Lone Survivor chronicles Marcus Luttrell's early life, as well as his time preparing for and during Navy SEAL training. Primarily, though, Lone Survivor tells the true story of Marcus Luttrell (and his fellow Navy SEALS) experiences during Operation Redwing: how they infiltrated a village in Afghanistan with the goal of capturing or killing a leading Taliban member closely associated with Osama Bin Laden and how it all went wrong, which ultimately culminated in the death of every Navy SEAL except Luttrell, who was very lucky to escape with his life.
Reviews for Lone Survivor were mostly positive. Fritz Lanham of Houston Chronicle, for example, loved the book, calling it "One of the most gripping and heartbreaking descriptions of heroism in combat to come out of wars in Afghanistan and Iraq" and saying that it is "An astonishing survival tale." Lone Survivor was also a New York Times bestseller, indicating that the general public loved the book and that the book sold quite a few copies.
Luttrell's book was later adapted into a film of the same name. Released in 2013, the film was directed by Peter Berg and received mostly positive reviews. It was also very financially successful as it grossed $154.8 million against a budget of $40 million.
