Description
By (author) Robert Baer; By (author) Baer Robert
Short /annotation
An odyssey through the art, theory and brutality of modern political murder by Robert Baer, bestselling author, former CIA operative, and, yes, assassin.
What is the definition of assassination? Robert Baer”s boss at the CIA once told him, ”It”s a bullet with a man”s name on it.”
Sometimes assassination is the senseless act of a psychotic, a bloodletting without social value. Other times, it can be the sanest and most humane way to change the course of conflict: one bullet, one death, case closed.
Assassination has been dramatised by literature and politicised by infamous murders throughout history, and for Robert Baer, one of the most accomplished agents ever to work for the CIA, it”s a source of endless fascination. Over several decades, Baer served as an operative, from Iraq to India and beyond. In THE PERFECT KILL, he takes us on a wildly entertaining narrative adventure through a history of political murder, interweaving his first-hand experience and his decades-long cat-and-mouse hunt for the greatest assassin of the modern age.
A true maverick with an undeniably captivating personal story, Baer pulls back the curtain to give a glimpse of the underbelly of world politics, and the quiet murderers who operate on the fringe of our society.
Review quote
The Perfect Kill is a meditation on the art of political murder. Baer knows his subject
Review quote
This potted history of assassination, with its carefully worded anecdotes and sense of absolute authenticity is intriguing, terrifying and occasionally lightened by the author”s drily black sense of humour
Review quote
riveting and insightful
Biographical note
Robert Baer spent 21 years in the CIA as a field operative. He resigned after leading an aborted attempt on Saddam Hussein.He is the author of four NEW YORK TIMES bestsellers. His memoir SEE NO EVIL was made into the Academy Award-winning movie SYRIANA. He anchored an Emmy-nominated British documentary series, THE CULT OF THE SUICIDE BOMBER. He is the intelligence columnist for TIME.com and a regular BBC and CNN contributor. He currently lectures various US government agencies on assassination.
Review quote: previous work
Baer is a Harrison Ford in a suit, a man who lived for thrills … At least three-quarters of his book is a romp through his adventures in far-flung, hostile places – SUNDAY TIMESAn unsettling eye-opening account … Baer”s tone is brash and his word choice is never far from provocative, but he gets our attention – BOSTON HERALDA provocative book … Baer leaps from these pages as a zealous and creative man, courageous to the brink of recklessness … A spy”s-eye view of CIA intrigues by one of the agency”s best – WASHINGTON POSTEntertaining and at times revealing – NEW YORK TIMESBestselling author Baer has credibility, an appealingly tough style and perfect timing – PUBLISHERS WEEKLYSEE NO EVIL gives a candid portrayal of the people who perpetrated the September 11 attacks and of the bureaucrats who overlooked them … A must-read as America”s war on terrorism expands to new horizons – ARMY TIMESIt”s in the innocuous detail that Baer”s book is telling – OBSERVERRevealing … offers much eye-opening information. Baer has written a valuable, illuminating book – HOUSTON CHRONICLE
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