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Hogs in the Shadows: Combat Stories from Marine Snipers in Iraq
The author draws on his own combat experiences and those of others to furnish an insider's look at the role of a HOG (Hunter of Gunman) sniper in Operation Iraqi Freedom, detailing the work of a Marine Scout/Sniper team and the perils they confronted on the battlefield.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published December 4, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
January 6, 2008
Disappointing - the writing is clumsy, but a greater problem is the shallowness and woodenness of the depiction of the men involved. As they are portrayed, none of them have any complicated thoughts or feelings; the only emotions acknowledged are momentary fear, anger, and bloodthirstiness. Having been a Marine myself for 20 years, enlisted and officer, that doesn't ring true - Marines are a fascinating bunch of people, and this author has managed to make them boring. As I neared the end of the book, I found myself thinking, "that's it?" and wishing I could get back the hours I'd spent on it. Its redeeming feature is its detailed and concrete descriptions of situations and tactics, which is why I give it two stars rather than one or none.
May 1, 2008
Good combat stories from different Marine snipers in Iraq.
April 22, 2023
RICK “SHAQ” GOLDSTEIN SAYS: “A COLLECTION OF SNIPER “INCIDENT-REPORTS”.
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A “HOG” is a “Hunter Of Gunmen” and is the only one of 3 designations to be considered a Marine scout/sniper. The other two classifications are: “SLUG”, an acronym for “Slow, Lazy, Untrained Gunman”, and “PIG”, Professionally Instructed Gunman.”
The potential reader should be made aware that this is not a “book” in the conventional sense that one thinks of a book. A book normally has a character or characters that you are introduced to in the beginning and then get to know intimately throughout what becomes hopefully a coherent interweaved story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. If the story is written well, the reader “buys in” to the characters and the plot, whether it’s because of identifying with a character, or character’s, or with the intrigue or educational flow of the unraveling story. Hating or loving character’s, or having your emotions effected in any way by people you’ve “gotten to know” in the course of the story is what makes a good book.
“Hogs In The Shadows” consists of a nice concise 11 page introduction as to what type of training and dedication it takes to become a “HOG”. The remainder of the book is broken down into what I really wouldn’t call chapters, but would more accurately describe as 12 separate Iraq sniper “incident-reports”. There are some interesting combat situations in each one, but they’re bogged down with way too much jargon and enough acronyms to sink a ship. Because the “incident-reports” (chapters) are unrelated and have different sniper teams, you’re starting off each incident like a short story. The writing style has no artistic flow, and as previously mentioned they read like a police report.
As a Viet Nam era veteran I totally relate to the universal hunger for the “kill” that all the snipers share. Someone who has not served in the military may be taken aback by the constant raging desire to not only kill, but to go on a hunt, but the reader must understand this is what war is! It’s very interesting to me as a veteran, how much the use of sniper teams has changed from war to war. This “book” has a few good moments, but it is definitely not on the level of books such as: “Shooter”, Phantom Warrior”, “Lone Survivor”, “House To House”, and others of this genre.
I think the most telling summary as to the benefit of these highly trained sniper teams was made by Sergeant Reyes as he reflected on his precision killings: “He couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that it was true that they killed a lot of the enemy, but in reality, he knew that they had saved more lives than they took. “
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A “HOG” is a “Hunter Of Gunmen” and is the only one of 3 designations to be considered a Marine scout/sniper. The other two classifications are: “SLUG”, an acronym for “Slow, Lazy, Untrained Gunman”, and “PIG”, Professionally Instructed Gunman.”
The potential reader should be made aware that this is not a “book” in the conventional sense that one thinks of a book. A book normally has a character or characters that you are introduced to in the beginning and then get to know intimately throughout what becomes hopefully a coherent interweaved story with a beginning, a middle, and an end. If the story is written well, the reader “buys in” to the characters and the plot, whether it’s because of identifying with a character, or character’s, or with the intrigue or educational flow of the unraveling story. Hating or loving character’s, or having your emotions effected in any way by people you’ve “gotten to know” in the course of the story is what makes a good book.
