No Easy Day

The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

By: Mark Owen, Kevin Maurer

Narrated by: Holter Graham

Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

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 listeners alongside Owen and the other handpicked members of the 24-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 listeners 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 listenres with a deep understanding of the warriors who keep America safe.

©2012 Mark Owen and Kevin Maurer (P)2012 Penguin Audiobooks

Critic reviews

"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.... No Easy Deal puts you right there for every tense moment." (Entertainment Weekly)

"Gripping.... 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." (The New York Times)

"[Mark Owen] has given us a brave retelling of one of the most important events in U.S. military history." (People)

Great book!

loved it! True story of the American War fighters that cut the head from the snake.

Thrilling and Sincere

I grew up in Coronado, California and knew many seals. One of my best friends from middle school eventually became an officer among them. I have great respect and honor for men who carried out this mission. I found this book to be relatable, interesting, and it took me to the places he went. What a thrill 

Great book!

A very straight forward book that describes the raid in good detail. It’s good to hear from the people on the ground and were actually there.

Badass

This was another home run and explained a lot of the team’s and how hardcore the Seals are

Gripping, first-hand narrative of Op Neptune Spear

If you are buying this expecting some policy debate on AFPAK, Osama Bin Laden, or al-Qaida, this is probably not your book.

If, however, you are looking for a gripping, first-hand narrative of Operation Neptune Spear, written by one of the members of the SEAL team that was on the ground, this is the book for you. 'No Easy Day' isn't a perfect book and from a strickly literary standpoint it isn't as good as 'Black Hawk Down', etc., but it does provide a nice framwork for the lay-person to understand some of the on-the-ground details of the preparation and raid and men that got Osama Bin Laden.

As a friend to several members of the Night Stalkers, and the brother of a black hawk pilot who spent considerable time during the past 10 years flying special operations teams around Afghanistan, ANY book that can grab our nation's attention and focus it (even for a minute, but let's just hope it is longer) on those brave men who sacrifice so much to carry out our nation's interests day-after-day. deserves our attention.

One further reason to read this book. If the back and forth between Owen and the Pentagon is any indication, this might be one of the last memoirs of this Calibre from SEALs or Special Operations operators that we might see for awhile.

Holter Graham does a fine job of narrating this book and doesn't slow down the energy of the books narrative. My only real complaint, I wish it was a little bit longer.

Why is everybody in an uproar over this book?

I finished listening to it today as well as buying it today. If I recall from other books I have listened to about the Navy Seals it wasn't revealing much that I haven't heard already. I feel it was an excellent book. Every man that was in this fight was AKA's no real names used. He also said he consulted a lawyer that deals with special warfare. Obviously some people think this was something WRONG that the author wrote about. My honest opinion is every american should listen to this book. The liberal media and as they say in the book, "The Washington Machine" want to control everything. I mean look at what they did to our service men and women with the ROE (rules of engagement). War is war and has been that way for years. I give big congrats to ALL THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE US MILITARY. The guy who wrote this is a hero and all the men that were on this mission are hero's. No question about it.

Review by former Army SGT

I started out the year listening to the 9/11 Commission Report, which was extremely detailed and chilling. I was left wanting more, even though I, of course, "knew the ending".

Unlike the 9/11 Report, which was written by a committee in the third person, "No Easy Day" is a first hand narrative of the raid that killed 'UBL', in the preferred acronym of the Seal Team that conducted the operation. The author details his extensive training and previous mission experience, as well as that of some of his fellow Seals, to show how what to ordinary Americans appears to be an extraordinary feat was the product of years and years of training, working as a team, and practice. The raid that killed UBL was "No Easy Day", but the author makes it clear that other missions were much harder. In fact, the subsequent loss of secrecy and publicity was much harder on 'Mark Owen' than the actual mission.

This book does not discuss the morality of any side in the conflict, and it makes clear that even at the line level, military service members know there are more than two sides. 'Mark Owen' makes it clear that Seals kill - but also that they are careful to avoid injuring or killing non-combatants. However, combatants can and do include women and children.

'Mark Owen' shares the credit for the mission's success so generously that I was left wondering if he has endangered the lives of the other people involved in the mission, and their families - especially since actual identity is generally known. Since 'Mark Owen' often describes having very short term goals - such as making it to lunch - as a necessary mechanism to make it through difficult situations, and compartmentalizing missions and his life, his ability to be a good front line Seal may have made it impossible for him to see far enough into the future to anticipate the consequences of writing this book.

I have some criticism of the writing, and that is the use of acronyms, unexplained jargon, and the sometimes failure to explain some military weaponry and equipment. I served in the US Army from 1982 - 1986. For example, I know what an AK-47 is, what it sounds like, why they are common in the Middle East, but a reader new to this genre might have to Google that, which is disrputive. The AK-47 is easily explained in a sentance or two, without disrupting the flow. There were a few acronyms that threw me, either because they weren't explained, or they were explained much earlier in the book and I'd forgotten what they meant.

The narration was one of the best I've heard on Audible, and the audio editing was excellent.

I'm at the Audible Professional Level rating, and this is my first 5/5 rating.

Interesting insight but more like a rote memoir

More like a diary or chronology of events than a story. Could have been more dramatic in the storytelling even though it was true. My attention was kept more by the importance of the historical event than the drama, character development, or narration.

Understanding the Drive

Would you listen to No Easy Day again? Why?

Get a first hand account of what happened on that historical mission. This is about the mission that every solider wished they were on. The sacrifices that these soldiers make so you can sleep peacefully in your beds at night. Great read!

It's understandable why the author wrote this book

The author should be proud of his accomplishments in protecting our freedom! He should be applauded......