The Hunt For The Engineer: The Inside Story of How Isral's Counterterrorist Forces Tracked and Killed the Hamas Master Bomber [Paperback]

Samuel M Katz (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2002

The true story of the search for one of the world's most deadly terrorists.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

One of the bloodiest and most feared terrorists in the history of the Middle East, Yehiya Ayyash ("the Engineer") got his start in electronic engineering, innocuously monkeying about with family radios and TV sets. Indeed, Ayyash's original goal was to be an honest engineer, but when Israeli bureaucracy denied his routine application to study in Jordan, he joined Hamas and dedicated himself to a life of terror that lasted from 1994 to 1996 and resulted in 150 Israelis dead and 500 wounded. Katz's gripping book tells the story of Ayyash's early failures and his later, horrible successes, which included the Division Street and Dizengoff Street bombings. Katz, an expert on terrorism and counterterrorism, has written several other books about Middle East commandos, and much of the book is concerned with the history of various Israeli security forces, especially Shin Beit, and their attempts to catch the elusive bomber. It is unclear just who his sources are--they are identified broadly as "spies, soldiers, statesmen, and super-cops"--but the book, which details the histories of Islamic resistance groups as well, does not seem unfair. The concluding chapters, in which Katz pieces together the assassinations, within two months of each other, of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Ayyash (slain by an Israeli-engineered exploding cell phone), are particularly effective. The book's chilling epilogue, in which a new leader takes over Israel and new Palestinian bomb masters continue the killing, make it clear that the Middle East's troubles did not end with Ayyash's final phone call. (Dec.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Yehiya Ayyash was a necessarily paranoid but very successful young Palestinian bomb builder known as "The Engineer." His three-year terror campaign in the mid-1990s killed 130 Israelis and wounded about 500 more. It also disrupted (as intended) Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin's negotiation of a controversial peace deal with PLO leader Yasir Arafat. The intense pressure to catch Ayyash led to a massive international manhunt, and his killing just a couple of months after Rabin's assassination only increased his mythic stature. This work by terrorist expert Katz (Israel versus Jebril: The Thirty Year War Against a Master Terrorist) is very descriptive, reading almost like a thriller such as John le Carre's The Little Drummer Girl (LJ 2/1/83), in which the Israelis track down a Palestinian bomber in Europe. There is no index or bibliography, but chapter endnotes are included. Obviously, a lot of the material for this book had to come from unattributable interviews with participants. Suitable for academic and large public libraries.ADaniel K. Blewett, Loyola Univ. Lib., Chicago
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 328 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (August 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1585747491
• ISBN-13: 978-1585747498
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,342,078 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A True Life Thriller, September 11, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hunt For The Engineer: The Inside Story of How Isral's Counterterrorist Forces Tracked and Killed the Hamas Master Bomber (Paperback)

Ever since 9/11, hundreds of armchair terrorism experts have taken up the pen. But Katz has been living in this world and writing about it for decades, and The Hunt for the Engineer is probably the only true life thriller I've ever read on the subject. Katz takes us right down into the drainpipe of homicide-bomber mentality and tells the real story of what it takes to thwart and defeat the twisted minds and fingers of the master terrorists. If you're looking for a primer on what truly has been going on in the Middle East, this is it.

18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Hunt for the Engineer is Breathtaking!, June 14, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hunt for the Engineer: How Israeli Agents Tracked the Hamas Master Bomber (Hardcover)

This latest book by Samuel M. Katz is the culmination in a body of superb work on military and intelligence matters. His recounting of the most bloody events in recent Middle East history is not only informative, but paints a vivid picture in depth of the heroes and villains, often interchangeable, who danced a macabre tango of death during the hunt for one of the world's most determined and lethal terrorists. Given Katz' other books, such as The Elite and Soldier Spies, I fully expected a biased vew on the subject. But Katz has deftly probed the psyches of Israeli intelligence agents as well as those of the Islamic bombers determined to scuttle any Middle East peace, which ultimately leads the reader to sway between the hunters and the hunted. Like the very best of thriller fiction, this book is a breathtaking page-turner!

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Page-Turning Visit to the Hell of Counter-Terrorism, June 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Hunt for the Engineer: How Israeli Agents Tracked the Hamas Master Bomber (Hardcover)

In a book that could pass for a Le Carre spy novel, we are introduced to a world of fanatic terrorists, exhausted and overworked counter-intelligence operatives and cops, and a back-drop to the violence and chaos we see on CNN. When I bought this book at the suggestion of a friend who is a cop, I thought that this book would be an interesting movie-of-the-week type story of a bad guy and those who chased him to exact justice. I was, however, most pleasantly surprised. This is a very balanced and beautifully written travel guide through the hell of counter-terrorism that makes the reader feel like he is on the front lines, lining up on a ridge on a darkened night, ready to storm a terrorist safe house. Buy this book!