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Surprise, Kill, Vanish

The Definitive History of Secret CIA Assassins, Armies and Operators

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Surprise, Kill, Vanish

By: Annie Jacobsen
Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
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The definitive, character-driven history of CIA covert operations and U.S. government-sponsored assassinations, from the author of the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain.

Since 1947, domestic and foreign assassinations have been executed under the CIA-led covert action operations team. Before that time, responsibility for taking out America's enemies abroad was even more shrouded in mystery. Despite Hollywood notions of last-minute rogue-operations and external secret hires, covert action is actually a cog in a colossal foreign policy machine, moving through, among others, the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, the House and Senate Select Committees. At the end of the day, it is the President, not the CIA, who is singularly in charge.

When diplomacy fails and overt military action is not feasible, the President often calls on the Special Activities Division, the most secretive and lowest-profile branch of the CIA. It is this paramilitary team that undertakes dramatic and little-known assignments: hostage rescues, sabotage, and, of course, assassinations.

For the first time, Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author Annie Jacobsen takes us deep inside this top-secret history. With unparalleled access to former operatives, ambassadors, and even past directors of the Secret Service and CIA operations, Jacobsen reveals the inner workings of these teams, and just how far a U.S. president may go, covertly but lawfully, to pursue the nation's interests.

(P)2019 Hachette Audio©2019 Anne M. Jacobsen Freedom & Security Military Politics & Government Espionage Middle East Iran Africa Black Ops Thought-Provoking War
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Critic reviews

Praise for Annie Jacobsen:
Cauldron-stirring . . . revelatory . . . compellingly hard-hitting
A fascinating and sometimes uneasy exploration
All stars
Most relevant
An informative overview of the the history of clandestine and not so clandestine operations waged by the USA. The subject matter itself is very compelling and shocking at times. This is a very broad brush of a picture however as it covers the whole history of the CIA. I was curious to know more about some of the people depicted and ended up getting more information via Wikipedia and the internet. The presentation was a little dry but an easy enough listen.

Informative overview

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Not a one listen book. Phenomenal amount of research and some amazing history of some remarkable individuals and agencies.

Decent

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Sadly the terrible narrator lets this book down. Amazing research into the stories, let down by terrible mispronunciation. I literally cringed at them. Arisaig for example, pronounced in the book as airsage.

Fascinating stories, but terrible narration.

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long but a great listen, an excellent account of CIA history and its brave operators

Eye Opening

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The narration sounded very robotic but was easy enough to get used to.

Overall a very interesting listen but it did seem to focus on the theatres that two (albeit extremely experience) operatives were involved in rather than the CIA as a whole. There was a conspicuous absence of anything to do with South America in the book and I feel that's because the author didn't interview people who were involved or those that she did interview weren't able to tell her.

Very interesting, performance was lacking

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