Well it was only just about a week ago i posted another book review. This one i smashed through pretty quickly (its not that thick) because of late shifts and also getting totally engrossed in it.

The book is Mission: Blacklist #1 by Eric Maddox. To give a bit of explanation before i go into the review a bit, Blacklist #1 is Saddam Hussein. During the 2003 Iraq Invasion the “Blacklist” was set up with a list of people who the Allies (US, UK & Aus) wanted to capture. On top of that list was obviously going to be Saddam himself. It also included other family members etc.

This book covers the story of how Saddam was found just prior to his capture in Tikrit. It follows along with the 6 month deployment of Eric Maddox the US Army Interragator as he slowly but surely plotted his way through the town of Tikrit with how each person seemed to be involved with Saddam in some form or fashion. It looked at who were his body guards etc and slowly but surely looked into this picture as they formed a nice big flow chart essentially of who was in charge of who etc.

After 6 months of interrogating etc it was as though they were never going to find him, but in the off chance they actually seemed to catch him. He was hidden in a “spider hole” under the ground near a house in a town just outside Tikrit. Totally crazy. The book was just totally engrossing, following the process of going through all the people, following the body guard links.

I highly recommend it and it is a good insight into something that wasn’t to widely put out about the Iraq War (at least that i remember). This is the last of my Ekka books essentially and im stepping away from the War for the moment and going into something totally different, but that book will remain a mystery till the next review.

So finished off the latest book last night and in the new fashion, here is my 2nd review.

The book, Extreme Risk is written by Major Chris Hunter. An Ex British Army ATO (Ammunition Technical Officer), essentially what in other Countries is called an EOD technician or Explosive Ordinance Disposal or a crazy bastard who diffuses bombs for a living. This was a really interesting book to me. After hearing so much over the last few years about “IED this, IED that” (Improvised Explosive Device), it was good to read about some real life experiences with it. But the bit that really was interesting to me was Northern Ireland. I had really actually forgotten about that conflict and it was good to actually read some stuff and bring back some memories of when it wasn’t all about Al Queda but what you heard on the news was more about the IRA etc.

A very interesting read, each chapter started with a quote about life and this really had me wanting to scribble some down. Here are a few of my favourites:

“Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined” – Henry David Thoreau
“He who sedulously attends, pointedly asks, calmly speaks, coolly answers and ceseas when he has no more to say is in possession of some of the best requisites of man” – Johann Casper Lavater
“Patience is the companion of wisdom” – St Augustine
“The first step to knowledge is to know that we are ignorant” – Lord David Cecil
“Have a heart that never hardens, a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts” – Charles Dickens
“Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood” – Marie Curie

I really liked this book and was captivated by it. Totally don’t regret this purchase at all, another one of those $5 books i came across. Turns out that he also wrote another book on his time in Iraq so that one goes into the Amazon wishlist, for future purchases. Definately recommend this book if you are after a bit of perspective on a different kind of aspect of some of the conflicts around the world. A look at the world of someone who spends his time being methodical and also very very logical. Who looks at problems and tries to work out what is wrong.

Something that is quoted a number of times in this book always seems to stick in my head. “Absence of the normal & presence of the abnormal.” If something doesn’t look right, it most likely isnt! Good words to live by.

So i thought since I am reading so much, I might as well do some book reviews. So each time I finish a book now. I am going to share my thoughts on it to the world.

First up is the book i finished Thursday night. It is “Spoken from the Front” It is a collection of letters, diary entries, emails and interviews from British Soldiers stationed in the Helmand Province of Afghanistan. It has been edited by Andy McNab but its written pretty much by the Soldiers themselves. It is a very wide range of soldiers, including medics, doctors, pilots, military police and of course general infantry soldiers.

It was a good collection of really heartfelt stories in my opinion. some good laughs as well with some very twisted emails from a Defence Press agent sending emails home. I really did like it as it gave a good insight into the way the soldiers etc really think in the war zone. The book is more about the people than about the war itself and that to me is a good way of looking at things. Reading about the people who make the sacrifices to go over there and do it, rather than about the war itself and have the book become and almost political nature as some of them do these days.

I picked this one up at the Ekka on the cheap so it only cost me $5 but i think it was good value. Not sure what else to say about this one, a good read if you want a more light hearted, personal read about the war in Afghanistan from a very varied perspective.