Danger Close [Paperback]

Mike Yon (Author), Michael Yon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 2001

Anyone who has felt overwhelmed by insurmountable obstacles--and who has not?--may find this book a source of inspiration and reassurance. Danger Close is neither the ordinary compilation of "uplifting" stories, nor an amoral manual on "How to Prevail by Applying Ten Tactics of Highly Successful Terrorists." Though Yon does not hesitate to express his views--forcefully and sometimes controversially--this story is not a sermon. It is, mistakes, misadventures, and all, an object lesson in the value of fortitude, determination, and simple human justice.

Danger Close is the sometimes funny, sometimes moving, but always compelling account of a seemingly typical small boy becoming an exceptional young man. It ranges through the ordinary to the appalling, the grim and the joyous, the universally shared and the nearly unimaginable, all held together by the increasingly perceptive insights of the author.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In 1982, one month after graduating from high school, Florida native Mike Yon joined the Army to earn tuition money for college. At that time, President Reagan had begun channeling massive amounts of funds into Special Operations units such as the Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, and Special Forces in response to the calamitous failure of a U.S. Special Ops attempt to rescue American hostages in Iran. For a brief time, writes Yon, "the Army allowed kids straight out of their initial military training to try out for Special Forces"--and Yon jumped at the chance. By July of 1983, at the remarkable age of 19, Yon had survived rounds of grueling training and graduated into the Green Berets. One day later, a bizarre encounter in a Maryland bar landed Yon in jail, accused of murdering a fellow patron with his bare hands.

At first glance, Danger Close reads like an adventure story, one that begins with the fateful bar scene, flashes back through a guts-and-glory retelling of what it takes to be accepted into one of the country's elite unconventional warfare units, and ends with Yon's acquittal of the charges. Yet Yon's self-published memoir simultaneously proves to be a coming-of-age story of a fiercely unique sort. Yon's mother died when he was only seven, and that irreparable loss, combined with the neglect that he later suffered at the hands of his father and the refuge he found with his grandparents and his friends, creates the emotional anchor of the book. Yon handles such a complex combination of subject matter in a free-form, associative style, juxtaposing scenes of intensive weapons training, for example, with stories of life lessons he learned from his grandfather. The result is winningly rough around the edges: Danger Close is exuberant and thoughtful, tender and violent, and, for the most part, it works. Writing, for Yon, like joining the Army, was about having "demons to slay. Big, mean demons that haunted and chased me. I was going to kill them." --Svenja Soldovieri --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Danger Close" is an excellent book. It grabs your attention right at the beginning and never lets go, taking the reader on a roller coaster ride of events and emotions. I recommend it highly." -- Patrick Smith, Author

"Mike Yon has written a coming of age story that is energetic, poignant and memorable. ...a fine debut." -- Jack Canfield, Co-Author "Chicken Soup for the Soul(R)" series

...unique life story from his fairy-tale childhood to the fateful, fearful night that changed the course of his life. -- St. Petersburg Times

Mike Yon frankly and poetically chronicles the hardships and fulfillment of the warrior's journey. -- Richard Strozzi Heckler, Ph.D. author of In Search of the Warrior Spirit --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Apple Pie Pub Llc; 1 edition (September 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967512301
• ISBN-13: 978-0967512303
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (69 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,660,204 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars I finished this book 90 minutes prior to Mother's Day., May 13, 2000

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Danger Close, Second Edition (Hardcover)

The timing of my coming to the end of this book could not be more appropriate. Mike knows what I mean, and I strongly recommend this book to anyone who remembers how important Mothers are, and to those who may need a bit of reminding.

This work is about many, many issues. I believe that everyone can find a part of themselves in this book. Please do not be put off thinking this is a book for guys, a book about the Military. The service was a big part of the life he describes, it is a part of the story, not the entire experience.

I was asked to "have a look" at this book, and in keeping with my statements on my personal page, I want anyone who reads this review to know that. This is the first time I have done this, as I believed people might not feel I was being objective. However, I was free to read or not read the book, to comment or not comment. I read the entire book, and I am pleased that I did.

This book has a different rhythm than most books I have read. I believe the reason is that there was not a Publisher questioning and commercializing what is an amazing story for a young man. This book reads like real life, the irony is that many times books are praised because "it made a person feel as though they were there". With an autobiography, very often there will be a second name that is involved to a degree in writing the book. Mike Yon wrote this book, and the following is a compliment, there are times the writing is offered with two many short thoughts that certainly could have been massaged to be more "elegant", but it would have killed the book.

