Danger Close (Paperback)

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!

I recently finished reading Mike Yon's autobiography "Danger Close". Mr. Yon's moving and intensely personal story had a profound affect on me, in that I was finally able to understand and articulate some large issues in my own life.

Similar to Mr. Yon, I too lost a parent at an early age, and I also "grew up" as a young man in the Army. My father was taken from me in a tragic incident when I was 5 years old. There was no other father-figure in my life until I came under the care and guidance of some truly great NCOs.

It was painful and difficult to read of his mother's death, and I had to put the book down for a while. It was two weeks before I could pick it up again, and continue.

I believe Mr. Yon's story is both inspiring and an open challenge to every young person today that is the product of disadvantage and hardship, a broken home or dysfunctional family. The message in Danger Close is, "Yes, you can make it! You will succeed if you'll only reach down deep enough. Never quit!".

Thank you, Mike, for a great story.

And thanks for showing us where the energy points are.

Chief Warrant Officer John Liner US Army, Retired