Eight Lives Down: The Most Dangerous Job in the World in the Most Dangerous Place in the World [Paperback]

Chris Hunter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 19, 2009

Visceral and compelling, Eight Lives Down is the most exciting and nerve-jangling work of military non-fiction since Bravo Two Zero.

If fate is against me and I’m killed, so be it, but make it quick and painless. If I’m wounded, don’t let me be crippled. But above all, don’t let me fuck up the task.

So goes the bomb technician’s prayer before every bomb he defuses. For Chris Hunter, it is a prayer he says many times during his four-month tour of Iraq. His is the most dangerous job in the world — to make safe the British sector in Iraq against some of the most hardened and technically advanced terrorists in the world. It is a 24/7 job — in the first two months alone, his team defuses over 45 bombs. And the people they’re up against don’t play by the Geneva Convention. For them, there are no rules, only results — death by any means necessary.

The job of a Bomb Disposal officer is a lonely one. You are alone with the sound of your own breathing and the drumming of your heart in a protective suit in forty-plus degrees of heat. The drawbridge has been pulled up behind you as you advance on your goal. It’s just you and the bomb.

But for Chris Hunter, just when life couldn’t get any more dangerous, the stakes are raised again.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"... packed with such powerful descriptions of coming under fire that at times you begin to imagine you have picked up the script for a Hollywood action movie."
—London Lite

"Will do for Saddam Hussein and George W. Bush what McNab did for Saddam and George Senior"
—Evening Standard

"You're left in awe and wondering if we're paying Our Boys enough for going through this kind of hell. And doubting it."
—Books Sport


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Chris Hunter retired in March 2007 from the Defense Intelligence Staff, where he was the MOD’s senior IED intelligence analyst. He is a former chairman of the Technical Committee of the Institute of Explosives Engineers and continues to work as a counterterrorism consultant. He works regularly with U.S. military and law enforcement personnel, including a number of government agencies and the U.S. Special Forces. He has served on numerous operations in the Balkans, East Africa, Northern Ireland, Colombia, and Afghanistan and was awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal for his actions during his tour in Iraq. He lives with his wife and two daughters in the west of England.


From the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Delta (May 19, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553385283
• ISBN-13: 978-0553385281
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 0.9 x 8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #654,391 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly Recommended - Well Done, Maj Hunter, December 9, 2007

By 

Stephen "Author of Proximity" - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eight Lives Down (Hardcover)

In "Eight Lives Down" Chris Hunter does his part to shed light on the EOD operations in Iraq from his first hand experience as a Royal Logistic Corps Ammunition Technical Officer (ATO) serving in Basra. Hunter's counter-IED efforts were so successful that he was personally targeted by the Mahdi Army, a dubious honor previously reserved for ATOs operating in Northern Ireland.
It is enough that Hunter chronicles his team performing multiple hair-raising render safe procedures, but the impact on the reader is amplified by valuable insight tied together with strong writing. In "Eight Lives Down," military enthusiasts and historians will appreciate Hunter's reflective points about the challenges of counter-insurgency. Those new to the world of bomb disposal will find themselves suitably educated into its procedures and associated dangers. Any fan of non-fiction will empathize with the inclusions of Hunter's personal touch, describing the difficulty in maintaining family life from a war zone. Finally, those who served in Iraq will undoubtedly be transported back to their service there through these pages. I predict that in years hence, when queried about their service, EOD Technicians who served in Iraq will point to a copy of Eight Lives Down and say, "Read this first." Hooya, Major Hunter.

Also recommended: A Special Kind of Courage: 321 EOD Squadron Battling the Bombers,The Longest Walk: The World of Bomb Disposal, BOMB SQUAD: A YEAR INSIDE THE NATION'S MOST EXCLUSIVE POLICE UNIT, America's First Frogman: The Draper Kauffman Story

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So...you think you want to be a Bomb Guy?, June 2, 2008

By 

Kevin Kerns (Charleston,SC USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eight Lives Down: The Story of the World's Most Dangerous Job in the World's Most Dangerous Place (Hardcover)

As an American Navy EOD operator, I've had the opportunity to rub shoulders with Chris's mates in the same theater of operations, and it doesn't get realer than EIGHT LIVES DOWN. From the numbing boredom and anxiety while waiting for "the call", to the controlled terror of "the long walk", Chris has done a spot on job of revealing the persona typical of the joes who go in first to save lives and property, without going so far as to reveal the techniques and secrets that allow most of us to come home with all of our fingers. This is the reason that, while you'll find scads of books about other special operations units (SEALS, SAS, Green beret's, etc.), you'll find very little written about these publicity shy operators. By far the best insight into military tactical bomb disposal I have ever encountered. Great job Chris...I trust you're enjoying Nine.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The married man with two kids who liked to play with bombs, June 30, 2008

By 

Brian Kodi - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eight Lives Down: The Story of the World's Most Dangerous Job in the World's Most Dangerous Place (Hardcover)

Mr. Hunter spent 17.5 years in the British army, 10 of which were in bomb disposal. Eight lives down focuses on 4 months of his tour in Iraq, with the first two as his last stint as an ATO (ammunition technical officer). He and his team were so successful in diffusing bombs that insurgents took a disliking to him with a price on his head. His next two months were spent as a weapons intelligence officer, a position he reluctantly accepted but grew to like.

Major Hunter was married with two kids when he deployed to Iraq, despite one more empty promise in a string of broken promises not to spend time away from his wife on dangerous missions. Iraq would become his longest mission away from home, during which he became borderline paranoid about his wife divorcing him. It's a wonder why a married man with two small kids would prefer the rush of adrenaline from diffusing bombs to spending time with his family. "I've never taken drugs," he said, "but I don't believe there's anything that will ever equal the exhilaration of that tour," referring to Iraq.

Chris Hunter wrote this book under an alias for security reasons. His intent was to share his experience of what it was like to be terrified, how his family coped with his time away and the ever present danger of losing him, and how soldiers like him react to the pressures of the day to day grind in battle.

In this action packed book, Mr. Hunter compiled the most exciting events of his tour in Iraq sure to satisfy the appetite of even casual military and combat enthusiasts.