Surprise, Kill, Vanish

The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins

By: Annie Jacobsen

Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen

From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold USA Today bestselling story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
Surprise . . . your target. Kill . . . your enemy. Vanish . . . without a trace.
When diplomacy fails, and war is unwise, the president calls on the CIA's Special Activities Division, a highly-classified branch of the CIA and the most effective, black operations force in the world.
Originally known as the president's guerrilla warfare corps, SAD conducts risky and ruthless operations that have evolved over time to defend America from its enemies. Almost every American president since World War II has asked the CIA to conduct sabotage, subversion and, yes, assassination.
With unprecedented access to forty-two men and women who proudly and secretly worked on CIA covert operations from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day, along with declassified documents and deep historical research, Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen unveils -- like never before -- a complex world of individuals working in treacherous environments populated with killers, connivers, and saboteurs.
Despite Hollywood notions of off-book operations and external secret hires, covert action is actually one piece in a colossal foreign policy machine.
Written with the pacing of a thriller, Surprise, Kill, Vanish brings to vivid life the sheer pandemonium and chaos, as well as the unforgettable human will to survive and the intellectual challenge of not giving up hope that define paramilitary and intelligence work. Jacobsen's exclusive interviews -- with members of the CIA's Senior Intelligence Service (equivalent to the Pentagon's generals), its counterterrorism chiefs, targeting officers, and Special Activities Division's Ground Branch operators who conduct today's close-quarters killing operations around the world -- reveal, for the first time, the enormity of this shocking, controversial, and morally complex terrain. Is the CIA's paramilitary army America's weaponized strength, or a liability to its principled standing in the world? Every operation reported in this book, however unsettling, is legal.

Critic reviews

Praise for Surprise, Kill, Vanish

"As fast paced as a thriller." —Fred Burton, Stratfor Talks' Pen and Sword Podcast

"Jacobsen here presents a tour de force exploring the CIA's paramilitary activities...this excellent work feels like uncovering the tip of the iceberg. VERDICT: Highly recommended for those seeking a better understanding of American foreign policy in action."—Jacob Sherman, Library Journal

"In SURPRISE, VANISH, KILL, Annie Jacobsen takes us inside the darkest and most morally ambiguous corner of our government, where politicians ask brave men and women to kill-up close and personal-on America's behalf. She offers, in cinematic detail, the real story of recent geopolitical history, the plots and assassinations that in some instances presidents and diplomats have denied for years, including the CIA's biggest successes and its biggest fiascos."—Garrett M. Graff, author of Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die

"A behind-the-scenes look at the most shadowy corners of the American intelligence community...Well-sourced and well-paced, this book is full of surprises."—Kirkus

"Having already demonstrated her remarkable aptitude for unearthing government secrets in books like Area 51 (2011) and The Pentagon's Brain (2015), Jacobsen pulls back the curtain on the history of covert warfare and state sanctioned assassinations from WWII to the present...Jacobsen's work revealing a poorly understood but essential slice of warfare history belongs in every library collection."—Booklist

Praise for The Pentagon's Brain

Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History

One of The Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2015

One of The Boston Globe's Best Books of 2015

One of Amazon's Top 100 Books of 2015

"A brilliantly researched account of a small but powerful secret government agency whose military research profoundly affects world affairs."—The Pulitzer Prize Committee

"Filled with the intrigue and high stakes of a spy novel, Jacobsen's history of DARPA is as much a fascinating testament to human ingenuity as it is a paean to endless industrial warfare and the bureaucracy of the military-industrial complex."—Kirkus

"A fascinating and unsettling portrait of the secretive U.S. government agency....Jacobsen walks a fine line in telling the story of the agency and its innovations without coming across as a cheerleader or a critic, or letting the narrative devolve into a salacious tell-all. Jacobsen's ability to objectively tell the story of DARPA, not to mention its murky past, is truly remarkable, making for a terrifically well-crafted treatise on the agency most Americans know next to nothing about."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

WOW!

The title says it all. What a fabulous book. Born in 1959 i grew up in the middle of much of these events. As a student of history listening to the action behind the scenes and the unsung heroes that executed the missions only makes me appreciate them more.

I want to thank the author for the obvious hard work and research that went into producing this work.

Excellent Eye Opener - Well researched

This is the second book I own from Jacobsen. From other books in my library that cross reference her anecdotal stories I believe she has done excellent research. I usually judge the quality of the research from minor reference errors in a text; there are very few here. Some, but not many. Perhaps her editor let something slip past.
As she is both author and narrator, I feel that perhaps there wasn't enough budget for a professional narrator. Not that she does a bad job, but I think a different narrator would improve things. At times she sounds like a metronome and I had to take a rest from the book. At other times, inflections lead me to think she might be setting up something for a liberal attack on covert operations - that never happens. She has written a book that will make you think about the subject matter. She has written a book that is accurate and non-judgmental. The book is excellent, well researched, both timely and historically. She must have had to do some strong convincing to get close to her sources.

I will watch for more titles from Annie Jacobsen.

Fascinating

I have a new hero and his name is Billy Waugh. Thank you for writing about such an interesting topic and delivering the information that even a civilian like me can understand.

Good material but......

There’s obviously a lot of research that went into the book. This would be SO much better with a different narrator.

Fascinating insights into covert operations

Provides a nuanced, unprejudiced perspective on the history, effectiveness and political uneasiness of America's targeted killing programs.