Excellent story/horrible narrator

What did you love best about The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen?

This story was extremely entertaining. Webb talks about his childhood, selection into the teams, the SEAL sniper program (from a student/ intructor/ program manager perspective), his deployments and life after the Navy. A great autobiography. Of note, the actual author pre-empts every chapter with small interesting dialogues. He also speaks a bit after the ending of the book. This was a welcomed change from normal audio books in which the actual author never speaks.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narrator was horrible. The book is worth suffering through him though. In the beginning of the book he sounds like a movie preview voice-over. Once you get over this, it becomes obvious that he knows nothing about the topic. Be prepared for pronounciations such as "Hell-O" for helo and "Be You Dee Ess" for BUDS. The guy is inept at best but like cow dung smell at a ranch, you get used to him eventually.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

The book was really good. The narrator, Jon Bailey, really detracted from the story. It seems that the audio narration was completed before the company even had rights to it so the author possibly did not have an opportunity to have a say as to the horrible recording.

40 people found this helpful

Decent story, narration left a lot to be desired.

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

Yes, although the story is not a rivetting as some others and the narration by the reader was not very good, I still think it is a good story and worth the listen.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen?

I enjoyed Brandon Webb's peronal additions/reflections at the beggining of the story, the start of each chapter, and the end of the book.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Jon Bailey?

Not unless there was no other way to get to "read" the story. I would probably read the actual book before listening to him again. Someone should have at least gone over with him the pronunciation of the common military jargon used in the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No.

Any additional comments?

Proper pronunciation of military jargon is a common error among a lot of the narrators/readers in audio books. It reflects a lack of military service or even knowledge of our military. If you choose not to serve, that's fine, but if you are going to make money off of the backs of those who did by narrating their story at least take a little time to educate yourself on their way of life. It comes across as "I don't care enough to learn how to pronounce "BUD/S". There used to be a work ethic in this country that went something like, "if you are going to do something....take the time and put in the effort to do it right."

46 people found this helpful

An Interesting memoir

This memoir is Brandon Webb’s experiences as a Navy SEAL and sniper. He says that he belonged to the most elite sniper corp. in the world. He tells of his grueling years of training in the Navy SEAL’s and the Naval Special Operations. He tells of combat tours in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan. Later he was the lead instructor in the Navy Seal Sniper Program.

The book is well written and it appears that Webb is very honest and straight forward with his evaluation of himself and others. It is amazing the challenges the Navy SEAL’s put men through in their training. There is lots of interesting information woven into the tales of combat and training along with some humor. I found it extremely annoying to have Webb “talk” about what each chapter contains before the narrator reads the chapter. Between Webb talking before each chapter and the numerous repeating of sentences and information I found myself becoming impatient. The book needed an audio editor to clean up the repeating sentences. The pace is fast and the book is written to keep the reader engaged in the story. The book is 13 hours long. John Bailey does a good job narrating the book.

7 people found this helpful

Reading was terrible...great story though

What made the experience of listening to The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen the most enjoyable?

When the reader actually slowed down so I could understand what he was saying.

What other book might you compare The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen to and why?

Unique.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Jon Bailey?

John Pruden or Kevin T. Collins

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Due to Jon Bailey's poor reading...not

Any additional comments?

Don't you guys have anyone there who has been in Military or even understand the Mil. Jargon? Point is even a great story like a Red Circle can be made to sound awful when you have speed train reading it.

12 people found this helpful

Details, Details, and More Details

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

First of all, the author comes across as extremely likeable. The addition of chapter intros in the author's own voice only adds to the experience. Brandon seems like a great guy to have a beer with. What I really loved is that despite the amazing things that Brandon has done in his life, you never get the feeling that this is one of those "Why I'm so great" books. Sure, Brandon tells of his accomplishments and exploits, but it is in kind of an "aw shucks, 'taint nothing sort of way. I also like the detail that Brandon put into the accounts of BUD/S and his other experiences. He never gives away any specific details on operational methods that could compromise security, but he does go into a lot of detail in areas that are not strategically significant, but very interesting to the reader.

What other book might you compare The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen to and why?

I also read "Inside Seal Team Six" by Don Mann. That book was sketchy on details, and really was a "Why I'm So Great" book. Plus, Mann left in all of the redactions made to his book to show us how he knows much more than he can tell us. In the audiobook, these redactions result in a beep. A good author would simply rewrite the book around redactions which Brandon clearly did.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

This is an inspirational book first and foremost to anyone and secondly to anyone who is interested in the shooting sports. Brandon gives a lot of useful details that lets anyone who wants to follow up to learn more about the topic on their own. Besides being a great story, it is a fantastic starting point for people looking for an inspiration to improve some area of their lives.

Any additional comments?

If you only have time to read one book this year, this is the one. You will take a lot of good information and inspiration away with you.

5 people found this helpful

seems to repeat itself

great story, but the audio book repeats itself many times. makes it hard to follow along when say ...a large part of chapter 5 is repeated in chapter 11 word for word! sometimes the repeat happens back to back. not real impressed

2 people found this helpful

Great story, poor performance

This audiobook would have been much better if the narrator had some military experience or had taken the time to learn the military slang and nomenclature. This felt like a one and done performance. Brandon Webb should be very disappointed by this performance of his story. Saying hello for the military term helo is inexcusable.

2 people found this helpful

Great book

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

Yes. I think the training of the seals is facinating. It would be interesting for anyone interested in the military operations, our security, technology, and insight into the determination of a person who persues what could be considered by some to be almost impossible.

Who was your favorite character and why?

there is only one main character

Which character – as performed by Jon Bailey – was your favorite?

Brandon

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

neither

Any additional comments?

no

2 people found this helpful

Good story but could have been more succinct

Very interesting story. I listened in bits and pieces over a long drive. I especially liked the science in the book that describes how things work.

2 people found this helpful

Worth reading, but could be better

it's a good book that has a lot of detail, story, and lessons to be learned from. some of the chapters could blend together better and some of the stories could go into more detail while others seem to go into hyper technical detail. Part of the book wants to be Webbs memoirs of childhood and military days while the other wants to be his how to manual on many things and reads like such. Good book though, definitely wasn't disappointed.

1 person found this helpful