Kevin Maurer

Mark Owen

On 2 May 2011, the world's most wanted man, Osama bin Laden, was killed in one of the most daring and dangerous special forces raids ever attempted. Set down at night deep inside Pakistan, SEAL Team Six's twenty-four-man assault team saw the raid go wrong right from the off. As a helicopter crashed inside bin Laden's compound, so the team were on the back foot in enemy territory : their mission and lives imperilled... As the only account of the planning and execution of the raid by one of the soldiers in the thick of the action, No Easy Day tells the story the world waited a decade to hear, bullet by bullet.

The Only First-Hand Account of the Navy Seal Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

No Easy Day

Mark Owen is a pseudonym for Matt Bissonnette.

The Autobiography of a Navy SEAL : the Firsthand Account of the Mission that Killed Osama Bin Laden

Ethan E. Harris

"No Easy Day" by Mark Owen (a pseudonym) is published by Dutton Adult. It is the story of a Navy SEAL, an elite special operations warrior with its climax in the story of the raid and death of Osama Bin Laden.

Immediately striking is the author's ability to picture himself as a real, flawed person. He shows appreciation for others in his line of work without painting them as either unbelievably superhuman or as some kind of fringe military extremists. The characters are revealed to be dedicated to an intense level of self-dicsipline and while admitting to errors in performance, they have the persistence to improve their skills at the highest levels of military training and preparation in the world today. It is the very humanity of the characters that brought me into the story. It's a book about struggle and those who find the work-arounds to defeat.

There is nothing in my reading of this book to signal the author is being deceitful or embellishing his role in warfare for personal gain. The author was straightforward in the introduction by informing the reader that he has taken necessary precautions for preventing the inadvertent release of classified information. He neither sets himself up as a some kind of national hero or as a potential platform for a future political career. It is smoothly written without being crass or overly graphic. It reads with the smoothness of Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War or We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam without the focused, constant intensity.

As becomes evident, the author is motivated out of a desire to positively influence other young men to pursue their dreams regardless of whether it works out as military service or not. Owen's personal tale begins as a young man who was profoundly influenced by the reading of a book about a special operations predecessor. The author, if the story is to be believed, wanted nothing more to hone his skills and to experience the most he could by overcoming his weaknesses with the help of others. Indeed, iron sharpens iron.

I have known similar men (Hal Moore and William Wingett, for example), with whom I've disagreed with their refusal and reluctance of being called "hero." One theme that runs through my discussions with them is that even though the story is about their experience, they are more excited to describe the successes of those around them. They don't boast about themselves, but about camaraderie, struggle and the willingness of those around them to take on the most hazardous experiences with the sole determination of overcoming any obstacle. They show their heroism by stressing the success of others. And those of us who come after them learn we can achieve the seemingly impossible, because, quite simply, these guys have done the same and more.

Overall, this book has provided me with great insight into how courageous people behave and think. This book provided me with a number of opportunities to reflect on what I perceive as heroism. This book by Mark Owen was inspirational.

Dana Kraft

Good, quick read. Story is as advertised. Hard to think anything other than "glad there are guys like this on our side."

Catherine Nicolai

My favortie part of the book was when he compared a war scene to looking like, "a Bloom' Onion at Outback Steakhouse." I knew right then and there this book was destined for American greatness.

To my surprise, the entire book wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. It was a very easy and quick read...that I didn't hate.

If you loved American Sniper this is the book for you. No Easy Day by Mark Owen with Kevin Maurer is the first-person account of Bin Laden's execution. For the first time anywhere, a first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from inside the US Navy SEAL team who carried out the extraordinary mission to kill the terrorist mastermind. No Easy Day puts readers inside the elite, handpicked twenty-four-man team known as SEAL Team Six as they train for the most important mission of their lives: the SEALs were going after bin Laden. From the crash of the Black Hawk helicopter that threatened the mission with disaster to the radio call confirming their target was dead, the SEAL team raid on bin Laden's secret HQ is recounted in nail-biting second-by-second detail. In No Easy Day, team leader Mark Owen takes readers behind enemy lines with one of the world's most astonishing fighting forces, in the only insider's account of their most spectacular mission. Praise for No Easy Day: 'No Easy Day amounts to a cinematic account of the raid to kill Bin Laden: you feel as if you're sitting in the Black Hawk as it swoops in.' NY Times 'A blistering first-hand account' The Sun Mark Owen is a former member of the US Naval Special Warfare Development Group, commonly known as SEAL Team Six. In his many years as a Navy SEAL, he has participated in hundreds of missions around the globe, including the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean in 2009. Owen was a team leader on Operation Neptune Spear in Abbottabad, Pakistan, on 1 May 2011, which resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden. Owen was one of the first men through the door on the third floor of the terrorist mastermind's hideout, where he witnessed bin Laden's death. Mark Owen's name and the names of the other SEALs mentioned in this book have been changed for their security. Kevin Maurer has covered special-operations forces for nine years. He has been embedded with the Special Forces in Afghanistan six times, spent a month in 2006 with special-operations units in east Africa, and has embedded with US forces in Iraq and Haiti. He is the author of four books, including several about special operations.

The Only First-hand Account of the Navy Seal Mission that Killed Osama bin Laden

Maatje du Preez

stefano Ressico

Mat Connor

Rasmus

Michael Cowell

Zach Grosser

The Rabid Geek

Sean Leach

Róbert Istók

Ben Radford

Ali Saleh

Examines the mission that killed Osama Bin Laden and describes previously unreported missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11.

No Easy Day The Only First-Hand Account of the Navy Seal Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

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