First published 2021
Chris Craighead tells his own story of an extraordinary day that began like any other. The British SAS veteran was settling into his Nairobi home after morning firearms training when a phone call changed everything. A friend reported gunfire at the DusitD2 hotel complex in an affluent neighborhood. Craighead grabbed his weapons and drove straight into danger. What followed was nearly a full day of combat against Somali terrorists who had already detonated a suicide bomb and planned to kill as many civilians as possible. Craighead draws on three decades of elite military experience in a deadly contest that lasted twenty-two hours. He provides minute-by-minute details of the standoff that saved American, Kenyan, and European lives. This firsthand account shows how one soldier's split-second decision to act turned him from bystander to hero during a major terrorist attack.
Genres: military-fiction, adventure, action, biography-memoir
Vibes: fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful
Tropes: based-on-true-events, heroic-protagonist
Setting: Nairobi, DusitD2 Hotel
Period: 21st Century
Content warnings: violence