SEAL Target Geronimo

The Inside Story of the Mission to Kill Osama bin Laden

By: Chuck Pfarrer

Narrated by: Erik Bergmann

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

The controversial New York Times bestseller that tells the "engrossing account of the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden." —Kirkus Reviews (starred)

On May 2, 2011, at 1:03 a.m. a satellite uplink was sent from Pakistan crackling into the situation room of the White House: "Geronimo, Echo, KIA." These words, spoken by a Navy SEAL, ended Osama bin Laden's reign of terror. SEAL Target Geronimo is the story of Neptune's Spear from the men who were there. After talking to members of the SEAL team involved in the raid, Pfarrer shares never-before-revealed details in an exclusive account of what happened as he takes listeners inside the walls of Bin Laden's compound penetrating deep into the terrorist's lair to reach the exact spot where the Al Qaeda leader was cowering when the bullet entered his head. SEAL Target Geronimo is an explosive story of unparalleled valor and clockwork military precision carried out by the most elite fighting force in the world—the U.S. Navy's SEAL Team Six.

©2011 Chuck Pfarrer (P)2011 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

“Erik Bergman provides solid narration, reading in a voice that is deep, determined, and slightly raspy – all of which captures the tone of the author's prose and spirit.” —Publishers Weekly

“A marvelously engrossing account of the military operation that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden...Richly told in broad, cinematic strokes, this is catnip for readers who enjoy special-ops tales.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Pfarrer certainly had access. A SEAL Team Six assault-element commander in the 1980s, he is known inside the intelligence community for his well-regarded first book, Warrior Soul...He clearly had detailed conversations with senior officers in the SEALs' chain of command (especially Adm. William McRaven and then–SEAL Team Six commander Scott Kerr) and understands the vocabulary and the culture very well...SEAL Target Geronimo explodes a number of media myths about the raid to kill bin Laden...There was no "45-minute" running gun battle. The SEAL team fired only 12 bullets, and the whole operation lasted only 38 minutes...The most provocative part of the book is pure speculation: by killing bin Laden, did the SEALs accidentally do Zawahiri's dirty work?... As the British Foreign Office used to famously say: 'Interesting, if true.'” —Richard Miniter, The Daily Beast

Marcinko’s Legacy….his pain, their gain.

Chuck Pfarrer delivers a great story. For the detailed version of SEAL Team 6 origins see: Cdr. Richard Marcinko’s Rogue Warrior (I recommend the hard copy, great photos and more detail than abridged audiobook…if you can find it…the Audible copy might still be downloading one of Marcinko’s Spec-Op novels).

The bad. This is the second modern SEAL Team 6 book read to date. I am very disappointed that both Pfarrer and Wasdin (SEAL Team 6) seem to hold disrespect, a younger sibling like jealousy regarding the unbelievably difficult feat Cdr. Marcinko accomplished as founder and first commander of Mob-6. Marcinko, 2 tour Viet Nam War veteran, almost singlehandedly, battled many a dead weight, “Annapolis Navy” brass to create… from the ground up…what Pfarrer celebrates as the best Spec-Op unit in the U.S. military. Today, writers like Pfarrer, give us the impression that our modern Spec-Op warriors evolved as a product of some greater Academy group think. Wrong. The Academy military wants image, control and subservience. They fought tooth and nail to stall and or control both Delta and Mob-6…amazing we still have them. Warriors like Marcinko just want to do what they do best. Marcinko’s story is simply incredible (as with Col. Beckwith, Delta).

The good. Pfarrer’s recap of Spec-Op warfare, in particular the work of the SEAL’s is informative and interesting considering the ground he covers. The action sequence of battle is well done and delivers. The Bin Laden mission is given a fair amount of detail considering the necessity to protect our soldiers and tactics. The military history fan will enjoy this. Erik Bergmann’s narration is top notch. Recommended.

Great Book, Misleading Title

For 9 hours and change, I thought "the inside story of the mission to kill Osama bin Laden" would take up more than 1.5 to 2 hours. The filler was about SEAL infrastructure, SEAL training, the SEAL sniper mission off the coast of Somalia, and, primarily, an in-depth biography of bin Laden and the rise of al Qeada. It was all very good, but I feel misled. I did not buy this book to learn about the roots of Osama and al Qeada. I already knew most of that stuff. I wanted to know ALL about the mission to kill bin Laden. I got that, but not as much as I wanted. However, the last hour is gripping, and makes the book a good buy.

How to make money off our heroes...