“Hogs In The Shadows” consists of a nice concise 11 page introduction as to what type of training and dedication it takes to become a “HOG”. The remainder of the book is broken down into what I really wouldn’t call chapters, but would more accurately describe as 12 separate Iraq sniper “incident-reports”. There are some interesting combat situations in each one, but they’re bogged down with way too much jargon and enough acronyms to sink a ship. Because the “incident-reports” (chapters) are unrelated and have different sniper teams, you’re starting off each incident like a short story. The writing style has no artistic flow, and as previously mentioned they read like a police report.
As a Viet Nam era veteran I totally relate to the universal hunger for the “kill” that all the snipers share. Someone who has not served in the military may be taken aback by the constant raging desire to not only kill, but to go on a hunt, but the reader must understand this is what war is! It’s very interesting to me as a veteran, how much the use of sniper teams has changed from war to war. This “book” has a few good moments, but it is definitely not on the level of books such as: “Shooter”, Phantom Warrior”, “Lone Survivor”, “House To House”, and others of this genre.
I think the most telling summary as to the benefit of these highly trained sniper teams was made by Sergeant Reyes as he reflected on his precision killings: “He couldn’t help but dwell on the fact that it was true that they killed a lot of the enemy, but in reality, he knew that they had saved more lives than they took. “
December 24, 2018
Hogs in the Shadows is a very good book. The people in this book are different. They have different ways of doing things and some are more ambitious than others. Clinton D. was a Marine that was excited to be out in war, but he did not want to miss his shots so he took it slow. Mulder O. was a another Marine that missed some shots because he was too excited to be out there. All the ending are different and I enjoyed them. My favorite person is Jack A. who was in the Marines but quit. After 9/11 happened he decided to go back and fight the war that they were about to fight. This book was a favorite but some journeys are not as exciting as others. Lance Corporal Cody is a person that his story was not a favorite. With this book overall I would give it a 4/5 stars.
June 20, 2026
Very real & informative
I liked learn morn about the modern Marine snipers and what it was like Iraq. They were tasked with difficult jobs to accomplish. Anyone wanted to understand the different jobs of Marines would learn a lot. Glad to hear the ending Gor each persons stories. SemperFi
I liked learn morn about the modern Marine snipers and what it was like Iraq. They were tasked with difficult jobs to accomplish. Anyone wanted to understand the different jobs of Marines would learn a lot. Glad to hear the ending Gor each persons stories. SemperFi
October 30, 2026
Superb book. Incredible stories. Found this book in my local used bookstore. Another gem!
January 31, 2017
I loved it, great stories about extremely heroic people.
January 17, 2011
Hogs in the Shadows gives the reader several short accounts and prospectives from Marine snipers that were operating in Iraq during both the first desert storm to the present conflict.
The book does a good job of addressing the mentality needed to become a Hunter Of Gunmen or HOG but did not do the best job of giving each account there own voice. At times it seemed as if each story was told by the same individual and the fact that it was someone else's story is lost in the telling. However, some may consider this a weakness of the book it does make things consistent.
Each of the accounts in the book are compelling and worth reading. The first story gives you a quick overview of what it takes to become a Marine sniper/scout and from there it leads you to twelve more stories of the snipers time in Iraq and the various incidents they encountered there. It was nice to get several different events but unlike other sniper books out there this one did not follow one individual as the complete their tour in a war zone but handpicked events from several Marine snipers. It had a lot of great accounts and the pacing was also quite good.
Another great book regarding Marine snipers in the Middle East conflict.
The book does a good job of addressing the mentality needed to become a Hunter Of Gunmen or HOG but did not do the best job of giving each account there own voice. At times it seemed as if each story was told by the same individual and the fact that it was someone else's story is lost in the telling. However, some may consider this a weakness of the book it does make things consistent.
