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Hunting the American Terrorist: The FBI's War on Homegrown Terror

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The FBI's head agent in charge of the Unabomber Task Force and one of the FBI's top behavioral analyst combine to write a fascinating book on the homegrown terrorists that have plagued our country in recent memory.
The criminal cases of Theodore Kaczynski, Timothy McVeigh and Eric Rudolph are the primary focus of the book. I can only imagine the monotony that might come from spending thousands of man hours tracking down false leads and suspects; but you won't find any of that here. Author Terry Turchie keeps the events fast paced and interesting.
My favorite part of the book is the telling of David and Linda Kaczynski's heroic role in the Unabomber case. They are the brother and sister-in-law of Theodore Kaczynski and their sense of duty born of a most difficult situation are very inspiring.
I came away with a new found respect for Louis Freeh and Janet Reno. In an age of a centralized FBI, this book credits their leadership that allowed agent Turchie to put in place new ideas and procedures that led to solving these cases. His methods were sometimes extremely controversial but ultimately lead to the capture and conviction of the Unabomber and drove Eric Rudolph deeply underground.
Agent Kathleen Puckett wrote Part II of the book. In it she details her work in providing a monumental psychological study of ten homegrown American terrorists. She established a set of criteria and conclusions that looked at the behavioral aspects of these ten criminals and labeled it the `Lone Wolf' mindset.
Hunting The American Terrorist is a book that is hard to put down. Although I knew the outcome and fate of the Unabomber, reading the story of how these two key FBI agents finally `get their man' is compelling.

As a forensic psychiatrist, I believe this is an extremely important book, which works on many levels. First of all, it is the ultimate page-turner true life crime story, told by the ultimate insiders. Turchie and Puckett let their tale of hunting the Unabomber and other domestic terrorists unfold as they experienced it, allowing us a rare view of the politics and personalities that presented assistance and obstacles along the way. Told in a matter-of-fact voice, and absent the rigid and self-congratulatory tone that rightly diminishes lesser "insider" true crime books, the authors reveal their methods to us: pain-staking attention to detail, thinking outside the ultimate bureaucratic box, and, in the Unabomb case, the careful maintenance of an inquisitive and open mind in the face of FBI profilers unwilling to adapt to new evidence.

The first half of the book concentrates on the successful search for and arrest of Theodore Kaczynski, with a fascinating look at the relationship developed by Agent Puckett and Kaczynski's brother, which has evidently remained intact as David Kaczynski provides a back cover review. Puckett served as the Behavioral Analyst on the Unabomb task force, and provides unique insights into Kaczynski's personality, decision-making, and motives.

The second half of the book discusses Puckett's study of American Lone Wolf Domestic Terrorists. The reader learns the value and method of taking a multi-disciplinary approach to understanding these offenders, as Puckett takes us on an investigative "road trip," visiting law enforecment officers, forensic scientists, and mental health experts who worked on the cases. It is rare that these disciplines reach out to each other, but each could benefit from the others knowledge and expertise. Puckett's study is the template for this type of collaboration. This is the heart of the book, and is an invaluable manual for those who hunt terrorists, domestic and foreign.

Fascinating story, read it in one sitting. Finally the true story of the Unabom investigation and the dedicated group of people who worked tirelessly to solve the case. The book also demonstrates that the lessons learned from that investigation assisted in the identification of Eric Rudolph . Recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn the true story of the Unabom investigation.

Hunting the American Terrorist: The FBI's War on Homegrown Terror

An amazing journey through a top FBI case. Can't wait until the next book by these authors comes out--HOMELAND INSECURITY!

This real life crime book documents the personal experiences of Terry Turchie, the FBI field agent in charge of the UNABOM Task Force comprising of over 350 interagency personnel.

Terry wrote the 65 page Search Warrant used to capture Ted Kacyznski at his Montana cabin retreat, and he was the first agent to enter that cabin with his fellow CSI expert. What they uncovered there, led to the trial and ultimate conviction of one of the most insidious home grown terriorist in recent memory.

Mr. Turchie's co-author, Kathleen Puckett, PhD was the criminal profiler on this same Unabom Task Force that spanned almost two decades until Terry led the FBI team into that lonely and remote Rocky Mountain cabin.

The detailed account of this arrest, as well as Turchie and Puckett's involvement in the capture and arrest of Eric Rudolph, the "Atlanta Olympics Bomber," is a fascinating and riveting story of real crime fighters in todays age of domestic terriorism. In 1999, Mr. Turchie was promoted to Assistant Director in charge of Domestic Counter Terriorism until his retirement from the FBI.

Terry is one of those unsung heroes, that Americans can be proud to have had serving in the ranks of our primary law enforcement agency in the United States.

