The Reaper

The Book in 1 Sentence

Nicholas Irving story of his time in Helmand Province where he earned the nickname "The Reaper" as well as clarifying his actual count.

Brief Review

This is a decent book that tells a good story. However, it is nothing crazy. A memoir that doesn't explain anything beyond some almost repetitive statements about how military members deal with combat actions.

Why I Read this book

Saw an interview with him about how his wife found out that he had this nickname.

In-Depth Review (Favorite Quotes)

It was a really fun read. The storytelling is well done, and I appreciate that it was more about the team than it was about the missions.

I think that where I find this book to be lacking is that it felt very surface level. Almost like you were being told the story where I typically want more. It is a light book as far as amount of content, but it does touch on some things that I believe should be touched on more, even in this book.

There is a one-off sentence about him getting disillusioned about why he was in Afghanistan, and he never really expands on it. Almost as if everyone should know his feelings and I have no idea what they are and would have loved to hear more about that for him. I also think I would have liked some flashbacks to Iraq and training to better understand his relationship with his spotters and the rest of the teams. Especially the spotter as he and Irv had been together a long time.

Rating

It was hard for me to give this a rating. The book itself isn't great, and as an audio listener, I was kind of disappointed that Irving didn't read it himself. As someone who has tried to read books out loud as an adult, I understand not wanting to, but that is typically why I listen to memoirs is to hear them tell me the tale. However, the stories were really good and I was excited to continue listening to it, so this is an 8.

Want to get a hold of me?
Email | [email protected]

None of the link provided are sponsored or affiliate links, unless otherwise notated.