Warrior Soul

December 1, 2003
Pfarrer, a former Navy SEAL assault element commander and now a Hollywood screenwriter (The Jackal; Navy SEALS; Darkman, etc.), looks back on his time in the special forces in this adrenaline rush of a memoir that grabs readers from the first page (in which he readies for his final--and nearly fatal--jump). Writing with the efficient clarity and brawn of one of the U.S. military's most special operators, Pfarrer describes the rigorous, nearly sadistic SEAL training that propelled him toward covert operations in the 1980s and early 1990s. He recounts his missions to various Cold War hotspots in Central America and the Middle East, where he patrolled Beirut's bombed-out streets as part of a multinational peacekeeping force during Lebanon's ravaging civil war. Pfarrer's somersaults through Navy service and personal challenges, including failed marriages and a bout with cancer, expose an introspective tug-of-war between disciplined combatant and human spectator, scruffy team leader and reluctant hero. Although chock full of military jargon (thankfully Pfarrar also includes a glossary of terms) and detailed descriptions of special operations, the story remains solidly human, highlighting this"Frogman's" facile combination of self-control and survival smarts in the face of adversities that most readers can only imagine.

January 1, 2004
Pfarrar, a navy SEAL in the 1980s, has since become a screenwriter with several high-profile movies to his credit (e.g., Red Planet; Darkman). This highly selective look back at Pfarrar's life describes the intensive navy SEAL selection and training process and tells the story of some of the operations he participated in. Pfarrar is an excellent action writer who brings a strong sense of immediacy to his combat stories. He takes us from Lebanon in 1983, where he narrowly missed being in the explosion that killed 240 U.S. Marines; to the Achille Lauro hijacking; to trading shots with a Sandinista gunboat; and then to fighting terrorists in the Middle East. Along the way, he barely mentions three wives and devotes all of two pages to a serious bout with colon cancer. He does take time to express contempt for the clueless politicians, both U.S. and foreign, who risk soldiers' lives. Long on meditations about the soldier mind-set and spirit, this book is likely to be a popular choice in public libraries and subject collections.-Edwin B. Burgess, U.S. Army Combined Arms Research Lib., Fort Leavenworth, KS

Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.

November 15, 2003
Had the author written his memoir in the 1980s, when he was an officer in the U.S. Navy's special-forces organization, he might have been busted to the fleet or thrown in the brig. Even now that his stories can be told, Pfarrer masks many of the names of his fellow "operators," a plain label that carries the highest cachet in the world of the SEALs. Earning and maintaining that designation is the theme that unites Pfarrer's memoir, as he relates his training, relations with comrades and superiors, and discharge. The values of the operator are crystal clear in Pfarrer's account: intolerance for mistakes and mastery of fear--with disdain for operators who can't command courage. These martial values are necessary for survival, and their enforcement by in-group psychology is amply illustrated by operations in Honduras, Beirut, and an unnamed Arab country, which are among the stories Pfarrer recounts. A must for military affairs readers, Pfarrer's recollections, allied with those of another SEAL (" One Perfect Op "by Dennis Chalker, 2002), vividly portray the elite warrior's arduous, perilous calling.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)