RATING: 4 STARS
Release date: October 16, 2015
100 DEADLY SKILLS by Clint Emerson, Ret. Navy SEAL contains many techniques used by The SEALS which can be applied for civilian use. The techniques are presented in a simple manner, making it easy to understand. One page describes a brief explanation of a particular skill, followed by a page of step-by-step graphic presentation. The intent of his book is to teach survival skills, so you have the power of knowledge to effectively counter the methods of sinister people. Emerson refers to the use of these skills typical of the “Violent Nomad.”
The most useful information are the skills needed to solve most common inconvenient scenarios. Some of these skills include what to do if you’re locked out of your house or hotel, how to hide items in your hotel room or how to defeat a padlock. Most everything in the non-life threatening section is based on common-sense and a bit of MacGyver ingenuity.
I deducted two stars because because the book goes from the sublime to the ridiculous. In the first half of the book, Emerson describes basic emergency survival skills, such as how to create an everyday kit, how to conceal escape tools, how to pick locks and how to construct a rectal concealment. I think the how-to on rectal concealment would be more appropriate in the life-threatening scenarios section. In the second half of the book, he describes life threatening scenarios, such as how to evade a kidnapper, how to steal a plane or rappel down the side of a building. I think the book should have focused on either basic or worse case survival skills, not both. It was overall a useful informational book, good for survivalists and wanna-be spies.
I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
MJ Reads 