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Surprise, Kill, Vanish: The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins Kindle Edition
鶹
Surprise . . . your target. Kill . . . your enemy. Vanish . . . without a trace.
When diplomacy fails, and war is unwise, the president calls on the CIA's Special Activities Division, a highly-classified branch of the CIA and the most effective, black operations force in the world.
Originally known as the president's guerrilla warfare corps, SAD conducts risky and ruthless operations that have evolved over time to defend America from its enemies. Almost every American president since World War II has asked the CIA to conduct sabotage, subversion and, yes, assassination.
With unprecedented access to forty-two men and women who proudly and secretly worked on CIA covert operations from the dawn of the Cold War to the present day, along with declassified documents and deep historical research, Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen unveils -- like never before -- a complex world of individuals working in treacherous environments populated with killers, connivers, and saboteurs.
Despite Hollywood notions of off-book operations and external secret hires, covert action is actually one piece in a colossal foreign policy machine.
Written with the pacing of a thriller, Surprise, Kill, Vanish brings to vivid life the sheer pandemonium and chaos, as well as the unforgettable human will to survive and the intellectual challenge of not giving up hope that define paramilitary and intelligence work. Jacobsen's exclusive interviews -- with members of the CIA's Senior Intelligence Service (equivalent to the Pentagon's generals), its counterterrorism chiefs, targeting officers, and Special Activities Division's Ground Branch operators who conduct today's close-quarters killing operations around the world -- reveal, for the first time, the enormity of this shocking, controversial, and morally complex terrain. Is the CIA's paramilitary army America's weaponized strength, or a liability to its principled standing in the world? Every operation reported in this book, however unsettling, is legal.
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherLittle, Brown and Company
- Publication dateMay 14 2019
- File size36.5 MB

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Product description
Review
Praise for The Pentagon's Brain
Pulitzer Prize Finalist in History
One of The Washington Post's Notable Nonfiction Books of 2015
One of The Boston Globe's Best Books of 2015
One of 鶹's Top 100 Books of 2015
"A brilliantly researched account of a small but powerful secret government agency whose military research profoundly affects world affairs."―The Pulitzer Prize Committee
"Annie Jacobsen is back with a new tome that should entice anyone who doesn't mind thinking outside the box; or as referenced in her book, as if there is no box.... A well researched and fascinating tale.... It's everything you could possibly want"―Simon Constable, Forbes
"A fascinating and unsettling portrait of the secretive U.S. government agency....Jacobsen walks a fine line in telling the story of the agency and its innovations without coming across as a cheerleader or a critic, or letting the narrative devolve into a salacious tell-all. Jacobsen's ability to objectively tell the story of DARPA, not to mention its murky past, is truly remarkable, making for a terrifically well-crafted treatise on the agency most Americans know next to nothing about."―Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A behind-the-scenes look at the most shadowy corners of the American intelligence community...Well-sourced and well-paced, this book is full of surprises."―Kirkus
"Filled with the intrigue and high stakes of a spy novel, Jacobsen's history of DARPA is as much a fascinating testament to human ingenuity as it is a paean to endless industrial warfare and the bureaucracy of the military-industrial complex."―Kirkus
"As fast paced as a thriller." ―Fred Burton, Stratfor Talks' Pen and Sword Podcast
"In SURPRISE, VANISH, KILL, Annie Jacobsen takes us inside the darkest and most morally ambiguous corner of our government, where politicians ask brave men and women to kill-up close and personal-on America's behalf. She offers, in cinematic detail, the real story of recent geopolitical history, the plots and assassinations that in some instances presidents and diplomats have denied for years, including the CIA's biggest successes and its biggest fiascos."―Garrett M. Graff, author of Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself--While the Rest of Us Die
"Jacobsen offers a definitive history of the clandestine agency.... She explores the implications of DARPA work on technology that will not be widely known to the public for generations but will certainly impact national security and concepts of war."―Vanessa Bush, Booklist (starred review)
"Richly researched.... Jacobsen shows that, in the face of inexplicable events, even 'the most pragmatic, commonsense thinkers found themselves uncertain.'"―The New Yorker
"Having already demonstrated her remarkable aptitude for unearthing government secrets in books like Area 51 (2011) and The Pentagon's Brain (2015), Jacobsen pulls back the curtain on the history of covert warfare and state sanctioned assassinations from WWII to the present...Jacobsen's work revealing a poorly understood but essential slice of warfare history belongs in every library collection."―Booklist
"Annie Jacobsen has written an entertaining narrative of the many salaried people in our government who have supported the exploration of psychic phenomena....Much of the information presented is already known, but Jacobsen has accomplished the gargantuan feat of bulldozing it all into one place. She has a keen eye for amusing anecdotes, and writes them up with convincing detail. More than that, Jacobsen has arranged her story in a kind of nonfiction picaresque novel."―Dick Teresi, New York Times Book Review
"With Annie Jacobsen's OPERATION PAPERCLIP for the first time the enormity of the effort has been laid bare. The result is a book that is at once chilling and riveting, and one that raises substantial and difficult questions about national honor and security...This book is a remarkable achievement of investigative reporting and historical writing."―Boston Globe
Praise for Phenomena
One of The Washington Post's most anticipated books of 2017
One of USA Today's New and Noteworthy Picks!
