Bullet Magnet: Britain's Most Highly Decorated Frontline Soldier Audible Audiobook – Abridged

Mick Flynn (Author), Richard Mitchley (Narrator), Orion Publishing Group (Publisher)

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Summer 2006, Afghanistan: an apparently deserted village, and a rapidly ticking clock...The relentless Taliban ambush which followed saw several British soldiers dead, two armoured vehicles destroyed - and Corporal of Horse Michael Flynn awarded an MC to go alongside his Conspicuous Gallantry Cross. Mick Flynn has never backed away from a challenge. From his uncompromising South Wales childhood - within a whisker, at one point, of Cardiff Prison - to the streets of Belfast, where he first learned the bitter realities of armed conflict, he's had no difficulty finding and facing trouble. Whether on the storm blasted Falklands cliff tops, where he witnessed the Sir Galahad going down in flames, or in the searing deserts of Iraq, where he and his crew pinned down an entire division of enemy tanks, he has carried the attack with a coolness that has earned him the respect of princes, generals and his fellow soldiers. Mick Flynn has seen action in every major British war zone of the past thirty years and still serves with the legendary Blues & Royals today. Bullet Magnet is his story - the story of an extraordinary modern warrior who mixes warmth and humour, and at times heartbreaking poignancy, with truly breathtaking fighting skills.

Listening Length

6 hours and 19 minutes
Author

Mick Flynn
Narrator

Richard Mitchley
Audible release date

June 11, 2010
Language

English
Publisher

Orion Publishing Group
ASIN

B003RYCPHM
Version

Abridged
Program Type

Audiobook
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Product details

Listening Length	6 hours and 19 minutes
Author	Mick Flynn
Narrator	Richard Mitchley
Audible.com Release Date	June 11, 2010
Publisher	Orion Publishing Group
Program Type	Audiobook
Version	Abridged
Language	English
ASIN	B003RYCPHM
Best Sellers Rank	#158,738 in Audible Books & Originals (See Top 100 in Audible Books & Originals) #97 in Iraq War #426 in Iraq War Biographies #776 in Iraq War History (Books)

Customer reviews

5 star		74%
4 star		17%
3 star		5%
2 star		1%
1 star		2%

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Top reviews from the United States

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Russell Bradley

Four Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2016

Verified Purchase

A good military memoir from a British veteran.

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kathgregg

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United States on February 3, 2015

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Very emotional, the end made me cry.

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Joe Creason

An action-packed modern military memoir from a highly decorated NCO

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2014

I listened to the ABRIDGED (6 hours and 22 minutes) version of this memoir read by Richard Mitchley. This review only speaks to that material and my final paragraph will focus on the audible production specifically.

4¼ stars: Flynn and Pearson deliver an action-packed account of modern armored warfare from the NCO’s perspective.

Flynn is a highly decorated warrant officer currently serving in the Blues and Royals, a modern cavalry regiment in the British Army. He served combat tours in Northern Ireland (1970s), then more extensively during the Falklands War (1980s), then Desert Storm (1990s), then in the Iraq AND THEN the Afghanistan War (2000s). This ABRIDGED memoir focuses mostly on his stints in the Falklands, Iraq and Afghanistan where he experienced the most combat (and earned the CGC and MC). Flynn also delivers some autobiographical details and commentaries on being a rebellious youth in the army, training, and running a small business between his bouts of enlistment.

Due to the nature of abridgement, most of the audiobook focuses on Flynn’s combat exploits (especially Iraq and Afghanistan), but considering his career spans five decades, this isn’t an issue. It definitely isn’t until the Wars on Terror chapters when the account becomes almost non-stop, action-packed and gripping, but his chapters on Northern Ireland terrorist attacks and the South Atlantic are still pretty lively. Also, when he isn’t in combat he still relays interesting side experiences that he underwent, starting as a hormone-induced teenager in an armored cavalry unit. And from an American perspective on these conflicts, these passages were eye opening considered my poor knowledge of the subjects.

The account is very well paced and presented. Some personal accounts tend to linger on big-picture topics or rely on extended excerpts to fill us in on the background of their combat experience but this isn’t the case for Flynn’s account. We are given his perspective and he is open about his thought processes and his own personal deeds in combat. Furthermore, his combat experience is varied as a result of the length of his military career. Sometimes accounts with multiple arenas of battle tend to blur in terms of description and activity but this isn’t so with Flynn’s account. North Ireland is experienced as a tense Occupational duty with traumatic garrison duty experiences while the Falklands features long distance firefights and details on what it’s like to engage an enemy for the first time. Afghanistan features large-unit sized battles against armored enemies and the usage of air-support while Iraq is more akin to the convoyed urban warfare experience discussed in modern mechanized warrior accounts that I have read. And still Flynn is able to compare the similarities between all these different conflict venues: for example, his MC earning battle in Iraq reminded him of the terrorist tactics he witnessed to a small degree in North Ireland – only this time on a massive and more deadly scale.

The descriptions are gripping and relayed clearly but there are some drawbacks to this account that keep it from a 5-star rating. Though Flynn is open about his personal actions in combat he doesn’t reflect on them for too long. Everything brought up could have been elaborated upon a bit more and this might be a product of the abridgement process. This book features more reviews on the UK version of this site and they are on the full book. The book is still quite highly reviewed but the drawbacks mentioned by others are ones that mean that my issues stated above wouldn’t change if I read the full book. They also mention issues with most modern war accounts (the non-military parts are a bit self-serving and bloated). It is because of all this that I am giving the book a 4¼-star rating and bumping it up to officially 5 stars but that’s with the following caveats: This is a score for the ABRIDGED version of the book and it looks like I might have given the full book anywhere from 3-4¼ stars:.

