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  • The Reaper

  • Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers
  • Written by: Gary Brozek, Nicholas Irving
  • Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
  • Length: 7 hrs and 40 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (228 ratings)

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The Reaper

Written by: Gary Brozek,Nicholas Irving
Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
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Publisher's Summary

The Instant New York Times Bestseller by Co-Star of Fox's American Grit and Legendary Ranger Nicholas Irving.

Groundbreaking, thrilling and revealing, The Reaper is the astonishing memoir of Special Operations Direct Action Sniper Nicholas Irving, the 3rd Ranger Battalion's deadliest sniper with 33 confirmed kills, though his remarkable career total, including probables, is unknown.

Irving shares the true story of his extraordinary military career, including his deployment to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009, when he set another record, this time for enemy kills on a single deployment. His teammates and chain of command labeled him "The Reaper," and his actions on the battlefield became the stuff of legend, culminating in an extraordinary face-off against an enemy sniper known simply as The Chechnian.

Irving's astonishing first-person account of his development into an expert assassin offers a fascinating and extremely rare view of special operations combat missions through the eyes of a Ranger sniper during the Global War on Terrorism. From the brotherhood and sacrifice of teammates in battle to the cold reality of taking a life to protect another, no other book dives so deep inside the life of an Army sniper on point.

Also available: Reaper: Ghost Target and Reaper: Threat Zero, the first books in Nicholas Irving's thrilling series that Brad Thor calls "one hell of a read"!

©2015 Nicholas Irving (P)2014 Macmillan Audio

What the critics say

“A gripping account from a man whose lethal aim took out 33 Taliban fighters on one deployment, a record.” —New York Daily News

“Gripping.... Irving's book is a focused, fast-paced tale that, like Irving, never loses sense of its mission.” —San Diego Union Tribune

“This gritty, unapologetic look into the life of a special operations soldier recounts both harrowing and heartfelt tales from the on-the-job experiences of Irving...This account is perhaps not for the faint of heart, but it is sure to be intriguing for those who are made of less squeamish stuff.” —Library Journal

What listeners say about The Reaper

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Really good

the book was amazing ! I want to buy a real copy of it lol

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1 person found this helpful

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really good book

I heard about this book watching demolition ranch. he just so happend to be on one of his videos and they were talking about it. and it sounded like an interesting book. And I am very glad that I bought it. I am looking forward to listening to his next book now.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

the narrator needs to find a new job

the narrator was garbage. utter trash . He pronounced Chinook wrong at least a hundred times . Otherwise the book was good .

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Such an amazing story

Best book I've ever experienced. I pretty much listened to it nonstop from start to finish. I can't wait to buy the next one. Thanks for your service and for sharing so honestly and from such a good place. Your who I think of when I hear the word hero.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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Same old same old

I’ve read 20+ of these war biographies/autobiographies. They typically start with a look at the soldier’s young life. Build the character up a little. Follow them through joining the forces. Then the fighting. Then the post fighting.

I was a little let down by this one. A few interesting stories on it but overall - meh. Same old same old.

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Very well created

Book was very well made, a bit dry at the beginning, but without this context and history that leads up to the “fun” stuff, it would be hard to fully grasp the concept of Nick’s mindset and how he got to where he did. Would definitely recommend, whether your current/past serving, or just want something with action that’s real and not Hollywood.

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10/10!

I have heard about this book when nick first went on demolition ranch and since then i’ve been trying to find time in my scheduel to get through this book. It was worth the wait. I enjoy every part of this book and the small details of it. I will listen to this again for sure. 10/10

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Lacks depth, detail, and overall storyline

I thought they were just getting into the story and it ended. He had 33 confirmed kills, the book discusses 6?

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great book

great listen too short. i would love you hear more. will recoment to friends eh.

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Great audiobook!

A must listen! Great narration and solid story! Easy to listen and entertaining. If you like those war autobiography, listen to this one. You won't regret it!

