First published 2010
Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Shaffer pulls back the curtain on his years working deep inside military intelligence operations. He reveals how bureaucratic infighting and risk-averse leadership hampered critical counterterrorism efforts in Afghanistan and beyond. Shaffer describes classified programs he helped run, including data mining operations that identified potential threats before 9/11. He shows how turf wars between agencies prevented vital intelligence from reaching the right people at crucial moments. The book exposes a system where covering up mistakes takes priority over protecting American lives. Shaffer writes with the blunt honesty of someone who sacrificed his career to tell this story.
Genres: military-fiction, action, non-fiction, 21st-century, espionage, political-thriller
Vibes: suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: whistleblower
Setting: Afghanistan
Period: 21st-century
320 pages · Hardcover · Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin's Press