Concerning the audiobook: I enjoyed the reader and his tone and pacing properly reflected the action and delivery most likely desired by Flynn and his coauthor. I’ve never had a problem understanding a foreign accent for audiobooks and that extends to my experience with this book, as well. Finally, though this is the abridged version, it’s 6 hours and 22 minutes long, so it doesn’t seem incomplete!

2 people found this helpful

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R. E. Statham

Iraq II; Falklands; Northern Ireland from a warrior's perspective

Reviewed in the United States on September 10, 2014

I never heard of Mick Flynn, but his story about his service in northern Ireland, the Falklands and Iraq are very interesting and insightful. I've read three books about this war, and Mick's is the first British perspective I've had the pleasure to read.

Mick's a combat soldier-- and his story is a "war fighter" perspective on it all. He's been at the tip of the spear on many occasions, in many conflicts, and his story comes through very well.

I've studied all of the campaigns we was involved with, and have had the pleasure of interviewing a few of the veterans (including one or two from the other side of things). Mick's perspective is spot on.

It's honest, it's interesting and it gives the reader an excellent understanding of what it means to serve in a uniform in a combat zone.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

A. Wise

Great Story, great read

Reviewed in the United States on February 18, 2013

This is a really honest, great read. Mick Flynn tells his story firsthand in an honest, readable style that is easy to follow and understand. It is not a great work of literature but it doesn't have to be to be real. It was really interesting to finally read a first hand account of British soldiers serving on CVR(T) Scorpion, Scimitar, Striker and Spartan light armor vehicles from the Falklands to Afghanistan. These fascinating vehicles have served well on all fronts but seldom reported. Recommended for anyone interested in modern warfare, especially the British experience.

4 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Glyn

Best read I've had in ages

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 22, 2020

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I found it hard to put this book down as I enjoyed it so much. I had a few friends in the Blues and Jews, one who became RQMC and did 22 years service. As an old donkey walloper myself I always find it enjoyable to hear or read "Cav-speak". It's a very distinct way of talking.

I already knew from mixing with them on Salisbury Plain, sometime between 1979-1982 and I knew their OR's could be a bunch of animals at times and this book didn't shrink away from that fact. The ghost writer did make a few mistakes but that's normal when you've got a civvy whose military knowledge is scant. He did an ok job though. His descriptions of the actions Cpl Major Flynn took part in are pretty accurate and I learned a few things, which doesn't happen very often.

As a person Mick Flynn developed well and I love the fact that in times of crisis during combat he kept his head as all RAC crewmen are taught to do. He's a jammy bugger though; I'd have loved to get those gigs he was on. Best of luck to him in everything he sets his hand to in the future. He deserves every success and I hope his pension (and war pension) made it all worthwhile.

Honi soit qui mal y pense

2 people found this helpful

David

this is an excellent, humbling

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 26, 2015

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Incredibly well written book by the bloke who really has "seen it all". Not just present at, but - by virtue of the Blues and Royals - at the front of every major military operation of the past 40 years , this is an excellent, humbling, sometimes funny but sometimes deadly serious account of the best and worst of life in the British Army.

Penned by almost anyone else, you'd call BS on half the stuff in here. But Flynn is widely known as probably the most experienced soldier in the army and most likely one of the most experienced soldiers in the history of the army. There's no reason for him to make it up, he's seen enough to fill 3 books without needing to fictionalise it.

Worth a read by military and civilians alike. Current/former soldiers will get a lot of laughs in places civvies won't, and recognise some of the tales and places in the book. Civilians will get an excellent account of the attraction to the army felt by many, and a sharp realisation that the people defending our lands are not special, superhuman creatures, but regular people from normal backgrounds who do make mistakes and do feel pain. It's an extraordinary tale of a, deep down, rather ordinary bloke.

14 people found this helpful

Jam C

A good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 13, 2021

Verified Purchase

This book is a great read. I served in a cavalry regiment and actually know some of the people mentioned in this book, which put a personal spin on it for me.
Those who served will get some of the terms used and empathise with some of the experiences written about. Those who have not served will get an insight into life as a British cavalry soldier.

Sir

Excellent insight into the life of soldiers

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 17, 2020

Verified Purchase

Mick Flynn is clearly a bit of a lad! He likes a scrap but as an ex-officer, I'd much rather go into battle with him than against him. An excellent guy to have on your own side.
His accounts of battle are breathtaking as he doesn't hesitate to put himself in harms way to defeat the enemy.
In the early part of the book, he paints a vivid picture of the life of a soldier, with nothing white-washed.

2 people found this helpful

Mr N Holloway

Just how real this guy is

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 9, 2019

Verified Purchase

If he was S.F you would never of heard about him as a lot of what he did was not unlike there state of operation.
This goes to show just how professional our armed forces are, this man is a legend, a lot of people could learn a lot from him,
great book wonderfully written with a lot of pure emotion, the real type that onle a combat person can write.

One person found this helpful

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Bullet Magnet: Britain's Most Highly Decorated Frontline Soldier Audible Audiobook – Abridged

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