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HomeShop at BookSurgeJuvenile Non-FictionForeign Language StudyNo Reason for Dying: A Reluctant Combat Pilot's Confession of Hypocrisy, Infidelity and War |
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| Customer Reviews: | | Average Customer Review: ( 10 customer reviews )
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6 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 From A Woman's Point Of View Oct 28, 2009
By Lorraine
"Brown"
Had this book not been a gift I probably would have passed it over but out of curiosity I picked it up and thought "What the heck..." I was completely TETHERED from the first page! "No Reason For Dying" by Brian H. Settles is an awakening. Masquerading as autobiographical the gripping page-turner is much more. Steve Canyon Meets Dennis The Menace....The Right Stuff, In The Wrong Place. For one, it is an incite into the Male Machismo. The author has a definite way with words. When he describes climbing into his fighter jet you can feel the upholstery, hear the shrieking engines and smell his breath. His skill of recall of the tiniest details is amazing but again its these details which give flavor to the potato salad. The "unromantic romanticist" gets into so many tight situations you have to remind yourself he wrote the book so he MUST have lived through it but at the time you're not so sure he will survive. I loved the humor. "Humor?" you say, but yes it is comic relief from his painful emotional roller-coaster. References to James Dean's "Rebel Without a Clue" are priceless even if intended to be self-deprecating. All of the above describes the entertaining part of the book but the end has words of wisdom that every American President needs to hear before he sends one more human being to try to survive the Hell of war. Lets fix our flats before we buy tires for the rest of the world. The scars of the author's early life have been transformed into a roadmap for humanity. It helps fill the gaps that society and history have left for us when dealing with each other.
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
 Worst, best written book about Vietnam. Aug 19, 2011
By David W. Smith
I must confess I bought this book because of my intrest in History and Aviation. It is not the disenchantment with Vietnam that I didn't like, heck some of the best books about the conflict have been antiwar. There is very little written here about the Vietnam war or missions as a back seater in a F-4 Phantom. This is a book about the author's feeling of inadequacy living in the White man's world. I didn't mind for the first quarter of the book the total focus on his feelings of being a second class citizen. After reaching the halfway mark, I felt as if I had been beaten over the head for a week with his focus on Black vs. White. Why do all people of mixed race forget that they are still one half of each. I guess I cannot understand or comprehend what it feels like to be Black, or mixed race, but it just isn't my cup of tea to finish this book. If this topic is of intrest to you, then you will probably love this book. The author is brilliant with his storytelling, and the book is written very very well, but if you expect a book on flying experiences, then you will probably be disappointed.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Raw and Unrelenting Aug 20, 2011
By M. Clark
Brian Settles says midway through his book: "None of us know how we appear to be to others unless we ask. On a simpler, yet no less elusive level, it can be a lifelong process of discovery finding the answer to who we are to ourselves." Brian does not shy away from looking at himself with a truthful eye. There were times when the alcohol and sex were too much for me, but each time that I reached one of those moments, he came round the corner and redeemed himself and me ... spoke something that benefited me to hear in my own exploration. This is not sugar-coated and not for those too wedded to their own ideas for and against war and sex and boozing and aesthetics. It's raw and beautiful.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
No Reason For Dying Should Be Required Reading Feb 23, 2010
By William O. Owen
A friend recomended this book to me otherwise I would have never have heard of it. I went to the Amazon site to read the product review on the book prior to purchasing. My interest was perked because of the F4 Phantom missions that the author flew in the Viet Nam conflict. Perhaps my interest in Viet Nam has resurfaced because of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars we are now engaged in. I purchased the book and turned to page 1 about 7:00 pm the day I received the shipment. I finally put the book down at the crack of dawn the next morning! I returned to the story later that day and finished near dawn the next morning. I was not looking forward to reading the final page because I did not want the story to end. The author held me spellbound on the very first F4 Phantom combat mission. i felt I was in the cockpit with the pilots and could actually feel the G forces pulling my body as we made the passes into the combat zone! I pay tribute to the author to find the words and put them on paper to describe the action! Each of the misssions found a different target with lots of excitement.
The R&R trip to Hong Kong was filled with humour, passion, loneliness, and the fear of returning to the war zone. The friendships that the author developed with the enlisted personnel was very touching. The author had a way of questioning our decision to even be in Viet Nam. This obviously was not a subject to discuss openly at Da Nang Air Base in 1968. I urge everyone to read this story and listen to Brian's thoughts on the killings and destruction that Viet Nam produced. The question today is was it worth it?
I remember in High School our teacher required us to read "Catcher in the Rye." If I were in a position to issue a required reading edict the book would be "No Reason for Dying," a truly remarkable story. Thank you Brian H. Settles and I urge you to continue with your talent for storytelling!
4 of 6 found the following review helpful:
NRFD: A Fascinating Story from Start to Finish! Aug 05, 2009
By Scott Mahone
No other book about the Vietnam War and one man's vivid account of its affect on his professional and private life has been penned in such exceptional revelation and clarity through the prism of war. Profound in its understanding and compassionate in its human portrayals, this Fighter Pilot's testimony puts into sharp focus the high human cost of combat. A moving, honest account with precise details of the common horrors of warfare, it is a story Bee Settles tells with absolute freshness, clarity and unbinding truthfulness. Expertly written with a deep appreciation for the sacrifices of his Air Force comrades who were lost in battle, this gripping account of his nearly two hundred combat missions in the cockpit of the F-4 Phantom is an absolute work of art! Complete with acrid moments of near death as enemy ground fire and tracer rounds hurled past his canopy during strikes over Vietnam to his deep concern and worry for family back home is breathtaking from start to finish. Tempered with the author's brilliant account of his private and personal struggles while prosecuting a vicious war which he, himself sometimes questioned has been eloquently captured on paper. I salute Brian "Bee" Settles for his patriotism, valor, honor as a fellow warrior and courage to tell his story! Of the myriad of history books, personal stories of combatants, military manuscripts and other accounts of that convulsive period of our military history that I have read and closely studied during my 27 years of military service in the combat arms, none comes close to Bee's graphic description of life, personal trials and triumphs in that danger zone called the Vietnam War! God Bless you my comrade! Simply Outstanding!
Scott Mahone, Lieutenant Colonel, US Army (Retired) Air Defense Artillery
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