Reviews and Comments

Most autobiographical books written by special operations veterans typically follow the theme of "Here's how awesome we were and here's all the cool things we did". Jack unapologetically diverges from that, and he doesn't pull any punches while doing so.

From dysfunctional organizations, to dysfunctional people, to dysfunctional operations, he is unflinchingly honest. Jack will allocate praise where it's due and will present the unvarnished truth when it's not. There's a lot of ugliness in here, but it's an ugly business.

For folks that want to know what Army SOF looks like up close, this is easy to recommend.

Hayden has some impressive credentials, having been at the head of two of the world's premiere intelligence agencies. He also proves to be a big thinker, one that will engage with folks of divergent viewpoints and thoughtfully consider what they have to say.

While much of the text is focused on Trump's rocky relationship with the intelligence community, Hayden spends plenty of time exploring the realities of our society's present relationship with objective reality. He draws on history, thought leaders, and his own experience to frame the problems we're currently facing as a country.

While it does occasionally feel just plain bitchy in places, for the most part, it's an eloquent and enlightening read and easily recommended for anyone with an interest in government policy or the IC.

A former FBI hostage negotiator breaks down some key negotiation strategies. Part how-to and part history of the FBI's negotiation techniques, with a lot of real-world stories from the author's career.

Completely fascinating. It's largely geared towards business students (the author has a company that consults and teaches negotiation skills), but the strategies themselves are wonderfully explained and how they evolved over time is super interesting. Great, smooth read and stuff you can actually use.

Graham Greene served with MI6 during World War II and traveled the world extensively both before and after. His experiences really come across in this novel, where the narrator can zero in about the small details of a locale that make it special, as well as provide some insights into life in war zones that only someone with legitimate been-there-done-that experience would have.

While the plot itself centers around a love triangle between a journalist, a Vietnamese woman, and an American operative, that almost seemed like background noise to me. What made the book special was the first person narration - a voice that was reflecting on life in general, life in Vietnam, war, intrigue and numerous other details with an authenticity that can't be fabricated.

Beautifully written and filled with realities of conflict (internal, interpersonal, and between opposing forces) that continue to resonate.

A classic story of Depression-era New York City filled with flawed characters just trying to get by. Bad luck, poor decisions, and economic realities don't leave many winners in this novel, but you always wish the best for the good ones, even when they're doing something bad. Each phase of the character's life, from youth to adulthood, feels authentic, and when he hurts, the reader hurts too.

It's not perfect, and it's a product of its era, but it's still a classic.

Goodwin picks threads of similarity between all four leaders - origins, slumps, and victories - and uses her intimate knowledge of these figures to draw parallels between their situations. She draws on outside research on leadership traits and highlights those traits in practice through each of these stories.

There is a huge amount of US history here, relatable stories, and guidance on how to navigate leadership challenges. Wonderful work by one of America's foremost historians.

Grover's first book in the coaching space is not as strong as his sophomore effort, "Winning". In this text, he mostly provides a look at the various archetypes of high performers.

I think this book is most useful as a guide to introspection. Grover divides high performers into three categories and then gives various traits of each. Matching those traits against yourself is helpful for framing your own headspace.

Grover is exceptionally blunt and is pretty frank that some aspects of high performers aren't necessarily helpful or flattering. After multiple decades of working with some of the best athletes ever, he's candid about the ups and downs.

There's not much guidance on how to actually apply this knowledge, but I think it's still a useful exploration of mindset from someone with serious credentials. It might help you better understand yourself or the people you're leading.

Many texts on mindset have a glossy, self-help feel. This is not Tim Grover's approach.

This book covers Grover's experiences, observations, and strategies he collected over multiple decades of coaching some of the world's best athletes. Its lack of refinement is a refreshing departure from the "You can do it!" tone of so much of the mental coaching space.

Grover pulls no punches in describing how the road to high-performance is brutal, demoralizing, and never ending. It's written for folks who have been-there-done-that and find themselves compelled to go back and do it again. If the reader is looking for a gentle "pick me up", this isn't it.

This text has become a go-to recommendation for people that are about to do something really, really hard. An easy recommendation for any high-performer or someone who leads them.

This book follows the life of a German fighter pilot who once risked treason to help a damaged American bomber escape German airspace. It provides a nuanced look into the German warfighter's experience during the Second World War.

Portions of the book are spent on the backstory of the American crew, but the majority is spent with Franz Stigler, the German pilot. The book covers the entire flying career of Stigler and only two chapters are spent on the titular event.

It's a solid retelling from an author that has genuine respect for the subject matter and discusses some seldom covered details about the Luftwaffe. An easy recommendation for any military historian or aviation enthusiast.

This book is a mess. I can't tell if Sanger simply doesn't understand technical minutia or if his writing is so sloppy his explanations are useless - probably a bit of both.

The author repeatedly latches on to the most scandalous explanation of certain events, occasionally even acknowledging more mundane explanations are plausible and then proceeding to spend dozens of pages building up the more outlandish story. He extrapolates on scant details and builds complex theories on nothing other than pure speculation.

Further, many of his predictions on the future of cyberwar have simply proven incorrect in places like Ukraine. I can't necessarily fault Sanger for that - pretty much everyone in the information security community made the same forecasts - but nonetheless, they're wrong.

Go read Kim Zetter or Andy Greenberg.

The plot is given more room to breathe, the characters are a little more sophisticated, and larger swaths of the BattleTech universe begin to make an appearance. Still pulp sci-fi, but an improvement over the author's first BattleTech novel.