Boots on the Ground by Dusk: My Tribute to Pat Tillman Book

I read this book because I had some unanswered questions after reading Jon Krakauer's book "Where Men Win Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman". Most of these questions were of a personal nature, so this book, written by Pat's mother, was the perfect way to answer those questions. Yes, she did answer them for me as well as told her side of the story.

This book is not a literary piece. It is more like the journal of a grieving mother-bear who has lost her cub in an unjust way and seeks justice for him. For most of her grieving, I was right there with her. Unfortunately, some of that carried over into her detailing of the mission and the military reports/visitors to her home. Because of that, some of the paragraphs felt like a rant.

It is not the most flowing book, either, going back and forth between memories and what was happening at the time. It is hard to keep track of the timeline because the author rarely refers to how much time has passed.

In sum, it is much like going to Mary Tillman's house and sitting on her couch with a cup of tea, listening to her tell about losing her son and all the difficulties her family has gone through in order to find out the truth about his death. In that respect it is pretty good. But if you want an excellent telling of the story from many viewpoints, read Krakauer's book first.