the roles of the generals, the colonels and majors,and the grunts of both sides. Of equal importance, he brings to life the civilians and their roles and outcomes from this event. I came away appreciating the sacrifice, pain and desparation of the many who participated in D-Day. I recommend this book.

On the "con" side, the narration is weird in places. The narrator -- Cameron Stewart -- who is obviously English, sounds goofy and cartoonish when he tries to quote Americans in the narrative. He does a good job with all the other accents, but he makes all the US characters sound like warehouse workers from Brooklyn. The narration is the only reason I didn't give this book five stars.

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The rent was due and the baby was hungry

Revisado: 09-24-09

I like Pat Conroy's books usually, but this catastrophe should have never seen the light of day. The characters were cartoonish (to borrow from an earlier review.) The timelines were all over the place. The subplot with the evil antagonist made little sense and added nothing to the novel. And the ending...left me feeling sickened that I had stuck it out to that point. God!
I haven't wanted to read a fiction piece in a while and this book will probably kill it for me for a while more.
This book is not a good use of your money or credits.

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