Trigger Men

Shadow Team, Spider-Man, the Magnificent Bastards, American Combat Sniper

By: Hans Halberstadt

Narrated by: Johnny Heller

Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

Combat veteran and author Hans Halberstadt takes listeners deeper inside the elusive world of snipers than ever before, from recruitment and training to the brutality of the killing fields.

Shadow Team is probably the most productive sniper team in American military history, accounting for 276 confirmed kills in a six-month span with no casualties of its own. The team's leader made what was - and may still be - the longest range kill with a 7.62mm rifle. For the first time ever, team members explain what it's like to kill a man and what it takes to become one of the elite.

The tragic tale of Headhunter Two is altogether different. This four-man sniper team from a regiment known within the Corps as the Magnificent Bastards was killed in 2004 in Ramadi, Iraq. Their deaths not only caused a reevaluation of sniper tactics and techniques but also created a desire for vengeance that was exacted nearly two years later in dramatic fashion.

Based on hundreds of hours of exclusive interviews, Halberstadt gets inside the sniper mind and shows how snipers think and interact with each other, how missions are planned and executed, how the weapons work, and even what happens when a bullet finally strikes its target.

There are only a few hundred snipers from all the services put together in combat at any one time, making this true inside story a rare and important event.

©2008 Hans Halberstadt (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"For those looking for a thorough primer on the role of the military sniper in today's counterinsurgency missions, this is a solid introduction." ( Publishers Weekly)

An inspiring book about choosing the right

The book is sprinkled with information about long distance shooting techniques woven into the a fabric of stories of true American heroes. They choose to do the right thing to defend America, our soldiers, and even minimize the loss of life of our adversaries. The book is full of compelling stories of men with the skill and courage to prevail against the scum of humanity. To those present and past who have stood as Sentinels on behalf of our country, our eternal gratitude and support is offered to you and your families.

Trigger Men (unabridged)

What a marvelous book told with honesty about a craft that many find "ungentlemanly" but is "right in the face" of the trigger puller.

Great book

This book told the story of true unsung hero's of our time. Well worth a read

Good but at times too technical!

Overall good but at times it was too technical. Didn't find the technical data on bullet weight that interesting.

WOW

If you like war stories and learning about things you never thought about, this book is great. gives great examples of snipers

Awesome book!

I love this book and how it was put together. We get an inside look at several different teams and get to hear their stories. I'd suggest listening to this book if you like true and uncensored stories from the men who put their butts on the line and their eye behind the scope.

Good story, interesting

This had a good mix of action episodes and other parts.

Delivered Just What I Was Looking For

I set out to find a book that goes in depth into the lives and training of these unsung heroes, and I got just what I was looking for. The book contains first-person accounts of how these highly trained warriors use communication, training and critical thinking to adapt to the changing landscape of this new battlefield. It's incredibly interesting to me that in a military force of such high tech weaponry, these men use bolt-action rifles of a design from decades ago to turn the tides on the ground, and deliver precise strikes that avoid the collateral damage that large shells and missiles can inflict. This results in the prevention of IED placement, and protects the lives of countless troops who are often vulnerable in the urban environment.

I especially enjoyed the stories of the legendary characters from the title - the Magnificent Bastards and Spider-Man in particular, and their moments of excitement and pride in their incredibly dangerous job.

The real quality of this book was how it could have easily been a dry listing of all the ammo types and specifics of sniper equipment and tactics, but instead, those details were incorporated into real stories, so you still get all that interesting detail, but in a way that was engaging and exciting, and it made for a great book.

Snipers Rock

I found this book to be very interesting and entertaining, but it can get a bit technical which was fine with me.

I have read a lot of books about the military and snipers in particular so it was good to see that they all pretty much concur with each other as to what really goes on in the sniper world. It was also good to hear that, most, if not all, of the snipers don't have a problem with their jobs. As strange as it sounds, I do not consider them murderers or killers or whatever else anyone would call them just because they happen to put people down. They are just men doing their job of saving their teammates in a kill or be killed world. As a female, I have no problem with that.

I liked it and would recommend this book.

Enjoyed the content and subject matter

My only negative is the volume level, at times, is a low. My son being a Marine Sniper, I enjoyed the history.