I enjoyed the book because i learn what the marines and soldiers have gone through and what they sacrafice. I have family who have gone to iraq and this book gave me a glimpse of what they have gone through. alos show how motivated and anxious the marines are to put their training to the ultimate test, by hunting.

I served in 3rd Battalion 7th Marines Scout Sniper Plt. during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2-3 and knew many of the Scout Snipers included in the stories of this book. I could not put the book down, it was very accurately written, and portrays exactly what it takes to become and operate as a Scout Sniper in combat. It makes me even more proud to be a HOG and part of the very small community. I'd definately recommend this book to my fellow snipers and anyone else interested in the community.

Although this book is supposed to be a non-fictional collection of short stories from the Marines involved, it reads too much like a novel. I got the feeling that the author was forced to throw in a smattering of fictional events, conversations, and so forth in order to spice it up to keep the readers interest while building up to the firefights detailed by the snipers.

A great read. This book really gets down to the no non-sense, nitty gritty reality of war told from the point of view of real Marine Snipers.

A story about real men and what real men must do in a Emotional Thought
created world. Turn them loose! Let's get this over ... stop playing Vietnam over and over in your passe, defeatist, Liberal minds.

This is an unusual book because it describes the feelings and sometimes lack of feelings experienced by the snipers as they do the job they were trained for in the reality of war. It is a gripping and compelling tale of the men who make up the elite unit known as snipers. Unlike many other books in this genre it doesn't push any political agenda but gives a fair and balanced view of what it is like to be a sniper,the adrenaline rush of getting one's "first kill" but also the dangers of "friendly" fire and the fatique and exhaustion experienced when on duty as a sniper. These are average americans from all walks of life who truly are heroes in the manner in which they conduct themselves doing their job and , by killing insurgents, they probably have saved thousands of other marines from dying in Iraq

I really enjoyed the book. My grateful appreciation goes out to those who served over in Iraq & Afganistan.

Books on snipers and sniping have been popular of late. This book by a former USMC sniper/scout introduces readers to the exploits of various gyrene 'hunters of gunmen' in Iraq.

After a brief introductory chapter covering the training that transforms a Marine into a HOG, Afong presents a dozen accounts of USMC snipers practicing their deadly craft in Iraq between 2003 and 2005. As such, the book is a series of individual snapshots broadly tied together by the overall subject.

What the book lacks in terms of a cohesive narrative it makes up with dramatic impact. The tales of endlessly scanning for and acquiring a target, getting in the zone and squeezing off a round and the shot's outcome are morbidly fascinating. I found the book especially valuable for the glimpses of the man behind the dispassionate, focused warrior stereotype. Several of the HOGS confess they were eagerly looking forward to their first kill, got caught up in running up a score once they notched up kill #1, deliberately left a wounded opponent alive so that his friends would try and rescue him therein supplying the HOG with additional targets, etc.

HOGS IN THE SHADOWS certainly provides an unvarnished look at modern combat. There's no glory here; just trained professionals carrying out their duty.

Recommended.

This book was excellent!! I could not put it down. A great read for everyone. Thanks to the author for making these great combat stories avalible to all!

I have read several books on the topic of snipers and on active duty units in Iraq, this is one of the best.

Loved the format of telling the individual stories of snipers in a misunderstood profession. Each story provided a nitty gritty view of the men that chose this profession and how they practice it.

I especially liked the epilogue telling us what the individual is doing today.

