Customer Reviews

Shooter: The Autobiography of the Top-Ranked Marine Sniper

5 star:		(47)
4 star:		(21)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(10)
1 star:		(22)

 

 

This is a very gripping book by a man who has a rather unusual job. The job he does is a job that when troops are deployed must be done. It is a job that we collectively as a country sanction. It is an interesting study of one man's mind as he is doing this job. Whether you are hawk or dove it is a book that should be read as it more about human psychology than it is about war.
Of course by saying this I do not mean to say that the book is devoid of history as it is chock full of it.
It is also not just about killing but about skill and what it means to be skilled at something.
If you give this book a chance it will get you thinking.
A very challenging and multileveled book that is not so easy to dismiss (as much as many would perhaps like). It is very much worthy of your attention.

This is a non stop action filled read with a great human touch. The best book I have read in years about the struggle to keep your mind on killing vice having to live with it. The book focuses primarily on the most recent war in Iraq, but opens with the author's experience in Somalia. I would have liked to have read more about the author's 20 years in the marine corps, but nevertheless, this was a great read. I particularly enjoyed the author's opinions regarding the differences between an urban environment, and a jungle environment. Also, his views on the evolution of the deployment of snipers was very interesting. Finally, this book was a good, first person account of war.

I was a Marine in 3/4 "Darkside" during OIF, and can testify to the truth. What Coughlin says in his book is total BOGUS. Granted some of the battles are true, but his "heroics" are over played. He was attached to the Headquarters & Service Co. doing his company gunny duties, unlike the "Rambo" that he is trying to portray himself. Yes he is a sniper and had some kills, but not to the extent he claims. If he had, then how did the rest of us kill Iraqis? There wouldn't have been any left. Also, this is a guy that never did the PFT because he had "knee" issues and never did company or battalion humps. DO NOT WASTE YOUR MONEY. Go read "Darkside: The Road to Baghdad". That is the truth. As for the "Officer Bob" remarks, this was totally unwarranted and not true. As for his adoration of Lt. Casey, I mean- look at the picture of Casey and tell me where is the "linebacker" of a man? He was quite skinny the last time I saw him. Also, the Marine sniper community is not too pleased about this book.

I have been in the Marine Corps for 9 years, 6 as a scout/sniper. This book made me sick. Scout/Sniper's o not act like this, there is no top-ranked marine sniper we have no awards. We no longer collect confirmed kills. To see someone make money off of lies like this is heart-breaking. The public will read this a think it is true and pass this fish story along. If it was sold as fiction its just another story but to claim these events happened this way is unjust to the real scout/snipers in combat. Read NO True Glory if you want fact. You can read about what real marines do.

This is a relatively straightforward book, and frankly I'm surprised by the reactions that it's garnered here on Amazon. The author is an unusual character, as snipers themselves tend to usually be odd characters in general. They're loners, and most regular soldiers can't shake the idea that a sniper is only a uniform away from a murderer. They also tend to be rather like subdrivers and fighter pilots: they have personalities that allow them to confront situations as if they can do almost anything. The author himself, towards the end of this book, says that anyone who doesn't think he can walk on water has no business being a sniper in the USMC. Since I agree with the author, I'm afraid I think criticisms of him as an egotist are wide of the mark: it's his nature.

The book presents itself as an autobiography, but in reality it's a memoir of the first author's service in Iraq. The second author was an officer who served with him, often commanded him, and apparently helped with the writing. The third author is a ghostwriter who has dealt with military subjects in the past. Though there are three names on the front of the book credited as writers, the whole thing is told in the first person, from the point of view of Coughlin.

The book mostly recounts the author's attempts to get into the fighting during the invasion of Iraq, when he was assigned as the gunnery sergeant of the Headquarters and Supply Company (which he refers to once as the "HotDog and Soda Company"). The author bridles at this assignment, believing that he'd best serve his country and unit by working as a sniper. He portrays his struggle to get into combat as basically an extended argument with a superior officer whom he refers to as "Officer Bob" and who he insists was an absolute jerk and incompetent during the whole of the war. There's some truth to the observation of one of the negative reviewers: Coughlin seems to do few if any of his duties in the H&S company, instead devoting most of his time to being a sniper, which of course is someone else's job. The author covers this by insisting that the battalion commanding officer insisted that he (Coughlin) be on the front lines doing his sniping, and by recounting the damage he did when he was there.

The book is strangely deficient in a few ways. For one thing, the author spends almost no time discussing the technical aspects of what he does: the guns they used, the ammunition, scopes, and such. He does tell about things like range cards and spotters, but at no point is there any real discussion of what a sniper is supposed to do. Instead, the author gives you a brief intro dealing with his experiences in Mogadishum, then the narrative switches to the States in the years before 9/11. Most of tbe book involves the fighting in Iraq. The main point the author makes is that on the modern battlefields that the USMC fights on, snipers can get much closer to the front, and while they shouldn't be stupid in exposing themselves, they can spend much less time on concealment and get down to the business of killing enemy officers and soldiers much more quickly than they had been able to in previous wars. Though the author doesn't say this out loud, much of this phenomenon is due to the fact that his wars were fought against 3rd World "armies" consisting of a bunch of half-trained guys with AK-47s and RPGs. Marksmanship doesn't seem to be a priority with them, it's volume of fire that counts. As a result, a few well-placed shots do a world of good.