Not a book review writer in general, but I had to comment on this one. The first 70% of the book is pretty interesting. He gives a history of SEAL Team 6 that is pretty rich in detail and generally interesting. His recounting of the takedown of the abductors of the captain of the Maersk Alabama is great. I literally exhaled when the story ended. After that, however, his kooky political ideas crept in. They had been weaving themselves in from the beginning with his constant castigation of all facets of the intelligence services, but then the chapter about how Bush covered up the fact that Saddam Hussein had WMD because it had fallen into the hands of al-Qaeda, and this admission would have caused embarrassment to the regime, strained credulity. Then the fact that the whole of the press would not report it because they had previously stated otherwise turn the book into the work of a conspiracy theorist. I lost interest after that. The story of the raid on UBL's compound had to have been gleaned 20% from news reports, and 80% from the imagination of a writer of fiction. I give him credit for writing a pretty decent fiction of the affair, but the tactical details were wholly fabricated, quotes from the participants and all. In the early chapters, he goes on and on about the silent heroes of Team Six, and then in the final chapter, he assumes that we are to believe that actual SEALs divulged the sensitive tactical details of their raid. I don't buy the story, and wish I hadn't bought the book.

AWESOME

If you are interested in SEAL teams, or the raid in Abbottabad, this is the first book you should read, and maybe the only one you'll need to read.

The first half is about other SEAL operations focusing on the rescue of the Captain taken hostage by Somali pirates.

The second half is all about bin Laden in Abbottabad and this version, in my opinion, rings truest. The narrator is terrific and that helps too.

Great Story Providing a new Angle

Chuck provides some new angles to the story and provides a good background, some is contested but adds great value to the story.

Learned Aot

Pfarrer gives us a great in-depth history lesson written so well that you could feel like you are listening to a novel. He gives us a great look at some of the inside workings of the SEALs from their inception until now. This book also contains a over-all look at the decades of turmoil in the Middle East. Here you might be thinking "yawn, ho hum." Think Again! The media has always painted bin Laden as great warrior and leader of men. When really neither is true. There seem to be two things he had an abundance of : money and the ability to get others to do the killing and the dying.

Are you kidding me??

I would have been so much more upset if I had purchased and read this book as opposed to listening to the audio book. The first eight hours of this story have absolutely nothing to do with the actual mission. Just a regurgitation of information I could see on the history or discovery channels regarding SEALS and Special Operations! I find it perplexing that someone goes into detail regarding the secretive and humble nature of the SEAL culture, and then expects the reader to believe that these heroes readily divulged such detailed, classified information? Really? Erik Bergmann is a great narrator, and the altnernate timeline of events makes for interesting thought/analysis, but overall, quite disappointed.

Newbie Listener

This is the first book that I have listened and I thoroughly enjoyed it in this format. I have become a big fan of audiobooks and hope others are as good as this one.

All Americans should read this!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

“SEAL Target Geronimo” is much more than a story of the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. This book is about how men’s lives are molded into the warriors that eventually carried out the mission to kill Osama bin Laden. This book is an autobiography of Navy Seals including their training, historical missions, life experiences, and their surprising relationships with the American Government. In fact, every representative in our Federal Government should be required to read this book! I can understand why some of them wanted to silence the hero author, Chuck Pfarrer.

Great Book...Mediocre Narrator

Where does SEAL Target Geronimo rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

What I find so interesting is that this book actually tends to give more details and descriptions about the Bin Laden mission, classified equipment and other very interesting things than the brand new, controversial book, No Easy Day does. I just finished it too, and I find this book "Geronimo" better. Also, I find it equally intersting that these two stories are by Navy SEAL's that were actually involved in that mission, and yet their two accounts of how, where and when Bin Laden was killed are different.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Yes. His narration was very choppy. He narrated like Obama talks. In very. Short Sentences. All the time. And. I think he. Thinks he does. A really good job. But. He does not! Hope you read that, in the cadence that it was meant! :-)

GOOD SOLID BOOK

i did a bit of research on this through amazon before using a credit and am very happy with the purchase. there is a lot of history of the events running up to the actual operation that killed bin laden, which i found very interesting. everything from the conception and historic missions of the SEAL's to the history of bin laden himself. didn't give it 5 stars becuase there was a lot of discussion about the events of the russian army in afghanistan in the 70's that i did not think was relevant. the seal training mentioned in the book is very interesting and the narration is excellent.

An excellent book

This an extremely well written and researched book. I feel it explains the issues in the middle East very well too. It's definitely worth a listen.

Disappointed

I felt let down and mislead about the contents of this book. The description is of a work about the operations and mission leading to the demise of the leader of Al Quaeda.
Out of a book of over 9 hours long only 3 hours are dedicated to the actual mission.
So in my opinion it's not what it states on either the cover or the description.
The three hours about the mission makes compelling reading.

Detailed, captivating account

This book covers not only the events of the night in question, but gives a solid background to al-Qaida, the Seals and conflicts in the middle East. Definitely worth a listen.