Countdown bin Laden

The Untold Story of the 247-Day Hunt to Bring the Mastermind of 9/11 to Justice

By: Chris Wallace, Mitch Weiss

Narrated by: Chris Wallace

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER * INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

Following Chris Wallace’s “riveting” (The New York Times) and “propulsive” (Time) first book Countdown 1945 comes a deeply reported, revelatory, and thrillingly told account of the final months of the hunt for Osama bin Laden.

On August 27, 2010, three CIA officers ask for a private meeting with CIA Director Leon Panetta. During that secret session, they tell Panetta that agents have tracked a courier with deep Al Qaeda ties to a three-story house at the end of a dead-end street in Abbottabad, Pakistan. But they say it’s more than a house—it’s a heavily protected fortress. No one in the meeting says the name bin Laden. They don’t have to. Everyone understands that finally, after nearly a decade, maybe, just maybe, they’ve found the world’s most wanted man.

In Countdown bin Laden, celebrated journalist and CNN anchor and Max host Chris Wallace delivers a vivid account of the final eight months of intelligence gathering, national security strategizing, and meticulous military planning that leads to the climactic mission when SEAL Team Six closes in on its target.

The book delivers new information collected from Wallace’s in-depth interviews with more than a dozen central figures, including Admiral William H. McRaven—leader of the operation in Pakistan—as well as CIA Director Panetta, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, and the SEAL Team Six special operator who kills Osama bin Laden. Wallace also brings to life the human elements of this story, talking to families who lost loved ones on 9/11, sharing what relatives of SEAL Team Six went through, and bringing us inside the tense Situation Room during the raid.

Countdown bin Laden is a historical thriller filled with intrigue, cinematic action, and fresh reporting about the race to apprehend and bring to justice the mastermind of the most consequential terrorist attack in American history.

very well done

it is good to get insight on how our leaders work. even if you are not a fan of the leaders you have to have respect for the decisions they make. It was weird to hear Chris Wallace talk about sex.

Compelling detail and insight

CW’s thorough research on the key contributors to the raid on bin Laden makes this a very compelling read.

amazing

Great story that everyone should know. Any American should know and respect this story of the men and women who brought down this tyrant

Good Read

After watching the movie it’s nice to get more details into what went on behind the scene. Yet I do feel like there was point within the book that was dragged out longer than it needed. Overall good book and a must read if interested in military operations.

Speechless

I couldn't stop listening. incredible... wow. This is a story worth hearing and the ending just makes you want to research the next book about this event.