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| Author: Chris Hunter
Publisher: Corgi Books
Category: Book
List Price: £6.99
Buy New: £4.52
You Save: £2.47 (35%)
New (30) Used (11) Collectible (1) from £1.07
Avg. Customer Rating:  27 reviews
Sales Rank: 1923
Media: Paperback
Pages: 448
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 5 x 1.4
ISBN: 0552155713
EAN: 9780552155717
ASIN: 0552155713
Publication Date: May 30, 2008
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 well written and inspirational August 30, 2008
Too good to do justice to here. Well written, exciting, insightful and touching. A hige amount of respect is due to Chris for his actions and in the honesty of his writing.
No question - a book to order.
Gripping read August 18, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Gripping. A real page turner, Major Chris Hunter clearly has a gift for putting you there in the action. Peppered with British Army humour (quip about the REME guy "testiculating" -- waving his hands in the air and talking... had me in stiches). This is a superb book, really moving in some places and i'm not the kinda guy to be moved easily, but i defy anyone to come to the end of this book without feeling an immense amount of emotion.
This book was the first i read of Private Johnson Beharry VC. I read Sniper One by SGT Dan Mills after this book (another good read, based in Al-Amarrah at roughly the same time, not as expertly written as this book but really engaging read all the same) which also described the steely courage of Pvte Beharry VC -- i'd like to meet that soldier! Although this book doesn't tell of Pvte Beharry VC's fate (Sniper One tells a little more), i've since read that he's been awarded the VC and more importantly survived that RPG attack on his warrior. I mention Pvte Beharry's survival here for those that read the book and are left wondering on his fate.
The married man with two kids who liked to play with bombs July 20, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mr. Hunter spent 17.5 years in the British army, 10 of which were in bomb disposal. Eight lives down focuses on 4 months of his tour in Iraq, with the first two as his last stint as an ATO (ammunition technical officer). He and his team were so successful in diffusing bombs that insurgents took a disliking to him with a price on his head. His next two months were spent as a weapons intelligence officer, a position he reluctantly accepted but grew to like.
Major Hunter was married with two kids when he deployed to Iraq, despite one more empty promise in a string of broken promises not to spend time away from his wife on dangerous missions. Iraq would become his longest mission away from home, during which he became borderline paranoid about his wife divorcing him. It's a wonder why a married man with two small kids would prefer the rush of adrenaline from diffusing bombs to spending time with his family. "I've never taken drugs," he said, "but I don't believe there's anything that will ever equal the exhilaration of that tour," referring to Iraq.
Chris Hunter wrote this book under an alias for security reasons. His intent was to share his experience of what it was like to be terrified, how his family coped with his time away and the ever present danger of losing him, and how soldiers like him react to the pressures of the day to day grinds in battle.
In this action packed book, Mr. Hunter compiled the most exciting events of his tour in Iraq sure to satisfy the appetite of even casual military and combat enthusiasts.
 Gripping tale of a very brave man June 3, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
If I saw a bomb, I would run in the opposite direction. This book is about a man who takes `the long walk' in the other direction.
The author had one of the most dangerous jobs in the world, that of bomb disposal in Iraq. This is the story of his time there.
It doesn't matter if you were for or against the war because the troops didn't have a choice and this is their story. Our troops come out of this very well, trying to do a job where they are generally not wanted and against an enemy that prefers to strike from a distance.
But this is mainly a story of bomb and explosive removal and it is hard to imagine how brave you would have to be. Add to that heavy protective gear in the searing heat and knowing there is a price on your head.....
This is an intense and gripping tale and a real page turner. It feels very honest and it touches on depression and the real impact on family and relationships, but above all it is about that long walk being made by a very brave man indeed...
Tense and engrossing May 13, 2008
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is a non-fiction account of the tour of duty of a British bomb disposal expert in Iraq. The title is a reference to the fact that the bomb disposal squad in Northern Ireland were called "Felix" (meaning that they have nine lives, like a cat). It's an amazing story, so packed with action and danger that it would seem unbelievable if it were fiction. The first half in particular is so fast-paced that you find yourself longing for the occasional brief interludes of downtime just so that you can catch a breath! The book was very reminiscent for me of the American film "The Kingdom" - and it made me realise that the film was more realistic than I had previously thought.
Chris Hunter is a very likeable narrator who is also extremely brave and passionate about what he does. He doesn't just bring the action scenes alive, but also manages to convey what it is that soldiers love about what they do, even when it puts them in extreme danger. He also talks a lot about his family back in the UK and the strains that his army career put on his marriage. This fleshes his character out and makes it a far more interesting book than if it were just about the action on the ground.
I did feel that parts of this book got a little hard to follow due to the military jargon, but that probably more a reflection on the fact that this is an unusual choice of book for me rather than on the book itself. I was engrossed in Eight Lives Down and I highly recommend it.
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