No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden [Hardcover]

Mark Owen (Author), Kevin Maurer (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 4, 2012

For the first time anywhere, the first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy Seal who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moments.

From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from the mountaintops of Afghanistan to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden’s compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group--commonly known as SEAL Team Six-- has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines.

No Easy Day puts readers alongside Owen and the other handpicked members of the twenty-four-man team as they train for the biggest mission of their lives. The blow-by-blow narrative of the assault, beginning with the helicopter crash that could have ended Owen’s life straight through to the radio call confirming Bin Laden’s death, is an essential piece of modern history.

In No Easy Day, Owen also takes readers onto the field of battle in America’s ongoing War on Terror and details the selection and training process for one of the most elite units in the military. Owen’s story draws on his youth in Alaska and describes the SEALs’ quest to challenge themselves at the highest levels of physical and mental endurance. With boots-on-the-ground detail, Owen describes numerous previously unreported missions that illustrate the life and work of a SEAL and the evolution of the team after the events of September 11. In telling the true story of the SEALs whose talents, skills, experiences, and exceptional sacrifices led to one of the greatest victories in the War on Terror, Mark Owen honors the men who risk everything for our country, and he leaves readers with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This harrowing, minute-by-minute account by one of the highly trained members of Navy SEAL Team Six is narrative nonfiction at its most gripping, taking the reader through the mountains of Afghanistan and inside the slightly dilapidated-looking family compound in Pakistan." - Entertainment Weekly

“The bin Laden story is the marquee event in No Easy Day, of course. But the formative steps in the author’s own story are just as gripping. Mr. Owen’s new information about the Abbottobad attacks adds a human element to much of what has been previously reported. There is no better illustration in No Easy Day that SEALs are ruthless pragmatists. They think fast. They adapt to whatever faces them. They do what they have to do.” –Janet Maslin, New York Times

“The book is a stomach-twisting close-up look at that historic mission in Abbottabad, told from the point of view of a super-elite member of SEAL Team Six who fired a bullet into bin Laden and helped carry away the corpse. Written in clean, polished prose... No Easy Day often reads like a gripping novel as the author recounts remarkably vivid details... No Easy Day puts you right there for every tense moment.” –Entertainment Weekly

" ...A cast of characters, including Owen himself, artfully drawn, yet painfully human, passionate descriptions of a lifestyle that few are privy to, as well as its breathlessly paced, inexorable march toward an inevitable ending…it's a remarkably intimate glimpse into what motivates men striving to join an elite fighting force like the SEALS — and what keeps them there.” -Associated Press

“Make no mistake: No Easy Day is an important historic document. Think if we had a first-person account of the last minutes of Hitler in his bunker. No Easy Day is brisk and compelling in its telling of the training, execution and immediate aftermath of the Bin Laden mission by the elite Seal Team Six.” -Los Angeles Times
 

“[Mark Owen] has given us a brave retelling of one of the most important events in U.S. military history.”  -People Magazine
 

“The writing is fast-paced, and Owen and Maurer tell some good yarns in a conversational style. They also neatly capture the camaraderie, the pranks, the constant training and the evident love that the men of SEAL Team 6 have for their jobs." -Washington Post

About the Author

Mark Owen a former member of the U.S. 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 May 1, 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 No Easy Day 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 U.S. forces in Iraq and Haiti. He is the author of four books, including several about special operations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 316 pages
• Publisher: Dutton Adult; First Edition edition (September 4, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0525953728
• ISBN-13: 978-0525953722
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4,783 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #3 in Books > History > Military > United States > Veterans
  • #3 in Books > History > Military > Afghan War
  • #3 in Books > History > Asia > Afghanistan

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

728 of 808 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gripping Story from a Boots on the Ground Perspective September 4, 2012

By Victor Cheng

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

In No Easy Day, you see an account of the raid to capture or kill Osama Bin Laden from the eyes on someone who was there - one of four team leaders on the ground that night. The account is most definitely gripping, I could not put it down and I skipped sleeping to finish it - yes, there will be hell to pay at work tomorrow. But, nowhere close to as much hell as the operators in DevGru (aka Seal Team 6) undertook to get into DevGru and to stay there.

The first thing that struck me was just how elite a team the US sent on that raid. To be a member of DevGru you have to ALREADY be a Navy Seal. Most who apply don't make it, but they go back to being a "regular" SEAL which has nothing regular about it. For the Bin Laden raid, they essentially assembled an All Star team of the most seasoned DevGru operators from multiple teams and put them together on a team consisting of the best of the best of the best.

My next takeaway on the actual raid itself was how many things actually went wrong. Here you have the best of the best taking part in a historic mission, and all kinds of things start falling apart. Yet, amazingly (to me), despite all the problems, it still worked out. Thats because everything that could have gone wrong was previously anticipated, contingency plans made, and all back up plans were rehearsed multiple times. While I considered the mission to be successful, the impression I get is the members of DevGru thought they could have done it much better. (I'll leave out the details as to avoid spoiling the story).

This leads me to my next takeaway which is just how devoted to perfection and exceptional performance these operators seem to be. One thing that surprised me is how much they train when they aren't deployed. If they aren't jumping out of helicopters on a real mission, they are jumping out of real helicopters for practice. The missions are abroad and the training sessions are state side but often away from home too.

In short, these guys don't ever seem to be at home very much, it just takes that much work and training to be as good as these guys are. I for one am glad they are on OUR side and my appreciation for them has certainly gone way up after reading this book,

No Easy Day very much gives you a view into both the Bin Laden raid but also the years and in some cases decades of demanding work that led up to it... And the title IS accurate, there doesn't seem to be ANY easy days as a member of DevGru.

Overall a gripping story on the Bin Laden raid with excellent perspective on the life of the operators in DevGru (Seal Team 6).

340 of 396 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent. An intense, well written, and captivating memoir. I finished it in one day. September 4, 2012

By S. Power TOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am usually a very slow reader and my attention often wanders, especially with non-fiction. This book though kept my attention completely. From the author's opening notes about how nothing in this book violates secrecy or operational security to the very last chapter I was completely captivated. The writing is superb and the flow of the book is great.

I highly recommend that you read this book. It is excellent not just as history, or a story, but also a book about how winners think. Guys like "Owen" look at challenges and life completely differently than average people do, and reading this book gave me a wonderful insight into his head. To get an honest view into the thought processes of someone like "Owen" is a unique and incredible opportunity.

I really enjoyed this book and feel like I learned a tremendous amount from it. I highly recommend it.

People who are bashing the book for being a sell out or violating secrecy either have not read the book or are looking at it from a very unique and odd perspective. I find it especially perplexing that some people are bashing him using his experience to gain fame and profit. Considering he wrote under a pseudonym and is donating a majority of the book's proceeds to charity, I can't really understand these accusations. He explains throughout the book that he was motivated to become a SEAL, in part, by reading a similar book about missions in Vietnam. I think that his primary motivation in writing this book is to inform the public, especially those very very few who might make up a future generation of SEALs and Delta operators.

287 of 340 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Hero's Never Use the Term for Themselves September 4, 2012

By Ethan E. Harris VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

"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-discipline 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.

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.