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  • SteveS
  • 2015-11-18

Great story

This is a very interesting description of modern combat and how our Rangers operate. Nicholas is a very brave Ranger and this shows how our Rangers take care of their own and risk their lives for their brothers. I'm glad we have men like Nicolas. My son is an officer in the Rangers and I'm very happy he has men around him like this.

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22 people found this helpful

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  • Charley Gravelle
  • 2019-06-17

Demolition Ranch made me listen to this book!

I was watching Demolition Ranch when he had Nicholas Irving on and they were talking about his book, The Reaper. I have listened to American Sniper, The Lone Survivor, and Can't Hurt Me, all by Navy Seals in Iraq and Afghanistan, this was the first book by an Army Ranger I've listened to. All 4 books are similar in some aspects and all are very different in the stories they tell. I loved the story telling in this book, I loved how he brought the nuances of long range shooting into the story like measuring the height of a target by using the mil dots in his reticle or holding .5 mil for movement of the target. For me, that stuff made the story come to life and I could actually see what he was describing as if I were looking through my own scope.

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20 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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  • Gary
  • 2015-02-27

Disjointed and tough to follow

Irving is a great man but whoever edited this story could have helped structure the flow and dialogue to be more engaging. It seemed like they let him just talk into a dictation machine and then they simply spell checked it.

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  • Carlos Gonzalez
  • 2016-08-17

Vivid and Sincere Military Spirit

Would you consider the audio edition of The Reaper to be better than the print version?

Have only listen to the audiobook. But I would have to assume that if the written copy is like the audiobook than its good to go.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Reaper?

The part were Mike falls into that underground cave which was some 75 to 80 feet below the surface and his only injury was a broken Tibia.

What does Jeff Gurner bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Jeff brings this story to life through his own spirit and annunciation of the outstanding story which Nick lived while he went through his many tours of duty. He brings the story full circle in a very unique way which brings authenticity and a true military demeanor through its chapters.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Afghanistan the land of the Reaper and the U.S. Rangers.

Any additional comments?

Want to take the time to extent a sincere THANK YOU to Nicholas Irving for his selfless service to God and Country during his years as a Ranger Sniper. May God continue to bless him and his entire family always. Hooah...!SGT Gonzalez, U.S. Army 910625-000505.

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  • Tyler
  • 2015-07-14

Moderately Okay

It's a basically a play by play of a mid twenties guy in a war zone. One real fascinating mission, the others are fluff pieces that are very unexciting. You can tell the author was in his twenties with his constant use of the word awesome. He repeats several stories from his past over again. Your best bet is to check the wiki page on this guy and save your money.

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  • John
  • 2016-07-18

Guts in War, Brains over guts

Being a prior sniper this is a fantastic story that includes all of the mental aspects of the job. I enjoyed the decision making process illustrated in the book. Glad he made it out, and glad he contributes like he does as a civilian.

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15 people found this helpful

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  • Michael
  • 2015-02-13

Amazing

This was a very well written book I was definitely very entertained and really appreciated another understanding of what a United States soldier goes through overseas thank you very much for reading this book it was a pleasure listening to it please continue to write more books and thank you very much for your service

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11 people found this helpful

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  • upon1cbr
  • 2015-06-16

St Martins lets another warrior tell their story

If you have read any of the other books by Chris Kyle, Brandon Webb, Jack Murphy, Marcus Lutriel or the other great men from the SOFREP family you will enjoy this one as well great job with the interviews on Nick and good narration thank you gentlemen keep on being on time and on target

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  • Daniel Kirkpatrick
  • 2016-02-28

good sniper book

I enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend reading it. it kept my interest clear down to the end.

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  • Tom
  • 2015-02-04

Roger that

Great story. Irv keeps it real. I especially enjoyed how he wove in stories of Jessica, growing up and training. The training stories were great and made me smile as some reminded me of my own back in the 1980s. Sounds like he needs to hang on to Jessica, she's a keeper

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6 people found this helpful