Each of the accounts in the book are compelling and worth reading. The first story gives you a quick overview of what it takes to become a Marine sniper/scout and from there it leads you to twelve more stories of the snipers time in Iraq and the various incidents they encountered there. It was nice to get several different events but unlike other sniper books out there this one did not follow one individual as the complete their tour in a war zone but handpicked events from several Marine snipers. It had a lot of great accounts and the pacing was also quite good.
Another great book regarding Marine snipers in the Middle East conflict.
June 9, 2010
Um....where does an editor stop editing to preserve authenticity?Too early in this volume. This has to be the most poorly written compilation of stories I've read in print (well, on Kindle). The personal stories were flat, concentrated on what seemed to be a Marine indoctrinated blood lust, and revealed almost nothing of the inner conflict when taking a life. If you like reading the kind of crap written in the cheaper gun magazines, this may be for you.....but if you're used to reading passable grammar, give it a miss. I give it two stars because it does give an authentic account of scout/sniper life in our most recent conflict. If a head exploding gives you a thrill, you might want to read this (and get some counseling while you're at it).
December 1, 2010
It was lent to me as an interesting take on hunting.
The stories can get repetitive.
One of the stories I had actually already heard on a sniper special on the History Channel.
Of interest was the meticulous preparation and methodology of hunting gunmen in Iraq.
Also, I was impressed with the incredible demands of the army sniper selection and indoc process.
Those guys are some tough bastards who have suffered some hellish selection and training.
The stories can get repetitive.
One of the stories I had actually already heard on a sniper special on the History Channel.
Of interest was the meticulous preparation and methodology of hunting gunmen in Iraq.
Also, I was impressed with the incredible demands of the army sniper selection and indoc process.
Those guys are some tough bastards who have suffered some hellish selection and training.
November 2, 2012
My grade is more due to my personal wants in a read. If you are looking for a book to tell the stories of combat in Iraq in vivid detail this is a great book. Hogs in the shadows puts you in the minds of the Marines and the hardships they encounter and how the simple things in life become more important. If you like a lot of stories that you can quickly go through to keep the action up this book is great. There just isn't a rise and climax and conclusion like a long story.
Read
August 12, 2009I've read many books on snipers, this one depicts marine snipers in a different light. It shows them as "joyful killers", competative within their ranks for the most kills. Perhaps all the other books I've read on this subject were hiding something? Perhaps its a new generation of snipers? A bit disturbing at the pleasure the author describes in killing.
April 13, 2016
Average Read
Pretty disappointed being an avid non fiction military reader, A few stories were good but all were drawn out just to fill the pages. I personally would look elsewhere for a good read.
Pretty disappointed being an avid non fiction military reader, A few stories were good but all were drawn out just to fill the pages. I personally would look elsewhere for a good read.
July 19, 2012
I enjoyed the perspective of the different Marines in the book and how they viewed the streets of Iraq. These young men made a real difference on the battle field.
November 16, 2012
Amazing...but last chapter was dull...overall 9.5 out of 10
March 18, 2013
This is a book dedicated to the stories of snipers in the Iraq war.
It is a collection of individual stories.
While not bad, the book is not particularly outstanding either.
It is a collection of individual stories.
While not bad, the book is not particularly outstanding either.
November 1, 2013
was a really good book. great insight into what marine snipers have to deal with and the experiences they face in war.
January 31, 2014
Great stories. You are in the middle of the action. The writing us a little jumpy but overall it is alright. I would recommend this to service members or people not sensitive to the realities of war
August 12, 2015
Exllent survey.
Conveys the stress associated with extensive ops. Much better training, support and equipment than in the 50's. Semper Fi all.
Conveys the stress associated with extensive ops. Much better training, support and equipment than in the 50's. Semper Fi all.
January 31, 2017
Really good book, couldn't put it down.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews