Chris Ryan v Andy McNab

sglowrider

Thinks the caf is 'wokeish'.
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Who's more creditable?

IMO. Chris Ryan doesnt hide/blur-out his face but McNab seems to pretend to hide it (because terrorist want to seek revenge) but anyone who watches the program for more than 2 mins can make a composite of his face.
 
Chris Ryan got away. McNab got caught.

Simples.
 
Read 'Soldier Five' by Mike 'The Kiwi' Coburn.

I have read all three first-hand accounts and Coburn's seems more credible and comes across much less sensationalised than McNab's & Ryan's accounts.
 
I can't stand Chris Ryan's books. All the same recycled plot:

- ex SAS guy
- living on his own, hard times have fallen on him (divorced, not seeing his kid)
- random terrorists do something
- ex SAS guy called for help
- comes up against a corrupt member of the British intelligence service or army
- ex SAS guy kills all terrorists, exposes corruption
- goes back to previous life


They're fecking wank!
 
Just about to start 'The Aggressor' by McNab because I got it cheap. Not expecting anything decent.
 
MJLD said:
I can't stand Chris Ryan's books. All the same recycled plot:

- ex SAS guy
- living on his own, hard times have fallen on him (divorced, not seeing his kid)
- random terrorists do something
- ex SAS guy called for help
- comes up against a corrupt member of the British intelligence service or army
- ex SAS guy kills all terrorists, exposes corruption
- goes back to previous life


They're fecking wank!
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That's the plot to all ex SAS service men books.
 
I've never actually bothered to read any of McNab's or Ryan's fictional stuff.

The accounts surrounding the Bravo Two Zero squad though rank amongst my favourite reads of all time. I was lucky, i guess, in that i first read Bravo Two Zero not having heard anything about the story previously. I was blown away and picked up The One That Got Away & Soldier Five as soon as i could.

No matter what i subsequently discovered about McNab and Ryan and the way they sensationalised their accounts, the story itself is, imo, fantastic.
 
MJLD said:
Just about to start 'The Aggressor' by McNab because I got it cheap. Not expecting anything decent.
Click to expand...
Translation:
I've been saving for "The Aggressor" By McNabb for a while now, and I'm really excited about reading it, but after reading this thread, I'll pretend I don't care about it.
 
Thoraximus said:
Translation:
I've been saving for "The Aggressor" By McNabb for a while now, and I'm really excited about reading it, but after reading this thread, I'll pretend I don't care about it.
Click to expand...

:lol: I did genuinely get it cheap the other day!
 
Whats Mcnabs, Nick Stone books like?
 
I've read Immediate Action, Last Light and Remote Control and thought they were all very good.

I do sometimes wonder if they're ghost written though. What are the chances of so many SAS soldiers from the same squad being able to write novels? Doesn't seem likely to me.
 
Logan! said:
I've read Immediate Action, Last Light and Remote Control and thought they were all very good.

I do sometimes wonder if they're ghost written though. What are the chances of so many SAS soldiers from the same squad being able to write novels? Doesn't seem likely to me.
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Great new series for me to read then.
 
I read a book by another Ex-SAS fella who went back and retraced the steps of the Bravo Two Zero books. He spoke to locals and tried to determine which account was more credible. His conclusion seemed to be that they both were generally rubbish, taking a small amount of truth then turning it into a "Rambo-esque" tale of rolling gunfights etc. But then again how credible were the eyewitnesses he interviewed?

The one thing that really rankled him and he also reckoned it got to a lot of the B20 squad was the part of Ryan's book that essentially blamed one member of the squad for all their misfortune (one of the fellas that didn't make it back). He said that left a lot of bad feeling with the remaining guys towards Ryan and they wanted him to put forward non of them believed that true. They felt bad for the dead soldiers parents and the fact that he (being dead) had no way to stand up for himself. McNab's account doesn't do this so apparently a lot of the squad agree his version is closer to the truth.
 
D J Dog Toffee said:
I read a book by another Ex-SAS fella who went back and retraced the steps of the Bravo Two Zero books. He spoke to locals and tried to determine which account was more credible. His conclusion seemed to be that they both were generally rubbish, taking a small amount of truth then turning it into a "Rambo-esque" tale of rolling gunfights etc. But then again how credible were the eyewitnesses he interviewed?

The one thing that really rankled him and he also reckoned it got to a lot of the B20 squad was the part of Ryan's book that essentially blamed one member of the squad for all their misfortune (one of the fellas that didn't make it back). He said that left a lot of bad feeling with the remaining guys towards Ryan and they wanted him to put forward non of them believed that true. They felt bad for the dead soldiers parents and the fact that he (being dead) had no way to stand up for himself. McNab's account doesn't do this so apparently a lot of the squad agree his version is closer to the truth.
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It wasn't Mike Coburn was it? His story was a load of bollocks.
 
Brocky In Black said:
No, he's talking about Michael Asher's account, 'The Real Bravo Two Zero'.

What makes you say that Coburn's account is "A load of bollocks"?
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I was trying to edit the reply (until Everton scored and the Caf spazzed out) to say I was looking on Amazon & it is indeed the Asher one I read. Again, how credible asking the other side for their events is though is also questionable. He seemed to believe everything the Arab chaps told him and backed this up with lines like "..just by looking in his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth.." Which doesn't seem that scientific an approach.
 
D J Dog Toffee said:
I was trying to edit the reply (until Everton scored and the Caf spazzed out) to say I was looking on Amazon & it is indeed the Asher one I read. Again, how credible asking the other side for their events is though is also questionable. He seemed to believe everything the Arab chaps told him and backed this up with lines like "..just by looking in his eyes, I knew he was telling the truth.." Which doesn't seem that scientific an approach.
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Sorry, Coburn wrote Soldier Five, it was Asher's The Real Bravo Two Zero that was a load of bollocks. He did a documentary on it as well. The book was written from the start with the aim of controversially opposing McNab and Ryan and trying to discredit and ridicule them at every opportunity, written like The Sun and lacking credibility. A lot of assumptions made etc.

I've still got the book at home, remember reading it in disbelief. He wasn't involved in the operation what so ever yet tries to be the expert and tells the story completely from the other side sympathetic to the 'eye witnesses'.

Not to mention it was backed and much publicised by the Daily Mail. It was by all accounts a wum attempt, like if Michael Moore wrote a book tomorrow 'The real moon landings' etc.
 
No, he's talking about Michael Asher's account, 'The Real Bravo Two Zero'.

What makes you say that Coburn's account is "A load of bollocks"?

Edit: I had the same problem with the Caf going mental.

Coburn's account, Soldier five, while not as riveting a read as the others was definitely the most believeable account for me.
 
Brocky In Black said:
No, he's talking about Michael Asher's account, 'The Real Bravo Two Zero'.

What makes you say that Coburn's account is "A load of bollocks"?

Edit: I had the same problem with the Caf going mental.

Coburn's account, Soldier five, while not as riveting a read as the others was definitely the most believeable account for me.
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I posted before you did that for the second :D had my books mixed up.
 
Brocky In Black said:
No, he's talking about Michael Asher's account, 'The Real Bravo Two Zero'.

What makes you say that Coburn's account is "A load of bollocks"?

Edit: I had the same problem with the Caf going mental.

Coburn's account, Soldier five, while not as riveting a read as the others was definitely the most believeable account for me.
Click to expand...

Sounds like that's worth a read then, and possibly the book I should have read.
 
Are these authors the literary equivalent of Nuts and Zoo magazine or is that Dan Brown?
 
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