Annie Jacobsen, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish"

Annie Jacobsen discusses her book, "Surprise, Kill, Vanish", at Politics and Prose.

In bestsellers such as Area 51, The Pentagon’s Brain, and Operation Paperclip, Jacobsen has given riveting, eye-opening glimpses of some of the government’s more shadowy corners. Her new book is a detailed look at the risky and morally-ambiguous terrain of the CIA's Special Activities Division. Known as the most effective black operations force in the world, SAD is responsible for hostage rescues, sabotage, and assassinations, and has been used for top-secret maneuvers by almost every president since World War II. Charting this unsettling territory from the Cold War to today, Jacobsen draws on unprecedented access to nearly fifty individuals involved at all levels of SAD activity, from Senior Intelligence Service (equivalent to the Pentagon's generals), to counterterrorism chiefs, targeting officers, and Ground Branch operators, revealing SAD as not just a paramilitary and intelligence branch but a colossal foreign policy machine.

Purchase Book Here

Annie Jacobsen is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Area 51 and Operation Paperclip and the Pulitzer Prize finalist The Pentagon's Brain. She was a contributing editor at the Los Angeles Times Magazine. A graduate of Princeton University, she lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons.

Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at

Produced by Tom Warren