BYLINER PUBLISHES DEATH OF AN AMERICAN SNIPER: The Extraordinary Life and Tragic End of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the Country’s Most Lethal Soldier
By Anthony Swofford, Bestselling Author of Jarhead
and Former Marine Sniper
May 16, 2013—San Francisco—Released today by Byliner, Death of an American Sniper ($2.99), by bestselling Jarhead author Anthony Swofford, tells the extraordinary story of the life and shocking death of legendary Navy SEAL Chris Kyle. It is also the first in-depth account of the troubled life of Kyle’s alleged murderer, Eddie Ray Routh. A former Marine who, like Kyle himself, suffered the devastating effects of PTSD, Routh sadly managed to succeed where countless Iraqi insurgents had failed.
Known as the deadliest sniper in American military history, Kyle was credited with 160 kills—a record of dispatch that led Iraqi fighters to tag him with the nickname “the Devil of Ramadi” and place a $20,000 bounty on his head. During four tours in Iraq, Kyle was shot twice, survived six IED attacks, and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Silver Star a combined seven times. Among his fellow soldiers he was legendary, a hero who saved lives even as he, in the words of one Navy SEAL, “killed more people than smallpox.”
Kyle thrived at war, eventually chronicling his exploits in his recent bestseller, American Sniper, a blood-soaked and unapologetic account of dealing death in Iraq. Like so many veterans, however, he faced personal demons when he left the military. With the insight and sensitivity that only another soldier can possess, Swofford, a Marine sniper in the first Gulf War, probes Kyle’s return from the excitement of war to the mundane realities of civilian life. “Was he perfectly adjusted to the stark reality of how he had achieved his fame?” Swofford wonders. “Had he really been able to kill that many men and feel no guilt?”
Near the end of his life, however, Kyle had begun devoting himself to helping other traumatized veterans, which, in a painfully tragic irony, led to his fateful trip to the Texas shooting range in February where Eddie Ray Routh is believed to have taken a semiautomatic handgun and fired multiple shots at close range into Kyle and his close friend Chad Littlefield.
Death of an American Sniper is an empathetic and knowing account of a soldier’s life, as well as a thoughtful examination of the war-shattered man who confessed to his murder.
About the Author: Anthony Swofford is the author of the memoirs Jarhead and Hotels, Hospitals, and Jails and the novel Exit A. A film adaptation of Jarhead, directed by Sam Mendes, was released in 2005. Swofford’s writing has appeared in Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, and many other places. He has taught at the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Lewis and Clark College. He is currently at work on a new novel and is developing a dramatic television series for HBO.
About Byliner: Byliner works directly with the world’s best writers to deliver great stories to readers. We publish original fiction and nonfiction by top authors, including bestsellers such as Amy Tan’s Rules for Virgins, Margaret Atwood’s Positron, Jon Krakauer’s Three Cups of Deceit, Ann Patchett’s The Getaway Car, Nick Hornby’s Everyone’s Reading Bastard, Buzz Bissinger’s After Friday Night Lights, Chuck Palahniuk’s Phoenix, Alexandra Fuller’s Falling, Richard Russo’s Nate in Venice, and Sebastian Junger’s A World Made of Blood. These quick-read stories are written to be read in two hours or less, and can be purchased individually through major digital bookstores. The entire Byliner Originals library is available online to Byliner subscribers, who also get access to premium content from our by-invitation community of writers—including thousands of rarely seen and exclusive stories by bestselling authors.
Death of an American Sniper is available for $2.99 as a Kindle Single at Amazon, a Quick Read at Apple’s iBookstore, a Nook Snap at BarnesAndNoble.com, and a Short Read at Kobo. For a review copy or to schedule an interview with Anthony Swofford, please contact Clare Hertel at clare@byliner.com; 505-474-6783.
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