The Way of the Knife

The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth

By: Mark Mazzetti

Narrated by: Richard Ferrone

Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Mazzetti examines secret wars over the past decade, tracking key characters from the intelligence and military communities across the world. Among the characters we meet in The Way of the Knife are a young CIA officer dropped into the tribal areas to learn the hard way how the spy games in Pakistan are played; an Air Force test pilot who fired the first drone missile in the Nevada desert; a chain-smoking Pentagon official who ran an off-the-books spying operation in Afghanistan and Pakistan; and a woman from the Virginia horse country who became obsessed with Somalia and convinced the Pentagon to hire her to gather intelligence about al Qaeda operatives there.

Gripping, newsbreaking, and powerfully told, The Way of the Knife reveals the true nature of American warfare in the 21st century—a model that is here to stay.

©2013 Mark Mazzetti (P)2013 Recorded Books

Excellent critique of covert operations

This book does a fine job laying-bear the drawbacks of an increasingly militarized CIA and increasingly covert DoD. It also examines the misadventures of using private contractors to do the US government's dirty work, and of becoming involved with unsavory groups or states to achieve short-term goals, which will have long-term negative consequences.

The chronology of the book is sometimes a bit jarring. In a few places it jumps forward or backwards in time suddenly. I think the editing could have been better from a continuity and cohesiveness standpoint. The book also suffers from a little bit of tunnel-vision--it follows the arc of several figures, but doesn't (in my opinion) give a broad assessment or characterization of programs overall. That's understandable, due to the difficulty of getting on-the-record statements from people involved in covert action and the intelligence world, but it does restrict the completeness.

Not bad

This is an interesting book about shifts in policy in the military and the intelligence services involved in the war on terror from about 2001 onwards. (Some of the material actually pre-dates 9/11.) If the subject matter interests you then you will probably find the book to be worth a credit. Shortcomings of the work include the way the author jumps around temporally and the overly-dramatic reading by the narrator.

Telling us what the government and media won't.

At first I was a little unsure about downloading this book. I did not want an agenda driven, right or left driven story. I wanted truth and facts and I think I got what I was looking for.

The Never ending Story

I liked this book and the reader so much I have listened to it twice and anticipate a third time soon.

The author was able to capture the ongoing problems between DoD and the Intel agencies as well as the problems and fights within each agency. Having been there I understand those battles very well.

I also think that the author did very well in relating both success, and there many, and failures.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the topic covered.

True and interesting story

accurate and sometimes scary. it is so important to know the resources we used over the years and sometimes reality stranger than fiction

Outstanding!

i couldn't wait for my 80 mile commute to and from work. i was completely absorbed by this book.

Mostly outdated

I am sure this was ground breaking and revealing when first published. It seems like almost ancient history now (2023). A lot has happened since, and many of the concerns brought up by this book have not been dealt with. As seen in most recent conflicts, drone warfare is here to stay and rapidly expanding. Many of the lessons learned the hard way on the ground are being used and taught.

The World is a complicated place

Bottom line: I enjoyed it. I’ll probably listen again. I feel very fortunate to live in America and wish that more people agreed that there is a responsibility to hold Electeds accountable to be truthful about their intentions for how America maintains the preeminent position of power in the global dynamic. I don’t have a problem with the CIA, I have a problem with the CIA having producing the own intelligence to support an outcome that is not observed in reality.

The foundational structure on which the subject matter is presented is the cycle the CIA goes through of paramilitary field success, hubris, failure, political scapegoating, risk aversion, institutional competition, paramilitary resurgence.

These people want to serve their country and the practical necessity of deliver outcomes is beyond the charter of an intelligence gathering institution. However the practical necessity persists.

I wonder what the narrative would connote if the narrator was female? The performance is akin to some Clancy fiction, but the grim reality is caricatured by the masculine husky waspy voice.

exaggerated but informative.

lots of opinion here vice fact. but, well laid out and readable. don't take it all for face value!

Are you a patriot ??

This is an accurate account but the subtext is anti American view of our new reality since 9/11 . It is a constant innuendo of our supposed hippo racy of the authors paradigm that what we do is wrong in the new ware fare since 9/11 laying the blame on republicans and excusing the democratic follow up at the feet of republicanism
Very funny coverup for liberal view point . Surprised they not blame Nixion or Regan but I guess Bush will have to do .. Good luck conservatives who get dumped by this book