A neat evolution takes place in this book. As Mike tells his story he matures as a writer as his life goes on. The epilogue hints at the writing skills he will refine, just as he developed all the other talents he has. His sometimes very painful childhood memories are presented just that way, painfully, candidly, the way a young man would think of them as they happened. Mike also looks back with the distance of years at the same events sharing his philosophy on parts of life with wisdom well in excess of his years.

Mike could have become a statistic, as a child he was put through hell in countless ways, he witnessed the behavior of a Stepmother that was sadistic, but at 18 he became a member of this Country's Elite Special Forces. He did not become a burden to anyone; he became an asset for us all.

At the moment of great personal triumph, circumstances landed him in jail facing a murder charge. All he had accomplished was virtually guaranteed to be destroyed. I believe it would have destroyed people with "normal childhoods" much less the hand he was dealt.

This is a brutally candid book that took a great deal of courage to write much less publish. He never "sold out" his story, and this book should not be confused with people who seem to enjoy sensationalizing their misery and that of others for a buck. The bestseller list at this moment contains one, and readers thankfully have trashed it.

The only reason I wish Mike had gone with a "Name" for a publisher is that this work would have gained a much larger audience. I know the story would have lost some of its intensity, but his decision to produce the book as he did is consistent with the person he is. His being faithful to his story was more important than the number of books he would sell.

This is a great read. It is at times painful, at other moments upsetting. In the end you will feel admiration for the man who gives so much credit to his Mother, and to his Grandparents. A woman named Viola helped, and her entrance into his life is described with some of the best humor I have read. She probably deserves her own book.

The ending of this book is imperfect just as real life is; the Author remained true to himself and his experiences. I felt very good with his final thoughts, like the book they were real. A positive ending, not a contrived, slick, happily ever after bit of nonsense.

I believe this Author has a great deal more to say, and I look forward to listening!

28 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Naval Aviator loved this book!, June 10, 2002

By 

LTJG Betham, US Navy (Jacksonville, Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Danger Close (Paperback)

This poignant biographical work hits you in all places of your heart. At times laughing with him and at other times feeling the heartwrenching pain with him, this book captures your attention from page one to the end. While retelling his captivating adventures of being a Green Beret with the US Army, he also includes the less exciting and heartwrenching details of his life--including the untimely death of his mother. I picked it up and couldn't put it down until I was done with it. This book is great for military and civilians alike! If a submarine-hunting P-3 flier can enjoy this book, so can you. Mike Yon candidly opens up and relates life--as is. If you relish the adventure of fiction with the down-to-earth punch of reality, this book is for you!

27 of 29 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The brother I never had -a 14year old's view., June 9, 2000

By 

Chavez XavieN (Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Danger Close (Paperback)

I didn't use to read a lot, I was surfing the net when I heard of this book. I got it shipped to Sweden from the nice guys at AppliePie, by e-mailing (!) them.

Seeing the fun and joy of the beginning of his life is like looking at my own at a certain age, you become one with the book. The very good descriptive way that he (Mike Yon of course) tells you his life, is amazing. The feelings coming through reading this book is tough, I had to lay the book down for a week.

The hell he went through after his first 7 years was amazing, the whole book is amazing if you ask me.

The book gives you faith, it makes you wanna fight. Parts of my life has been hard. I've had times when I thought seriously about suicide (planing it and all), then I thought it was weak and that I was a fighter so way would I do it? But then I was bouncing between those options becuz of the question "why live?". Now I can truthfully say that I won't help death dealing with me. This book gave me faith, strength and something that I really need and needed, a big brother. The brother I never had. Someone to look upto. Someone you in a way you wanna become, but in the end you don't. You realize the pain that is everywhere, in your life, and his life. Why try to get his when you can change yours? Lot's of questions like this came up but more about confidence. Now I can say "I won't give up!" "I will never give up, I will make it!". That is something I couldn't do before.

I think that everybody either needs help or some kinda encouragement. In my case encouragment. This book won't tell you you're the best and that he is a super-man-invincible-green-beret rather it will make you stand up and see how horrible life can be, and at the same time there is a away out. I guess it's not the same thing as making Special Forces training and it's not telling you what todo, it's showing you that you can make a good thing out of bad experience. That's my point of view.

A review can't justify this book, it will teach you, make you grow up, make you human, learn you not to give up. and a lot more.

Description of book: Astonishing.

Military have always been in the back of my head, now I know I wanna become a special forces soldier.