Manhunt

The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad

By: Peter L. Bergen

Narrated by: Mark Deakins

From the author of the New York Times bestselling Holy War, Inc., this is the definitive account of the decade-long manhunt that killed the world’s most wanted man, Osama bin Laden.

Al Qaeda expert and CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen paints a multidimensional picture of the hunt for bin Laden over the past decade, including the operation that killed him. Other key elements of the book will include:

A careful account of Obama’s decision-making process as the raid was planned

The fascinating story of a group of CIA analysts—largely women—who never gave up assembling the tiniest clues about OBL’s whereabouts

The untold and action-packed history of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the SEALs

An analysis of what the death of OBL means for al Qaeda, and for Obama’s legacy.

Just as Too Big to Fail captured, in riveting detail, the anatomy of this decade’s financial disaster, so too is Manhunt one of the key stories of this decade: the authoritative, immersive account of the operation that killed the man who organized the largest mass murder in American history.

Exciting And comprehensive

Any additional comments?

Liked the narration very much EXCEPT for the accents Deakins tried to adopt when quoting someone, they are comical, sometimes painful to listen to.

A Real Live Thriller

Would you listen to Manhunt again? Why?

Yes because there is lots of information that needs to be absorbed and because it is a story about a significant subject that has consequences now and in our country''s and the world's future.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Manhunt?

The detail about the planning that went into the raid and killing of Bin Laden

Which character – as performed by Mark Deakins – was your favorite?

I had no favorite character -- the story itself was fabulously interesting.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No - I liked prolonging the read so that I could absorb the content - I will probably will reread it. Next time I made actually read it and not listen to it.

Any additional comments?

I loved this book and I loved the detail with which the story unfolded. One criticism I did not like the reader imitating women's voices and the dialect of people who were Muslim or Arabic. That felt condescending.. I would have preferd the reader just using his own voice without changes in his voice.

I never get tired of this story...

This book is finely crafted and expertly narrated. I've listened to it well over a dozen times and it never gets old.

Bergen is a definitely one of the experts on Bin Laden and Al Queda. His story closely follows the Bin Laden narrative assumed by most, albeit filled with details. The book starts from the beginning of Al Queda, then leads up to the raid.

I highly recommend this book if you're interested in Al Queda, the Bin Laden raid, or the war on terror. The story is as exciting as any fiction book and Mark Deakins does an excellent job narrating it.

Great Audio Book

Very interesting and entertaining, we only know what our government wants us to know. If this is really what happen to Bin Laden it was a good non fiction book.

Fascinating! Don't miss this one.

This is great storytelling, with just the right amount of detail and well told. I hadn't really realized how interesting each part of it would be, peeking behind the scenes at every stage of the process. I found the coverage balanced, not favouring any particular outlook or presidency. It IS a great success of the Obama presidency and, even though I don't support him overall, we all can celebrate successes by any president, hopefully. After all, we're all Americans! (I'm actually Canadian, but you know what I mean).

Women especially, haven't you wondered how his wives fit into all of this, what kind of people they were, how they lived? In this book, you find out.

In the epilogue of the book, he relates the other threats of militant Islam besides Al Qaida, which by this point in time, after he wrote the book, have proved to be very troubling indeed. Bergen doesn't see the whole movement as a threat overall to the West, comparable to Communism or Nazism, and I hope he's right. Time only will tell. I think it's better to take it seriously though and I think the real story is NOT that Bush screwed up in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that there aren't easy answers to this threat and no president would likely have been able to 'fix' it. I think it should be clear it's a long struggle, dating perhaps from 1979, and obviously still with us.

But this book is a riveting account of every stage of this particular mission and for anyone even slightly interested, a very enjoyable book!