Excellent in many ways

Name of the book was little misleading. This book is so much more, about technical, personal and military history. It told the story of pilots, history of air power vs. anti aircraft and also quite deeply explains what is was about in Vietnam war. Narrator was very good.

This book is for people who are interested about personal war stories of pilots, people who love tehcnical details and also everyone interested about Vietnam war and polititics behind it.

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SAM killers historical epic

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

An overview of the "WIld Weasel" history of the US Forces in Vietnam, its beginnings, its developments and pilots recollections. Detail is quite specific, and the narration helps visualise the difficulties and dangers associated with the Surface Air Missile destroyer role, while keeping events of US and Vietnam war history as a backdrop.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Hunter Killers?

The excellent narration of operational sorties from take-off to landing (or loss, as success was not always guaranteed) brings the book to come alive.

What about John Pruden’s performance did you like?

Excellent, with good content to support his style.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It does not make you laugh or cry, but certainly provides you with an insight to how the people behind the dangerous role of flying Anti-SAM missions had operated under extreme conditions.

Any additional comments?

Excellent book, and audio book, with huge amounts of technical information while explaining clearly the complex subject in audible/readable formats.

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Excellent book

A fantastic book with plenty of detail to draw you into the story. I didn't have much knowledge of Vietnam but this book draws you into the story.

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Slightly frustrating

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I purchased this book to understand more about what it was like to be an American "Wild Weasel" pilot during the Vietnam war. I got that but what I also got was Dan Hampton's history of the Vietnam war which broke up the pace of the book with long descriptive chapters on the background to American involvement. Fine, yes, but I didn't buy the book for this. When Hampton keeps to the stories of the pilots and their combat with the SAM missile systems the pace is fast and exciting with great narration but when he breaks from that and starts another oh-so-long history lesson my mind began to wonder and I felt the urge to fast forward.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

When the story stays with the pilot's and the EWO's the story is fast paced and frenetic.

Which character – as performed by John Pruden – was your favourite?

John Pruden's pilot conversations were very well drawn out. He has a great voice and one can imagine the American pilots talking to each other but what stood out and was really exciting was his depiction of the warning siren that sounds in a pilot's cockpit when an unfortunate fellow pilot has had to eject "BEER!BEER!BEER!"

Was The Hunter Killers worth the listening time?

Yes. Just fast forward the VERY long chapters on the history of the war.

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True Hero's

A good book detailing the sheer guts and determination required to develop and fly this type of mission.
American accent of reader a bit heavy going at times

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Very poor

When the book reconstructs actual sorties it's not too bad. Sadly these are few and instead the book completely wanders off track talking about US politics at the time and general history of the Vietnam War with little specifics about the air war. The narrator is very good and I think he make just about bearable. In summary, this is a book best avoided.

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Wild Weasel history padded with air war history

This isn't just a history of the Wild Weasels, but includes wider explanation of the overall conflict and aspects of the air campaign. I had expected it to cover pretty much the Wild Weasel project only so while the information added context and the changes to the political environment in the US, it felt like the extra is there to pad out the Wild Weasel history.

Most of the information is useful (especially about the air war) and it doesn't shy from criticising poor political and military decision making in the US. And it will help remind even those with a broader understanding of what was occurring when. However some of it is patchy, can lack specific sources and makes sweeping statements about complex issues; describing the motivations of Churchill during WW2 as only focused on preserving the British empire or using the term 'rabble' to describe the Black Panthers are gross over simplifications and really jar compared to the thoroughness elsewhere.

Where it sticks to its subject it's a compassionate examination of the very brave and driven aviators who flew these missions. It doesn't present much from a Vietnamese perspective and there are very few Vietnamese sources, which is where the book could have done more.
It also includes a useful appendix which gives a concise history of the French and US involvement, as well as the Chinese and Russian influences between the end of the Second World War and the US escalation in Indochina.

The narrator misses some pronunciations, but otherwise does a creditable job with the text. Overall it's an interesting book, but not quite what it looks like from the blurb.

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