Tales of an American Sniper

Ryan Politis

Way of the Reaper
By Nicholas Irving w/ Gary Brozek


    Thirty-three. That’s the number of kills that Nicholas “The Reaper” Irving had during his year serving in Afghanistan. Irving served in the military as a machine gunner for 5 years before joining the Rangers, becoming the sniper of the Third Ranger Battalion, and being deployed to Afghanistan. Irving talks about some of the stories and feelings he had during his time in both wars in his autobiography Way of the Reaper. He talks about his “kid in a candy store” like experience when he trained with some of the various weapons at his disposal. He talks about his time in both wars humbly; He explained that his success and amount of kills was due to his squad being lucky that the enemy was there when his squad was deployed. Irving reviews his military career as being an overnight success due to the aforementioned luckiness; “if any other snipers, besides me, had gone out there they would have gotten the job done” (Irving Chapter 1).

     I’m going to have to again preface my review by saying that I listened to the audiobook version of the book instead of reading the physical copy. The parenthetical citations will again look a little different and the audiobook was only 7 hours. I have finished the book and I enjoyed every second of it. Irving explains that the stories in the book are not in chronological order and he goes over each story as if talking to a long time friend. I don’t want to spoil any of the stories but I do want to go over one of the stories Irving tells in his book. The story is of when a member of Irving’s regiment free gunned a 50 cal machine gun. The gunner, Richie, clawed away at the pins of the massive gun that secured it to the Stryker and “started to free gun it” (Irving Chapter 1). Richie bounced around as the recoil of the gun shot up into him. It was at that moment when “one of the bad guys fired a shot that hit inside the ammo can that held the 50 cal rounds. The can jumped with the explosion” (Irving Chapter 1). A chain reaction would have killed Richie but he just kept firing. Richie stood on top of a massive armored car, holding a massive gun which shows the courage or foolishness of some of the people in Irving’s regiment. The stories Irving tells can go from funny, to serious, to sad, and you will feel a mix of emotions while reading, or, in my case, listening to the book.

     I like this book and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys listening to war stories and doesn’t mind hearing about the blood and death that come along with it. The stories Irving tells also can make you laugh even when the setting of the story is grim and dark. The stories are entertaining and if you want to see more of Irving after checking out the book I’d recommend checking out some of the videos Matt Carriker did with him on Matt’s YouTube channel called “Demolition Ranch.” They shoot guns and talk about some of the stories in the book. You can check out the channel here. All in all; I would recommend this book.