Long Shot

The Inside Story of the Snipers Who Broke ISIS

By: Azad Cudi

Narrated by: Ash Rizi

Length: 7 hrs and 36 mins

Publisher's summary

In 2002, at the age of 19, Azad, a young Kurdish man, was conscripted into Iran’s army and forced to fight against his own people. Refusing to go to war against his fellow Kurds, Azad deserted and smuggled himself to the United Kingdom, where he was granted asylum, became a citizen, and learned English.

But more than a decade later, having returned to the Middle East as a social worker in the wake of the Syrian civil war, Azad found that he would have to pick up a weapon once again. In September 2014, after 21 days of intensive training as a sniper, Azad became one of 17 volunteer marksmen deployed by the Kurdish army when ISIS besieged the city of Kobani in Rojava, the newly autonomous region of the Kurds.

In Long Shot, Azad tells the inside story of how the Kurdish forces fought nine months of bloody street battles against the Islamic State. Vastly outnumbered, the Kurds would have to kill the jihadis one by one, and Azad takes listeners on a harrowing journey behind rebel front lines to reveal the sniper unit’s essential role in fighting, and eventually defeating, ISIS. Weaving the brutal events of war with personal and political reflection, Azad meditates on the incalculable price of victory - the permanent effects of war on the body and mind; the devastating death of six of his closest comrades; the loss of hundreds of volunteers who died in battle. But as Azad explains, these were sacrifices that saved not only a city but a people and their land. Rojava was freed, and ISIS, which once threatened the world, never fully recovered.

At once wrenching and redemptive, Long Shot is a dramatic account of modern war that tells the story of how, against all odds, a few thousand men and women achieved the impossible and kept their dream of freedom alive.

©2019 Azad Cudi (P)2019 Audible, Inc.

Outstanding Book

I truly enjoyed this book ,I highly recommend it . Amazing insight on the war against isis from the view of a sniper .

Action packed

Excellent narration, and wow tons of sniping. A look into the Kurds battle for independence against ISIS with no too much political posturing, and just enough technical sniper tradecraft. Loved it.

great book

Excellent book and gripping tale of resilience. A first hand account of the battle against ISIS.

I wanted more

I did enjoy the story and loved the performance. However, I was left wanting more. Characters were not really developed. When one was killed it was nothing that I really felt.

Amazing real-life story of this never ending war

The struggle to fight the evil oppression of ISIS through the eyes of a normal young Kurdish man, driven to protect his people. Amazing, strong willed, humble, man serving faithfully. Seeing life through his eyes brings home the reason that Allied forces recognized the horrific deeds being done and the legitimacy to help. Amazing details and amazing will of the Kurds makes this a must read story.

Fight for Freedom

The fight against ISIS has been a common term on news programs and from politicians. However, this book depicts the terrible reality of the war on ISIS as experienced from a Kurdish freedom fighter. Kurds have made the news over the years as a persecuted people but have been stalwart allies of the U.S. in this war. The story depicts the remarkable endurance of a young Kurd, who was raised and persecuted in Iran. The brutality of ISIS meant freedom! The pure determination of to be free is depicted by the brutal sacrifices made by this man and all his friends. After reading this book, one is struck by the true meaning of the word freedom and the import of stamping out a terrible pestilence of hijacked religion. Amazing story of battle on a personal level.

communist manifesto disguised as combat account

I thought I was going to listen to a first hand account of combat but I basically got an indoctrination session on how communism continues to cause the death of those stupid enough to live under it. The author obviously thinks Kurdish communism is better than ISIS communism. The narrator does a good job but there are very few combat accounts compared to the amount of political B.S. Not worth the wasted money.