I feel bad about rating a memoir poorly particularly given that the author is a soldier who served our country. I value and appreciate that service but as a reader, this book was a disappointment. The writing is very pedantic. Sentences are short. Descriptions are colorless. The narrative jumps around without much coherency.

This isn't really a thoughtful war memoir but read like a locker room journal passed around between jocks. For all that these SEALS are supposed to be silent and unsung heroes, Kyle is often portraying himself as a loud mouth getting into bar fights and boasting of his prowess. He is quite proud of his kill number. Perhaps he is talking about the other SEALs that haven't written memoirs.

There is no thoughtful contemplating by Kyle about the killing in this book. It is very black and white. There are passages interspersed by Kyle's wife, but they are more about her coming to terms with the rightness of his actions and acceptance of what marrying a SEAL was like rather than any introspective look at the war or a soldier's burden.

Most of all, though, the writing is just inexorably dull. I found myself marveling about how I could be reading about training and missions and battle zones and kill shots and bar fights and be totally and completely bored.