Sniper elite : the world of a top special forces marksman

 by Rob Maylor. Readers of Stephen Hunter's novels about sniper Bob Lee Swagger should be steered to this memoir written by Maylor, an Australian SAS sniper, with the assistance of veteran military writer Macklin. Maylor counts among his earliest and, apparently, fondest memories playing with toy soldiers and watching war movies. He was born to be a soldier, he tells us, and it sure seems that's true. But he became a sniper almost by accident. Looking for an escape from a rocky marriage, he intended to join the British Army's Parachute Regiment but wound up enlisting in the Royal Marines. After several years, he moved to the Australian SAS, seeing action in, among other places, Afghanstan and East Timor. The book is a treat for fans of sniper-related material, being full of information about surveillance techniques, makes and models of weaponry, and other technical matters. On the personal side, Maylor describes his experiences in quite a lot of detail, giving the reader a good sense of what it takes and feels like to be a professional soldier. --Booklist (Check Catalog)