I generally enjoyed this book. I did feel it was a bit lacking in technical details. The author, interestingly, has been portrayed as an egotist by others on Amazon, and while I agree that he does spend a good deal of time telling you how effective he was on the battlefield, he also tells you how impressed he was with those around him on the battlefield. While he dislikes the one officer, he has a great deal of praise for three others (the battalion commander, the commander of the attached tank company, and the guy who's a coauthor of the book). He also recounts an incident where he upbraided a correspondent, only to discover the guy is a former Viet Nam-era Marine, and humbly recounts that he felt silly in the aftermath. Frankly, the guy doesn't come off as overblown to me, just rather frank in his opinions. I would recommend this book.

I served with John (Jack) Coughlin in the Marines. When I first found out he was writing a book. I was anxious to get a copy, but once I started reading the book. I was very disappointed. It was full of lies and make believe stories; I was with India Company 3/ 4 the same time Jack was there. He was a Plt Sgt with 1st platoon and had no sniper duties. The reason he was left behind when 3/ 4 went to Okinawa is 100% BS. He was left behind as the main point of contact for the unit while they were overseas. He handle the Red Cross messages, the Key Wives and other rear party misc duties. To get a true version on what 3/ 4 did in Iraq you have to read McCoy's Marines: Dark side to Baghdad. Not once is Jack mention in the book as a Sniper or any of his kills.

It is not often that I find a historical non-fiction book of the military variety that I can read in one sitting. This book reads like a fictional page-turner although it is a real life account. The authors give you a great mix of historical fact and personal storytelling - delving deep into the thoughts and actions of lesser known heroes of the war. I have served in OIF, and this book brought me right back to the dusty roads of Iraq, although these gentlemen experienced first hand some of the most historical events of the race to Baghdad. It is refreshing to read accounts not written by officials and high ranking officers - giving you the down in the dirt perspective of one of the most important current events of our times. I highly recommend this book to anyone regardless of your military "expertise" level!

Reading all the praise below, I had to double check to make sure I was reviewing the correct book. As an avid reader of military non-fiction, I found this to be among the worst I have read. Coughlin takes great pains to declare that he took no joy in his job, yet the book is peppered with with cliche'd macho phrases and terms, like "smoke-check" (used over and OVER again) and "invincible gunslinger persona". I actually laughed out loud a few times at the ridiculous ways that Coughlin refers to himself. The relentless back-talking to superior officers is also a pretty hackneyed feature of this work. And then there is the story, which is really just a loosely assembled account of some events that happened during the initial push to Baghdad. The author's poor command of prose couldn't even make that interesting in and of itself. By the end of the book I suspected that the author was really trying to convince himself, not the reader, that he wasn't getting off on every kill he logged. If you like reading arrogant, self-praising accounts that make use of every military cliche' ever penned, look no further. If you appreciate writing quality, humility, interesting content, and a believable author, seek elsewhere.

Having read both books about Gunnery Sgt. Hathcock I was impressed not only with his technical abilities but also his modesty,humility,leadership and devotion to the Corps.

I can sum up Coughlin's technical abilities as possibly being equal to Hathcock's but there the comparison ends. To me, what clearly came across in this book,is Coughlin's attitude of being a "legend in his own mind". He seems more concerned with looking bad in front of his fellow Marines while at the same time, beating the drum for the mystique(his in particular)of the scout/sniper.

He takes many cheap shots at "Officer Bob" and takes exception to his being awarded a commendation medal and a bump up promotion.Obviously, higher ranking officers must have thought differently than Coughlin regarding "Bob's" abilities including Coughlin's own CO(McCoy)who could haved disapproved both awards.

First off, let me say that if purchased at a discount, borrowed, or checked out, this book is a quick and interesting read. I'm a slow reader and read it cover to cover in only a few nights.

But the reality of this book is that there are some glaring and massive problems. The book could have literally been about 1/3 the number of pages and not missed a single thing. It was either very poorly written or targeted towards someone of a middle school reading level. I can't even begin to count the number of times the same core points were repeated over and over and over. By the time I finished the book, all I could think was "if I never here the word "killer" again, I'll die happy. Yes, Mr. Coughlin, we get it - you're a killer. We get that you're a bad ass shot. We get that you and the team were putting on the war faces. We get that you and Casey were close. We get it. We got it the first 10 times, and we don't need to hear it again. The book reads quick enough that I don't need a reminder of what the core moral issue was that you opened up with 5 pages before. And 5 pages after. And 5 pages after that...

And there's a difference between acknowledging your own skill and and pointing out that that confidence is a necessary part of the job. But GOOD LORD does this guy have an ego. I've yet to read ANY military book where the main character/subject was this hung up on himself.

What was likely a very interesting story, a story rich with details for those of us who weren't on the ground during the invasion of Iraq was masked by a near constant patting on the back. There was no history of the snipers to speak of. There was very little depth to the personal story, and there was a near gloss over any higher level discussion of what's happening with the tactics that Coughlin apparently came up with. Heck, we spend most of the book wondering what's going on with the wife back home and we get less than a single page of explaination.

Overall a fairly dissapointing book based on a concept that had mass potential. It's like the author was trying to write his own life story without actually telling us much about his life. To recap, we get a tiny amount of history (either personal or professional or general sniper related), we get a quick retelling of the events in more of a timeline fashion for the invasion of Iraq, and we get absolutely zero follow-up about what, if anything, Coughlin started with the urban sniper concept... all wrapped in a layer of ego so thick, it's difficult to focus on the actual story. And I'll not even mention the numerous typos and grammatical problems.

If you're into the sniper stuff, and you can get this book for cheap, pick it up... just be prepared for the fact that this is a pretty low quality book.