Crush the Cell

By: Michael A. Sheehan

Narrated by: David Drummond

Length: 10 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's Summary

Written by a man who is arguably the country's most authoritative voice on counterterrorism, Crush the Cell demolishes, with simple logic, the edifice of false "terror punditry" that has been laid, brick by brick, since 9/11. A veteran of special ops, international diplomacy, and bruising clashes with federal law enforcement agencies, Michael A. Sheehan delivers in this book a two-part message: First, that we've wasted---and are continuing to waste---billions of dollars on the wrong protective measures; and second, that knowing the bad guys' next move is paramount.

Somewhere in America, Sheehan maintains, are a number of terrorist cells, their members' heads filled with schemes of mayhem and destruction. Motivated not, as some believe, by feelings of disenfranchisement, disdain for freedom, or economic envy but by a compelling ideological hatred, these individuals plot not just terror but paralyzing terror---the kind that can shut down a country.

Unwittingly aiding and abetting them are many (but not all) "terror experts" and members of the media who, for reasons that are partly self-serving, rate the bad guys' capabilities far higher than they are, playing into terrorists' hands with their hype. Spurred by the pundits' inflated assessments, legislation follows that drains billions from taxpayers' pockets and pours money into a bloated Washington bureaucracy championing needless programs.

Here, Sheehan shows why defensive fortresses don't work whereas offensive operational intelligence does. He also peels back the mystery surrounding terrorist cells, portraying them as typically a group of bumblers searching for a charismatic leader who has what it takes to conduct a complex symphony of violence. Sharing time in the narrative spotlight are not just agents of al Qaeda but also frighteningly destructive lone wolves, cults, and radical movements.

©2008 Michael A. Sheehan (P)2008 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Filled with startling insights, Crush the Cell is a dispatch from the front lines of our confrontation with Al Qaeda. Like its author, the book is smart, tough, brave and relentlessly honest." (Madeleine K. Albright, former U.S. Secretary of State)
"Michael Sheehan has long been one of the most creative, original thinkers on the subject of terrorism...I can't think of anyone else who brings such a fresh perspective to this vital field." (Lawrence Wright, author of the Pulitzer-Prize winning The Looming Tower)