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Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent | 
 enlarge | Author: Fred Burton
Publisher: Random House
Category: Book
List Price: $26.00
Buy New: $14.63
You Save: $11.37 (44%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  25 reviews
Sales Rank: 389
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 5.9 x 1.4
ISBN: 1400065690
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.28
EAN: 9781400065691
ASIN: 1400065690
Publication Date: June 3, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Brand new item. Over 3.5 million customers served. Order now. Selling online since 1995. Order with confidence. Code: B20080704211911T
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Product Description
For decades, Fred Burton, a key figure in international counterterrorism and domestic spycraft, has secretly been on the front lines in the fight to keep Americans safe around the world. Now, in this hard-hitting memoir, Burton emerges from the shadows to reveal who he is, what he has accomplished, and the threats that lurk unseen except by an experienced, world-wise few.
In the mid-eighties, the idea of defending Americans against terrorism was still new. But a trio of suicide bombings in Beirut–including one that killed 241 marines and forced our exit from Lebanon–had changed the mindset and mission of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), the arm of the State Department that protects U.S. embassy officials across the globe. Burton, a member of DSS’s tiny but elite Counterterrorism Division, was plunged into a murky world of violent religious extremism spanning the streets of Middle Eastern cities and the informant-filled alleys of American slums. From battling Libyan terrorists and their Palestinian surrogates to having facing down hijackers, hostages, and Hezbollah double agents, Burton found himself on the front lines of America’s first campaign against Terror.
In this globe-trotting account of one counterterrorism agent’s life and career, Burton takes us behind the scenes to reveal how the United States tracked Libya-linked master terrorist Abu Nidal; captured Ramzi Yusef, architect of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing; and pursued the assassins of major figures including Yitzhak Rabin, Meir Kahane, and General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, the president of Pakistan–classic cases that have sobering new meaning in the treacherous years since 9/11. Here, too, is Burton’s advice on personal safety for today’s most powerful CEOs, gleaned from his experience at Stratfor, the private firm Barron’s calls “the shadow CIA.”
Told in a no-holds-barred, gripping, nuanced style that illuminates a complex and driven man, Ghost is both a riveting read and an illuminating look into the shadows of the most important struggle of our time.
Praise for GHOST
“In many ways, this book reads like a le Carre spy novel: it’s not flashy, not filled with pyrotechnics, not full of chase scenes and derring-do. Rather, it’s the story of a working man whose job involved trying to prevent people from attacking his country. Shorn of ideological rights and wrongs, it’s a fascinating look at what counterterrorism really means on a day-to-day level.” —Booklist
“The world of counterterrorism is like that old jigsaw puzzle in the back of the closet: its many missing pieces and extra parts jumbled in from other puzzles make it almost impossible to assemble. But in Ghost, Fred Burton manages to join together enough pieces to give us a discerning look at that world. This is a story, told in human terms, that will help make sense of the great puzzle of our times.” —Eric L. Haney, author of Inside Delta Force and executive producer of The Unit
“Burton’s memoir of fighting the defensive fight against the burgeoning terrorist threat in the 1980s and beyond is a revealing personal journal of the stress and boredom involved in putting the pieces of the puzzle together to obtain justice. Fred Burton was there, and you will be as well.” —Bobby R. Inman, admiral, United States Navy (retired), former director of National Security Agency and former deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency
"This memoir is all at once hard-hitting, well-researched, and an easy read. Organized into thirty-six chapters, with thoughtfully-placed transitions between each, Ghost becomes ones of those books that is easy to put down and return to in a few days." —SmallWars Journal.com
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| Customer Reviews: Read 20 more reviews...
Treasure Trove of Terrorism Details July 3, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Ever since I was almost killed by Chechen terrorists in Moscow (in July 2000, 90 people were killed near Pushkin Square), I have been reading books on terrorism. None is better than Fred Burton's book. It reads like a LeCarre novel, but it is all true.
The number one target of terrorists is the US State Departments Foreign Embassies and their employees. As a member of the DSS, Fred's job was to protect those people. Of course, he knew all the details about every attack since he personally investigated many of them. While I am familiar with most of the attacks he describes, I have never before learned so many interesting and important details. Fred describes many of the techniques used to identify and counter the terrorists. While I am sure that many techniques remain classified what he presented was extremely interesting.
As a former engineer who performed accident investigations on DC-8 aircraft, I was particularly fascinated by his chapters on the C-130 crash which killed Pakistani President Zia. He was personally involved in the investigation process and showed that the cause was not a missile. The description of how the investigation evolved from the challenging relationship with the Pakistanis to dodging poisonous snakes at the crash site to the conclusion that poison gas was used was fascinating. This is a unique book for anyone interested in terrorism.
Really interesting read...great book!! July 3, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
Intriguing first-hand accounts of Counter Terrorism efforts beginning in the 80's. Could not put book down until I had read it from beginnng to end. Highly recommend for any one interested in real wars we now face in this day and age.
 How clear is this spotlight into the "Dark World"? July 3, 2008
2 out of 4 found this review helpful
What would it be like to have a job chasing terrorists? Fred Burton gives us a realistic idea. Written like a spy novel. But unlike in a novel he is not always dodging bullets and terrorists don't spring on him from out of his closet. No, he is assaulted by mounds of paperwork. Agent Burton is challenged by bureaucratic obstacles and frustrating puzzles. He is overwhelmed by too much data but can't find the pieces to solve his puzzles.
When you read a book like this (involving people and organizations that still threated us) you have to wonder, how much of the information about the various terrorist threats are still classified? How complete and accurate are the stories so skillfully related in a book like this? Are we only being permitted to see the tip of the iceberg? And if we are is the ice down below in the "Dark World" where we cannot see about the same as the ice we are allowed to see?
Real-life Ludlum June 28, 2008
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
The book reads like a Ludlum spy novel but it is true! Agents really do all of those things to prevent detection, to protect themselves and their contacts and to bring in the info. Even better,Burton shows the facts of the opponents and dangers that the US and other nations face. He also tells of the detailed analysis and preparation that is necessary. These dangers will not go away, soon. I heartily recommend this book to anyone concerned about present and future dangers. To go with it, read anything by George Friedman, of Stratfor.
You are there June 25, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
It must be difficult to write a book from the inside on security topics: Too much of what you do or did and the enemy has your playbook. Too much of what you know about the enemy and how you got that information and you never get his. But if you don't "share", the book has nothing. Fred did a good job of mixing what we already know about the history he helped analyze with the background that only the inner circle knew at the time to present a story worth telling.
I have been a longtime subscriber to STRATFOR and this book is a great help in appreciating the careful analysis that it's analysts present.
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