The Specialist : Gayle Rivers

[TiggerCCW UK]

Picked this up in a charity shop a while back. Is it worth a read? Read the fly leaf and it sounds a bit dodgy to me, regarding where he's worked and what he's done.

[pmulcahy11b]

Didn't they make a movie based on that book with Sylvester Stallone? I always thought that was a fiction book...

[Canadian Army]

The Book is actually called The Specialist: Revelations of Counterterrorist (or at least that is what it was called when it was printed in hardcover, books sometimes change titles when they are reprinted in paperback); is about many operations by Gayle Rivers has conducted. While the movie of the same name is about a woman (Sharon Stone) entices a mercenary bomb expert (Sylvester Stallone) into destroying the mafia that killed her family, similar theme, but no connection.

Also I did some research on Gayle Rivers. Gayle Rivers is a pseudonym for a mercenary, who has since the Vietnam War, and has conducted assassinations, abductions, car-bombings, and truck hijacks. He has also authored two non-fiction books: The Five Fingers; which is still regarded as one of the premier accounts in the spec-war genre; and The War Against the Terrorists: How to Win It. As well as authoring the fiction books Hunter's Run and The Killing House.

[Caradhras]

I just ordered the Five Fingers on this recommendation and doing a bit of research

[TiggerCCW UK]

I read the first couple of chapters last night, and while its reasonably well written I'm not sure about the idea of US Special Forces being led and commanded on assassination and kidnap missions by a civilian contractor. I'll judge it more when I get to the chapters when he's running assassination ops against the IRA on behalf of MI6 here in Northern Ireland.. Might all be true, but just sounds a bit fantastical to me.

[JimmyRay73]

I read "The Five Fingers" a long time ago (high school days) and thought it was OK, but not great.