The inside story

Killer Elite
Michael SmithAllen & Unwin334 pages, $29.95

Ever wanted to know what really happened in Mogadishu to inspire Black Hawk Down?

What about the failed mission to rescue US hostages from Iran in 1980? The Iran-Contra weapons deals? Missions to rescue American POWs after the Vietnam war? The hunt for Saddam Hussein?

Killer Elite is the fascinating history of The Activity, a secret US Army special operations unit, will fill in the blanks of just about every mission and intelligence activity – including several high profile scandals – you’ve heard about in the media, and many you haven’t.

Beginning with the failed Iran hostage rescue attempt, the very experienced author goes backward and forward through time from the early days in Vietnam to present day Iraq, in a very readable way.
Operations undertaken by The Activity and allied organisations around the world are described in great detail, including background information and what happened afterwards.

The technology and methods used to hunt down and eliminate terrorist leaders is particularly fascinating, if a little chilling.
And the bonus for the reader is that in telling the story of The Activity we also learn a great deal about other special forces units and operations from around the world.

The author writes compellingly and has clearly done his homework, naming names and quoting people who were actually involved throughout the history of the unit.

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the book is the contention that politics and in-fighting between and among politicians, intelligence agencies and the military hierarchy were responsible for serious operational failures including the inability to capture Osama Bin Laden and other high profile terrorists when there was opportunity to do so.

It’s hard to put Killer Elite down once you start reading; it will educate, amaze and excite you, mainly because you’ve heard about most of these missions before – just not in this much detail.

– John Yialeloglou

One Bullet Away: The Making of a Marine Officer

Nathaniel FickAllen & Unwin384 pages, $29.95

NATHANIEL Fick, a US Marine officer who had served in Afgahnistan, Pakistan and Iraq has written a graphic account of his time in the US Marine Corps.

Fick led a reconnaissance platoon early in Operation Iraqi Freedom from the battle of Nasiriyah to the fall of Baghdad.
The book is divided into three sections: Peace, War and Aftermath.

War is by far the most interesting of the three sections, with fast paced, seemingly endless action which illustrates how perilous war and war in Iraq is, even for experienced soldiers.

A worthy read and hard to put down once you begin to immerse yourself into Ficks’ journey.
– CPL Andrew Hetherington