Illusion or Victory: How the U.S. Navy Seals Win America's Failing War on Drugs

Highly recommend this title to anyone looking for the US to fight a real war on drugs and not continue to use the needle in a haystack approach of trying to stop it at the border with limited success at very high cost.

The back flap contains a terrific letter of support from Senator Orrin Hatch, the Chairman of the US Senate Judiciary Committee, the organization responsible for many elements of combatting drugs and its attendant crime.

Really, really enjoyed this book, receives my highest recommendation.


tried really hard to like it   November 17, 2003
The anti-drug moralizing forced me to stop reading it as did MANY technical goofs - 2 times where the author described M16s as having 40 round magazines, that a .357 Mag could penetrate a car's engine block, that most SEALs are built like NFL players and can bench 400 pounds.

Drugs are evil but every good character in the book gets crocked on booze.

Lots of typos and errors. This was like reading a first draft.


tried hard to like it   November 17, 2003
1 out of 1 found this review helpful

Gave up about half way thru. Great premise and some good details but the anti-drug ranting just became WAY too much. The author is on a personal crusade against drugs of the South American variety and it really comes thru in the writing. Continuous moralizing about how all drugs are evil and the US, actually the world, is about to collapse because of the War on Drugs, but it's OK when all of the good characters drink alcohol. eg - when the FBI agents meet and get crocked.

Author annoyingly, and for no reason, keeps bringing up a backstory about Modular Products as if he's trying to set the background for his next novel.

Many typos and errors - was this a first draft that no one proof read? Glaring technical errors that an author with friends in law enforcement should know: p90 - .357 bullets can penetrate a car's engine block, p33 and p26 - M16s with "40 round" magazines.

Too many analogies of how SEALs are like NFL players and can all bench press 400 pounds - HA!. Also, for a guy that supposedly was in BUD/S, he says Hell Week was 7 days - it's really 5. p26 - the SEALs wear "dark jungle striped" camo! Another goof.

Tried hard to like it but the moralizing and faulty details really turned me off.


great read   December 31, 2002
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

I enjoyed this book and the few areas which might be considered discrepancies were little more than a matter of perspective. The author did a great job combining information with a smooth reading experience.


Good effort   May 31, 2000
Tom Hunter (Norfolk, VA United States)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful

Unfortunately, I did not read the reviews of this book prior to purchasing it - I thought it was a factual accounting of US Navy Special Warfare efforts against the drug cartels. Had the author stuck with keeping this factual, it would have been a much more valuable read.