Black Hawk Down

Executive Summary: I think this is a case of bad timing more than the quality of the book. I think choosing to read a nonfiction book about a lot of American soldiers dying near the holidays was a bad idea on my part.

Audiobook: Alan Sklar seemed to be a fine narrator. Unlike fiction books, I always prefer the narrator do as little as possible with nonfiction. He read clearly and with good inflection.

Full Review
I saw the movie adaptation of this book years ago when it first came out, and recalling thinking it a well told story. Well told doesn't necessarily translate to enjoyable however, especially when the subject matter is so dire.

Mr. Bowden seems to do a great job in gathering facts and input from a variety of people involved in what has come to be called The Battle of Mogadishu. This includes not only many of the soldiers who lived it, but a few of the Somalies as well.

I found the story slow and a bit dry at the beginning. I think Mr. Bowden wanted to ensure we knew whose these American soldiers were, and he goes into a lot of detail about many of them at the start.

Things really start to pick up as everything goes wrong. It's not really a story of American triumph however. That made for some hard listening at times.

Real life is always more fascinating than fiction, but I just never fully got into this book. I am glad I read it though, and I think it's an important story to have been told, especially at the time when it was released. If you enjoy military nonfiction, especially a fairly recent story, give this one a look.