My local bookstore didn't have any copies left of Suzanne Simons' so-so book on Blackwater, so the nice girl at the counter sent a request to one of their far-away branches to have one delivered to me. So sweet! I was going to order it online but I'm not into online shopping. It's just not the same as being in a bookstore.
Anyway, the book arrived after the weekend, and I finished reading it in a day. I was disappointed it didn't include any pictures. Perhaps if she gave more detailed accounts of Blackwater's battles, I'd have a better idea of how it all went down. I mean, she mentioned the Battle of Najaf only in passing and even implied it wasn't that important- that it was just a small group of Blackwater snipers shooting at a small group of Mahdi militia men. It's so different from how Robert Young Pelton described it in his book, Licensed to Kill. (Which is a trillion times better than Master of War, by the way!). The one good thing about Master of War is that Erik Prince has plenty of interviews with the author. Still, he doesn't say much about himself, and you don't feel like you know him any better. He seemed more "human" in Robert Pelton's book, which showed him getting all giddy over his Little Birds and Grizzlies.
I'd give this book 2 out of 5 stars. And as BIASED as Jeremy Scahill is, his hit piece on Blackwater is a bit better. It had a lot of really good information on the company and how they operate. If only he weren't a ranting lunatic liberal, I would've given his book 5 effing stars.
By the way, there's a Blackwater video game now! Cute.
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