Mission: Black List #1: The Inside Story of the Search for Saddam Hussein---As Told by the Soldier Who Masterminded His Capture (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 2003, Staff Sgt. Maddox was an army interrogation specialist on his first field assignment in Iraq gathering information on bad guys. The unexpectedly rapid collapse of Saddam Hussein's regime made that category a broad one. Sent to Tikrit, Saddams home town, Maddox found no system for screening detainees to identify priority targets. That began to change with one of Saddams bodyguards, Maddoxs first serious interrogation and the first step to Saddams capture. With freelance writer Seay (coauthor, Hello Charlie) providing the polish, Maddox takes readers through an intense multilevel series of question-and-answer games that led slowly, with many false starts and sidetracks, to Saddams hideout. Maddox makes no secret of his mistakes: losing his temper, failing to control interrogations, seeking information rather than cultivating insight. We weren't in the United States and my job wasn't to hand down justice, he writes. His account is a welcome corrective to lurid accounts of interrogation techniques, frequently secondhand. The capture of Saddam Hussein, like all good intelligence work, was 5% insight and 95% patience. Brutality, Maddox makes clear, was not merely counterproductive but unnecessary. 8 pages of color photos. (Dec. 13)
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From School Library Journal

In 2003, Oklahoma native Maddox was a newly trained U.S. Army interrogation specialist. Assigned to Tikrit, Iraq, he was involved in the search and capture of Saddam Hussein and others on the military's Black List. Through the interrogation of a prisoner Maddox was instrumental in bringing in, he was able to discover Hussein's hiding place on his last day in Iraq. Actor/narrator Bernie McInerney (Shooter) capably reads this unique insider's look at a major historical event. Recommended for military history buffs and larger public libraries. [Audio clip available through www.harperaudio.com.—Ed.]—Mary Knapp, Madison P.L., WI
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Harper; First Edition edition (December 2, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 006171447X
• ISBN-13: 978-0061714474
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.3 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #399,018 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating Book!, January 24, 2009

By	Jim Bulach (Troy, OH) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I am a tough critic when it comes to rating books. However, "Mission: Black List # 1" had no trouble scoring a five star rating from me. In this book, the interrogator who focused on the path least traveled by our intelligence agencies, worked his way through Saddam Hussein's hierarchy of body guards and associates of the Iraqi insurgency to track down and capture Saddam Hussein. He did this in a surprisingly small amount of time, less than five months. He put together the last pieces of the puzzle in the final frantic hours of his rotation in Iraq, working around the clock to prevent his efforts from going to waste when he was ordered to return.

The book is well written and kept me enraptured throughout the story. I have never read a non-fiction book that has ever done that!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book You Can't Put Down, January 14, 2009

By	Jeanette F. Lucey "Jeanette" (Rock Hill, SC USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is the story of how one intelligence officer and a small group of intelligence experts in the US Army were able to find Saddam Hussein.

Instead of looking for all the people other intelligence officers had looked at Sgt. Maddox made a list of all those who were close to Saddam. He found a common link in his bodyguards and went after them.

Right up until the moment he was to leave Iraq he was still interrogating and found the man who would lead the Army to Saddam.

This is a page-turner and once you start to read it and get over the small auto-biographical information, you will not be able to put this book down.

I highly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know the "real" story behind the capture of Hussein.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great insight into the hunt for Saddam, June 9, 2009

By	C. Monk "Alaric" (Virginia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This is a fantastic book and should be read by anyone with any interest in intelligence, the war in Iraq, interrogation, or current events.

I think we can all remember when we first saw the pictures of Saddam. The former dictator, with a scraggly beard and a look of defeat on his face, wasn't found by rare chance or good luck, he was caught by hard work by our military and especially SSG Maddox who followed the information he was getting from countless interrogations.

When I first got this book and before I began to read it, I thought it might be like so many books written by someone in this business; that being explaining how awesome they are and how dumb everyone else is. That wasn't the case here. SSG Maddox lays out his 6 months in Iraq with every success and failure. He admits to his mistakes and his own doubts. Indeed, this book is a great lesson in resiliance as a lot of his information turned up dry holes and left him wondering if he even knew what he was doing.

You really come to pull for SSG Maddox. You begin to feel his frustration and occassional self-doubt but you also become impressed with his determination and quick thinking. Finally, you almost feel like celebrating with SSG Maddox as his hard work is recognized.

This is not a long book or a book that you will struggle to read. Maddox keeps it brief and does not get bogged down with each interrogation in the chain to Saddam. This was a book that I did not want to put down!

With all the debate over the enhanced interrogation techniques, here is a book that explains how the vast majority of interrogations are conducted.

Again, this is a must read