"With Phenomena, Annie Jacobsen has once again produced an utterly absorbing and brilliantly reported chronicle that truly breaks new ground. This is a boundary-breaking story of mental phenomena-extra sensory perception techniques-that is truly a pleasure to read. A mind-bending triumph!"―Alex Kershaw, bestselling author of The Liberator and Avenue of Spies
Praise for Operation Paperclip
"The most in depth account yet of the lives of Paperclip recruits and their American counterparts.... Jacobsen deftly untangles the myriad German and American agencies and personnel involved...more gripping and skillfully rendered are the stories of American and British officials who scoured defeated Germany for Nazi scientists and their research."―New York Times Book Review
Praise for Surprise, Kill, Vanish
About the Author
Product details
- ASIN : B07H28Z9LL
- Publisher : Little, Brown and Company
- Accessibility : Learn more
- Publication date : May 14 2019
- Language : English
- File size : 36.5 MB
- Screen Reader : Supported
- Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
- X-Ray : Enabled
- Word Wise : Enabled
- Print length : 526 pages
- ISBN-13 : 978-0316441407
- Page Flip : Enabled
- 鶹 Rank: #71,743 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

ANNIE JACOBSEN is a Pulitzer Prize finalist and New York Times bestselling author. Her books include: AREA 51; OPERATION PAPERCLIP; THE PENTAGON’S BRAIN; PHENOMENA; SURPRISE, KILL VANISH; and FIRST PLATOON.
Her newest book is NUCLEAR WAR: A SCENARIO.
Jacobsen’s books have been named Best of the Year and Most Anticipated by outlets including The Washington Post, USA Today, The Boston Globe, Vanity Fair, Apple, and 鶹. She has appears regularly on TV programs and media platforms—from PBS Newshour to Joe Rogan—discussing war, weapons, government secrecy, and national security.
She also writes and produces TV, including Tom Clancy’s JACK RYAN. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband Kevin and their two sons.
Customer reviews
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Top reviews from Canada
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- Reviewed in Canada on January 9, 2020Verified PurchaseI am a terrible reader. Slow. If a book doesn't grab me from the start I just can't seem to plow through (even if there is solid content later on in the book). Like the reviews say, this book is thoroughly researched and accurately written. A complex story written in such a manner that makes it easy to read. Highly recommend it.
- Reviewed in Canada on August 28, 2019Verified PurchaseMy fourth book written by Annie Jacobsen, another excellent read.
- Reviewed in Canada on February 23, 2023Verified PurchaseThis book changed my mind somehow. I had issues with rogue elements killing without oversight. This book told me that since there are no rules (other countries have a kill list too), it's impossible to be a goody-two-shoes in this game.
I wish the author would extrapolate more and give us more personal insight but it's almost all based on top-secret missions. The epilogue is not an epilogue, I realised the book was finished and that's it. I wanted more.
- Reviewed in Canada on May 29, 2024Verified PurchaseThis book should be taught in every high school in the USA.
The common public has no idea or appreciation for what these men and women have done to make our world a safe place to live.
- Reviewed in Canada on June 1, 2024Verified PurchaseVery well written and documented. My second book from this author.
- Reviewed in Canada on September 9, 2024Verified PurchaseREAD IT....THEN IT VANISHED.
- Reviewed in Canada on August 8, 2022Verified PurchaseAs always Annie provides new info when you thought you knew it all.
- Reviewed in Canada on March 14, 2020Verified PurchaseGreat read. Hard to put down. Interesting look behind the scenes of the hidden hand ops of the CIA.
Top reviews from other countries
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Saskia ÖrleinReviewed in Germany on May 27, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars sehr interessant
Verified Purchasesehr interessant
- DonatoReviewed in Italy on July 7, 2022
5.0 out of 5 stars Well written, documented and utterly disturbing
Verified PurchaseWho needs made up conspiracy theories, when what really happens is even more disturbing?
If what Annie Jakobsen reports comes close to reality, it would change my perception about the good and the bad guys, insofar that there is no such distinction. There are just fallible guys on either side, who are convinced they are the good ones. And thus there are stories of undisputed heroism. And it makes you wonder, how something right one would want to do, has to be kept secret. But then, thats how propaganda, i.e. casting an alternate reality, works. The book anyway is great work and eye-opening.
- Gary TrembathReviewed in Australia on March 16, 2025
5.0 out of 5 stars Good read!
Verified PurchaseVery interesting reading about the CIA operations and some of it's operators! What men these soldiers/operators were; balls as big as softballs and very professional. I really enjoyed this very informative book.
- Cliente de 鶹Reviewed in Mexico on August 9, 2022
3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but not entierly revealing
Verified PurchaseIts a good book about its topic, you will enjoy it for sure, but set your expectations right. You will mostly find old CIA history in it: Korea, Vietnam, some1980/90s missions and a glimpse of the war in Aghanistan. The book kinda concentrates around a predominant CIA operative and that is the most interesting part of this book cause you can track his carrer. Dont expect to find anythign revealing or shocking about modern events in it.