As a retired FBI agent, I am finally impressed with a realistic presentation of a multiagency task force investigation. Hunting the American Terrorist captures the array of human emotions that motivate and complicate big cases. Readers will be able to enter the bull pen and proceed through the complex world of colorful personalities and bewildering puzzles that make up the daily successes and failures of an actual investigation. HAT should be required reading for anyone considering a career in law enforcement.

Written by Terry D. Turchie and Dr. Kathleen M. Puckett this book chronicles the hunt for several American terrorists. Unlike traditional terrorists who operate in cells and therefore by sheer numbers could make mistakes leading to their capture, the American terrorist proceeds as a "lone wolf." Folks like Theodore Kaczynski better known as the "Unabomber" and Eric Rudolph, the bomber of several abortion clinics and the 1996 Atlanta Olympics are two examples of this different kind of terrorist. While these individuals may share ideological beliefs with various organizations, they never fit in with those organizations primarily because of their personalities. As such, ostracized and alone, they carry a one person war against their targets.

Being one person as opposed to a group makes them harder to catch assuming they don't make mistakes. This means that psychological profiles are of huge importance and must change as the suspect and the case evolves. That is where the work of co-author Dr. Kathleen M. Puckett and others involved in profiling or behavioral sciences becomes so important.

While the Unabomber began in 1978, the person still wasn't caught when Terry D. Turchie took over the case in 1994. It had been a little over a year since the latest violent attacks and the task force was no closer to solving the case. The book chronicles the next seven years of the hunt as Mr. Turchie leads the task force. Seven years that were fraught with some success, bureaucratic power struggles, and inaccurate profiling until Special Agent and Behavioral Expert, Dr. Puckett was added to the task force among other issues. As the Unabomber Task Force evolves to hunt this new type of criminal, it makes waves inside the FBI and outside making the bureaucracy almost a bigger problem than the Unabomber.

While Mr. Turchie chronicles the bureaucratic side of things, in the second half of the book Special Agent Dr. Kathleen M. Puckett shares her thoughts from the behavioral analyst point of view. One of the things made clear is that the analysis must change as the events happen. The original profile offered by analysts at Quantico regarding the Unabomber was fundamentally wrong from the very start. Sixteen years later, the profile hadn't changed when Mr. Turchie took over the task force and that grossly incorrect profile had failed the case for years. Through her section, Dr. Puckett chronicles the case and how she looked at things differently than others did over the years.

Also covered in smaller pieces are the hunts for Eric Rudolph and Timonthy Mcveigh. Also covered and discussed is the study Dr. Puckett provided for the Counter Terrorism division, regarding the profile of the lone terrorist. A phenomenon that could create an international lone terrorist just as easily as an American lone terrorist. The implications of that are chilling.

This 294 page book including index provides an interesting look into some of the most notorious cases in American history. While there is a tone of self congratulatory praise running through the work, the book through text and photographs explains well how two high level insiders considered the cases and the events and people surrounding them. It is not a totally objective view of events nor is it intended to be as accounts by insiders are always biased towards the authors. The book recounts in interesting detail the author's perspectives on these cases and serves as an example of how such these types of investigations will most likely be conducted in the future when another one strikes.


Kevin R. Tipple (copyright) 2008

The Terrorist is not something of strictly Arabic manufacture. "Hunting the American Terrorist: The FBI's War on Homegrown Terror" is a look at what many Americans don't know exists - those who would call themselves American citizens and do harm upon their own people. A look at these bizarre individuals and the acts they have visited upon us, such as Timothy McVeigh and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombings, it also gives the optimistic light on how these individuals are cracked down upon daily. A frightening and eye opening look at a subject not often talked about, "Hunting the American Terrorist" is a must for anyone who would truly understand Terror.

Although the insider stories of how decisions were made on the UNABOMBER task force were certainly interesting, the self congratulatory tone of the primary author make it a difficult read; unless of course you can read while rolling your eyes. For example, Turchie claims that his aggressive tactics drove the Atlanta Olympics bomber, Eric Rudolph, underground for 5 years. PLEASE! Another book by a Georgia investigator explains that local sheriff's deputies knew where to find Rudolf when the arrest warrant was issued but were ordered to wait for the FBI to arrive so they could claim the arrest. No mention of that part of the story in this book!

I wonder what else was left out......

They can discuss this and write books about the subject matter till they're blue in the face but when you're and organization such as the FBI (Fumbling Bumbling Idiots) because of the fact that they had a leader by the name of J.Edgar Hoover and John Ashcroft that were also terrorists themselves because they caused the terror upon others in the first place by targeting and accusing people of terror then they have no one to blame but themselves. The FBI 'caused' the Branch Davidian 'fiasco' in WACO TEXAS when they raided the place 'on a tip' against a 'religious cult compound' and killed it's leader and at least something else like 86 others illegally (meaning against the law that they were sworn to uphold) with tanks and armored personnel carriers and this is what set Timothy McVeigh off in the first place.