Killer Elite: Completely Revised and Updated: The Inside Story of America's Most Secret Special Operations Team

Written by Michael Smith

Narrated by James Cameron Stewart

A top-secret U.S. Army Special Operations unit has been running covert missions all over the world, from leading death squads to the hideout of drug baron Pablo Escobar to capturing Saddam Hussein and, in one of the greatest special operations missions of all time, helping to track down al-Qa'eda leader Osama bin Laden. "The Activity," as it became known to insiders, has achieved near-mythical status, even among the world's Special Operations elite. Hidden from the politicians and the government bean counters, the Activity has been carrying out deniable operations, preparing the way for Delta and SEAL Team Six.

Now, journalist Michael Smith gets inside this clandestine military team to expose their explosive history and secrets. Smith has spoken to many former members of the Activity and reveals the incredible truth behind the world's most secret Special Operations organization, a unit that is at the forefront of the War on Terror.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tantor Media, Inc
• Release date: Jul 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9781541479081

Michael Smith

Michael D. Smith was raised in the Northeast and the Chicago area, then moved to Texas to attend Rice University, where he began developing as a writer and visual artist. The seven novels in his Jack Commer science fiction series, The Martian Marauders; Jack Commer, Supreme Commander; Nonprofit Chronowar; Collapse and Delusion; The Wounded Frontier; The SolGrid Rebellion; and Balloon Ship Armageddon, are published by Sortmind Press. In addition, Sortmind Press has published his literary novels Sortmind, The Soul Institute, Akard Drearstone, CommWealth, Jump Grenade, and Asylum and Mirage.Smith's web site, sortmind.com, contains further examples of his novels and visual art, and he muses about writing and art processes at blog.sortmind.com.

Reviews for Killer Elite

[Scott · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

An extraordinarily detailed account of the correlation of intelligence and special operations--on the down side, much of the material should have remain classified. Both the writing and narrating were excellent.

[nickhowes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The story of a low-profile intelligence organization known variously as the Activity and the Army of Northern Virginia, starting with the debacle involving the hostage rescue operation in Iran and taking it up to the death of Osama bin Laden. The Activity is the point of the sword...operatives who gather the intelligence that is needed for planning special operations missions. This is done through radio detection, electronic tracking, satellite surveillance, and other means, not the least of which is actually infiltrating agents into the area to check on things first-hand. The multi-star brass, as has ever been the case, had little or no use for special operations and it wasn't until Donald Rumsfeld and the war in Iraq that they came fully into their own. You can't argue with success...Osama bin Laden was pinpointed and killed. Along the way, the Activity gathered intelligence that led to the death of cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar, provided ignored security analysis that could've helped save the Marines killed in the Beirut barracks bombing, and assisted in numerous other ways. The bin Laden story is played up big but is a couple chapters, however succinct and descriptive. Good book.

[lamson_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is not about a group of highly skilled group of commandos that go to bad places and do bad things,as the name might indicate. It is about a small group that gathers intelligence for Delta force and SEAL Team Six. This group was reportedly involved in the hunt for Pablo Escobar, the hunt for Saddam's sons and tracking down al-Zarqawi.

[halieus_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If you enjoy the television show, "The Unit," then this book will introduce you to the background and history of military units of that type. While The Killer Elite contains very little in the way of in-depth information on specific actions, this broad overview is extremely informative. Reading it provided me with answers to many of the questions I had regarding the intel gathering aspects of the Special Forces.