Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Luttrell didn't write the book. He didn't even read the final draft prior to it going into publication. Johnson was more than a ghostwriter, he was THE writer, and a poor one at that. On page 161 it says when they arrived in Afghanistan they were given a lecture on what was happening on the northwest border, which divides Afghanistan and Pakistan. There is no NW border between those two countries unless you're standing in Pakistan. A quick look at the map in the front of the book would have told Robinson it was the Afghan northeast border with Pakistan. Luttrell would never have made that error and he certainly would have caught it had he read it. Luttrell began his SEAL training in group 226. When he broke his femur and returned he, understandably, couldn't rejoin group 226 so he was assigned to group 228. And yet, throughout the entire book, written in the first person, he is in group 226. Even Gulab is quoted as telling the rescuing Rangers, "226, he's 226". I do believe Luttrell wrote the Acknowledgments at the end of the book, and the reason I say that is he refers to his group as being 228. Had Luttrell bothered to read the finished product he would have spotted the 226 error in a N.Y. half-second. It gets worse. On page 170 it states the M4 machine gun caliber is 223.55 mm. That means it would have a barrel I.D. 8.8". It would be a freakin' canon more than twice the size of a 105mm Howitzer. The correct caliber is .223". There's absolutely no way Luttrell wouldn't have caught that error. On the same page it says the AK 47 is .762mm. That's off by a factor of 10 as it's 7.62mm or .30" = "30 caliber", same as the old U.S. carbine. On page 217 he refers to the Taliban who were attacking as ".....not really marksmen, using marginal rifles pretty recklessly.....", implying they were poorly trained. But then on page 221 he says Sharmak's "...guys were: trained, heavily armed, fearless and strategically on the ball". The AK 47 is anything but a "marginal" assault weapon. "Rifle" seems an odd choice of word in this context. An automatic weapon isn't called a rifle. Luttrell would know this. Perhaps you think I'm being nit-pickey, but I don't think the above is nit-picking. I think it points out glaring errors that never should have made it to the final print. It raises a question as to the credibility of the recounting of the battle and the events followed. One last thing. You'll recall the first night of Hell Week? Guys entering the room firing machine guns (with blanks, of course). You remember the confusion, the chaos, the panic? Granted, Luttrell had a lot of training following that night, but I seriously question his ability to remember so much fine detail about the battle. Him being so specific in exactly what happened and their sequence. I question not only that, but also how he could even know in such detail what was going on with the others. Not while trying to dodge a hail of automatic weapons fire and RPGs. I think the book title should have been "Lone Survivor - Based on a True Story". I also think Robinson chose the wrong profession.