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Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries Fighting in Iraq | 
| Author: Steve Fainaru
Publisher: Da Capo Press
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $15.06
You Save: $10.94 (42%)
New (43) Used (9) from $15.06
Rating:  11 reviews
Sales Rank: 10931
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 288
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9
ISBN: 0306817438
Dewey Decimal Number: 956.70443
EAN: 9780306817434
ASIN: 0306817438
Publication Date: November 10, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Travelling in Iraq with a group of US security contractors - mercenaries or mercs - a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter reveals in gritty detail the men who live by Big Boy Rules. A parallel army lives on the margins of the Iraq war - nearly 100,000 armed men, invisible yet in plain sight, doing jobs the overstretched and understaffed military can't or won't. The US media call them 'security contractors'. They call themselves 'mercs' and operate under their own rules. Pulitzer prize-winning reporter Steve Fainaru travelled with several groups of security contractors to find out what motivates them to put their lives in danger every day.What emerges is a searing, revealing and sometimes darkly funny look at the men who live and work in the battlefields of Iraq: some are desperate, some are confused and some are just out for a lark. Some disappear into the void that is Iraq and are never seen again. It's not a pretty picture, but it's brutally real and shockingly honest. "Big Boy Rules" is an unforgettable leap into the mayhem of Iraq and the dark recesses of the minds of American policy makers and the warriors they hire.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 6 more reviews...
 What was the authors motive by omitting the whole truth? November 16, 2008
DT (Texas)
24 out of 40 found this review helpful
I guess one who doe's not know or who has never experienced Iraq, would give all stars to this book. Yes it is a good read. However the author stopped short and left out key details on certain subject matter. I got the feeling it was an effort to extort a certain response from the readers. Some of the stories told did not happen, some did not happen even close to the way he discribe. Which may not matter much. However the omission of key details is a definite attempt to produce a desired impact on the reader. For example, the author remarked negatively numerous times about the armor of the vehicles. He left out that the armor worked. Why? He stated that Paul walked up to him and out of the blue, Paul said he was an alcoholic. That did not happen, so what was the authors reason for writing that? He condemed Crescent Security for not manning the the convoy with appropriate security. Why did he fail to tell the part that those 7 left more than an hour earlier than thier scheduled time and did not inform the other 20 Iraqi security members. There many other statements and twisted facts the author was grossly incorrect about. So I must question the acuracy of the other parts of the book.
 The truth is being told...... November 9, 2008
MMP (Maryland)
7 out of 12 found this review helpful
I finished reading "Big Boy Rules" last night. I hope the Cote, Young, Munns, Reuben, Withrow, and Nussbaumer families find comfort in knowing the truth is out, and the story of their sons, brothers, fathers, husbands, and friends is being told.
The book is very well written. As despicable as the outcome is, Steve Fainaru did a fantastic job of capturing the life of Jon, the strength of the Cote family, and the corruption that led to this tragedy.
The Public Must Know Private Contracting Engagement Rules November 3, 2008
Francis Cote (Buffalo)
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
This story must be told! The public may never be aware of the '...mayhem of Iraq...'. My son Jonathon is the main character in this book. Jon was a US Army veteran, 82nd Airborne Unit, who did tours in both Afghanistan and Iraq. His story is parallel to many other Americans who are attracted to the contracting life in Iraq whether it be for the money, the excitement or the fact that they don't feel they fit in anymore after having served in the war. The United States is putting hired help behind the front lines to ease the burden of its understaffed and overworked armed forces. That's the price we pay for having an all volunteer military. By paying civilians to handle tasks previously handled by the military, the administration is freeing up U.S. troops to do the actual fighting. But the use of contractors also hides the true costs of war. Their dead aren't added to official body counts. Their duties and profits are hidden by closed mouthed executives who won't give details to Congress as their coffers and roles swell. It is estimated that there is one contractor for every 10 foreign soldiers in Iraq; 10 times the private involvement in the first Gulf War in which I served. The bigger the contractor, the more the influence they have to establish the rules of engagement there. Who could have conceived the results factually detailed in this book. You will enjoy it!
Jon's story is at www.FreeCote.com.
Hard Hitting Story of Present Day Mercenaries November 25, 2008
W. H. McDonald Jr. (Elk Grove, CA USA)
6 out of 9 found this review helpful
Author Steve Fainaru's detailed and emotional story about contract mercenaries fighting in Iraq is not only timely, but also presents a side of that war that needs to be shown. In his book, "Big Boy Rules: America's Mercenaries fighting In Iraq" , we get a sometimes ugly realization that this war is being waged in an unprecedented way. It certainly makes one stop and rethink the direction this country has taken with how this war and future wars will be fought.
Fainaru lets the reader actually know these me. They are not some faceless warrior. That is what makes this book stand out. He interviews them and finds out what makes them who they are and why some of them are there. It is by letting us see the very human side of this story that makes all that happens ever so more emotional and tragic.
The book is not some dry impersonal tale of a war. The author takes us on a personal journey with some of those men fighting and dying there. The book will make you think. It will make you angry. It will might even move some readers to tears. What it won't ever do is bore you! The book is entertaining and action filled. It is well written and is sure to win this author much praise for his literary skills. This book is brilliantly crafted. The book is worthy of The Military Writer's Society of America's top book rating of FIVE STARS! It is really that good! I personally recommend it.
Awesome book! November 13, 2008
love to read
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a brilliant book. Steve Fainaru puts a very human face on this largely unknown aspect of the war in Iraq after spending considerable time with numerous mercenaries in the field. It is a personal account as well; Fainaru grew close to several mercs who later were abducted and killed, and at the same time he was dealing with his brother's potential incarceration (for refusing to reveal the source of grand jury testimony in the BALCO steroids investigation) and his father's death from lung cancer. The way he dovetails all this is quite skillful and powerful. Fainaru doesn't hide his affection for the victims in Iraq and their families back home, but he doesn't hide their warts, either. Fainaru won a Pulitzer Prize for his stories in the Washington Post on this topic, and it's easy to see why. "Big Boy Rules" is truly an amazing job of reporting and writing--a very compelling read.
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