I was very hesitant to post a review for this book, because I didn't know how I would be able to bring a sense of justice to the stories, the men, and the principle of it all. But there is a very basic precept that is covered in every story that is written in this 'diary' of sorts. Often, people casually pose the question of 'What would you do if someone you love was threatened with death at someone else's hand or some manner of violence?' There is nothing casual about that question in this book. Because the Marines/Navy men chronicled here answered those questions whole heartedly in real time- through their actions and their pain.
This book sets a new precedent for how combat diaries should aspire to be written. Whether or not you support the United States Marines, this book brings you to a very humbled conclusion about the men that wear that uniform. They are human. Stories, books, and movies glamorized Marines as cold-hearted killers or adrenaline junkies. The stories in this book ARE NOT 'propaganda', they are the stories of exacting professionals, who are normal everyday men who were put to the test time and time again. Furthermore, by describing them as 'professionals' hardly does them justice or describe the level of commitment and attitude that they bring/have brought to their job. We've all heard the slogans "ie., 'The Few The Proud...'". We've all been bombarded by 'entertainment' "ie., 'Full Metal Jacket', 'Heartbreak Ridge', etc.". We've all judged because of what we think we know and perceive from abbreviated news coverage. But this book and the stories it contains allows you a privileged insight into that world of those men that save our lives by taking those that would think nothing more about taking ours.
Jack Nicholson was immortalized for saying that 'Courage, Honor, Duty ARE nothing more than punch lines' into a rolling camera. Unfortunately, the sniper stories that are told in this book, by the men who lived them, are the real testaments to a commitment to something that will probably never be as popular as Jack's movie. Despite the fact that in reality they all stared death in the face, so that we would not have to. This book has nothing to do with 'Left or Right' or 'Blue or Red', it has everything to do with the perplexing issue of 'What would you do?' Reading it gave me the profound respect and admiration for those that have paid for my freedom to write this review.
To my brothers and sisters defending me and my family, it is but a humble offering of mine to say 'Thank you for Keeping the Faith...as we keep our faith in you.'

I'm impressed with the storytelling but more-so with the stories themselves! The author invites us into a facinating world that frankly, until now, I havent heard of or couldnt even imagine. As a military buff I hoped to learn more about sniper tactics but I understand that revealing such actions could compromise the authors brothers still doing their jobs. Overall, a great read!!

The book is exactly as the title states, a collection of stories from Marine snipers in Iraq. No getting to know characters and locations. A quick intro and you are thrown into the action. A good book that gave me new insight on what snipers are doing in Iraq. A little lacking on the detail and description of locations. I found myself having to imagine too much on what places looked like, but that didn't hinder the book too much in my opinion. A good read as there aren't many books on Snipers in Iraq or A-stan yet. 5 stars for the entertainment coupled with the knowledge I was able to garner from the book.

A "HOG" is a "Hunter Of Gunmen" and is the only one of 3 designations to be considered a Marine scout/sniper. The other two classifications are: "SLUG", an acronym for "Slow, Lazy, Untrained Gunman", and "PIG", Professionally Instructed Gunman."

The potential reader should be made aware that this is not a "book" in the conventional sense that one thinks of a book. A book normally has a character or characters that you are introduced to in the beginning and then get to know intimately throughout what becomes hopefully a coherent interweaved story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. If the story is written well, the reader "buys in" to the characters and the plot, whether it's because of identifying with a character, or character's, or with the intrigue or educational flow of the unraveling story. Hating or loving character's, or having your emotions effected in any way by people you've "gotten to know" in the course of the story is what makes a good book.

"Hogs In The Shadows" consists of a nice concise 11 page introduction as to what type of training and dedication it takes to become a "HOG". The remainder of the book is broken down into what I really wouldn't call chapters, but would more accurately describe as 12 separate Iraq sniper "incident-reports". There are some interesting combat situations in each one, but they're bogged down with way too much jargon and enough acronyms to sink a ship. Because the "incident-reports" (chapters) are unrelated and have different sniper teams, you're starting off each incident like a short story. The writing style has no artistic flow, and as previously mentioned they read like a police report.

As a Viet Nam era veteran I totally relate to the universal hunger for the "kill" that all the snipers share. Someone who has not served in the military may be taken aback by the constant raging desire to not only kill, but to go on a hunt, but the reader must understand this is what war is! It's very interesting to me as a veteran, how much the use of sniper teams has changed from war to war. This "book" has a few good moments, but it is definitely not on the level of books such as: "Shooter", Phantom Warrior", "Lone Survivor", "House To House", and others of this genre.

I think the most telling summary as to the benefit of these highly trained sniper teams was made by Sergeant Reyes as he reflected on his precision killings: "He couldn't help but dwell on the fact that it was true that they killed a lot of the enemy, but in reality, he knew that they had saved more lives than they took."