Direct Action [Kindle Edition]

John Weisman (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Review

“A great read!”

Product Description

In this compulsive page-turner, six-time New York Times bestselling author John Weisman blows the lid off one of Washington's deepest real-world secrets. The CIA, currently incapable of performing its core mission of supplying critical and time-sensitive human-based intelligence for the global war on terror, must now outsource the work to private contractors. Drawing on real-world crises and actual CIA operations, Direct Action takes readers deep inside this new and unreported covert warfare that is being fought on a daily basis by anonymous shadow warriors all across the globe.

Racing against the clock and shuttling between Washington, Paris, and the Middle East, one of those shadow warriors, former CIA case officer Tom Stafford, must slip below the radar to uncover, target, and neutralize a deadly al-Qa'ida bombmaker before the assassin can launch simultaneous multiple attacks against America and the West. And as if that weren't enough, Stafford must simultaneously open a second front and mount a clandestine war against the CIA itself, because for mysterious and seemingly inexplicable reasons the people at the very top of the Central Intelligence Agency want him to fail.

The characters and operations in Direct Action are drawn from true-life CIA personnel and their real-world missions. With Direct Action, John Weisman confirms once again Joseph Wambaugh's claim that "nobody writes better about the dark and dirty world of the CIA and black ops."

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 417 KB
• Print Length: 368 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
• Sold by: HarperCollins Publishers
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FCK6A2
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #84,823 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Seven time New York Times bestselling author John Weisman is one of a select company of authors to have their books on both the Times nonfiction and fiction bestseller lists. He pioneered coverage of Naval Special Warfare when he co-authored the No. 1 NY Times bestseller "Rogue Warrior," then conceived, created, developed, and wrote eight best-selling Rogue sequels.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Seymour Hersh called his 2004 novel "Jack in the Box" 'The insider's insider spy novel.'

Bestselling author Joseph Wambaugh says of Weisman, "Nobody writes better about the dark, dirty, and dangerous world of the CIA..."

Former CIA case officer and bestselling author Robert Baer says, "John Weisman takes the reader into the very heart of CIA and its special operations."

John's latest special operations novel based on true events is "KBL - KILL BIN LADEN." The book will be released on November 15, 2011.

John lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Direct Action, June 23, 2005

By 

rsasdr (chicago) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Direct Action: A Covert War Thriller (Hardcover)

The best (so far) of John Weisman's recent batch of post Rogue Warrior thrillers that will take readers inside the CIA and the War on Terror. The story detials how the CIA is hiring independent contractors from private security firms to perform tasks that the agency is not able to do on its own, either because of a lack of qualified officers or because of the leadership bureaucracy at Langley. The story revolves around efforts to track down an al-Qaeda bomb maker planning a series of upcoming attacks, combining fact and fiction. Aside from being entertaining, the narrative also includes tons of details on the current state of the CIA and past intelligence operations. It is also a primer on how the War on Terror needs to be fought effectively. Weisman has done for the War on Terror in novels what Clancy did for the Cold War. Hopefully he'll continue writing books like this.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Many fronts in the GWOT ...., July 1, 2005

By 

Richard Jackson (Northeast Kingdom of VT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Direct Action: A Covert War Thriller (Hardcover)

Mr Weisman's latest novel is outstanding. A very well written story covering the turbulence of the intelligence community of the United States. Few can cover the special operations and covert-clandestine worlds better than Mr Weisman. He has related the "second" front of the intelligence war - ourselves. Giving up spies for satelites, tradecraft for technology, and a reliance on zero defect mentality vice leadership. The story fills in the gaps since the day America changed, September 11th, to present time. It is not always fun to read if you have half your brain tuned into the current events. It will upset you with pretty accurate description of managers and bureaucrats poorly filling in for leaders and opertives and re-assure you that many sleep well in their beds at night for the few warriors that man the "walls" remain. The set up and flow is excellent. The explanation supportive to the story, not tedious or insulting. The theme is clear and well presented. If you enjoy the covert action story that is clearly related to our present situation as a nation of people, you will enjoy this book. If you do not regulary enjoy this kind of reading, take a chance on this one - it is well worth the time.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fact in a fiction story..., June 22, 2005

By 

Codes04 (Fort Collins, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Direct Action: A Covert War Thriller (Hardcover)

John Weisman is an excellent author, and Direct Action will not disappoint. After listening to the author in a lengthy radio interview, I realized that he was telling a tell-all about the CIA couched in a fictional storyline. That approach seems like the best approach, since no author can name names of real operational field agents. It is the story of the gutting of the CIA in the previous administration, where the president wanted to "clean up" the CIA by getting rid of field agents who by necessity had to interact with "unsavory" people as sources. The presidential directive was to rely largely on signals intelligence and satellite imagry. The result was a CIA who falsely said about WMD in Iraq, "it's a slam-dunk". It is the story of a CIA that was broken.

Direct Action is not a dry story, but a compelling story of "outsourcing" intelligence fieldwork, and the daring efforts of former CIA agents who now do the same work but without the stifling bureaucracy in "the company". It's a page-turner, but keep in mind that it is largely fact in a fictional story.