Mark Bowden is the author of nine books, including the #1 New York Times best seller Black Hawk Down. He reported at The Philadelphia Inquirer for twenty years and now writes for Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, and other magazines. His most recent book is Worm: The First Digital World War.
A New York Times Bestseller "In-depth interviews with Obama and
other insiders reveal a White House on edge, facing top-secret
options, white-knuckle decisions, and unforeseen obstacles. . . .
Bowden weaves together accounts from Obama and top decision-makers
for the full story behind the daring operation."--Vanity Fair "A
book -- one with sweep and sophistication -- about a pivotal,
secretive operation . . . smart and measured, long on transparency
and short on speculation. . . . Bowden enjoyed exceptional access,
but wasn't captured by it. . . . Bowden's lens is wide,
encompassing Obama's evolution as a politician and the peculiar
influence of bin Laden . . . Where the book shines is in Bowden's
reconstruction and refined analysis of the intelligence operations
that turned up bin Laden's location. . . . The book also succeeds
in its artful portrait of Obama as commander in chief. . . .
compelling drama, and Bowden has captured it with skill and
style."--Seattle Times "How all the president's men and women
finally nabbed the world's most wanted terrorist is truly a
stunning story. And while parts of it have been told, Barack Obama
himself has confided in only one writer about all the details. And
he is Mark Bowden."--CNN "The first book, and, to date, the
definitive one, that looks at the Osama bin Laden raid from
President Obama's perspective. The Finish describes a new kind of
war fighting--the fusion of intelligence from vast and scattered
sources--to track and apprehend, or kill, the enemy. . . . It's a
gripping tale."--The Daily Beast "The most accessible and
satisfying book yet written on the climactic event in the United
States' long war against al Qaeda."--San Francisco Chronicle "The
death of the man responsible for the 9/11 attacks is a fantastic
story. It has goodies and baddies, a long, slow build to the
climax, exotic locations and lots of hardware. . . . Bowden [shows]
how success in the raid last May was the culmination not just of a
decade of often tedious data-crunching by the CIA and other
analysts, but of a vast and ongoing effort within the American
security establishment and government to develop a new range of
capabilities. . . . How the Americans finally got their man is an
extraordinary tale and Bowden does it justice."--Guardian A superb
storyteller, Bowden captures the tense drama accompanying the final
months of the bin Laden hunt, even as he underscores the quiet,
essential work of years.--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Bowden's
new book outlines the changes in warfare since the Sept. 11, 2011,
terrorist attacks, and the way our increasing computational power
has helped capture terrorists like Osama bin Laden."--NPR "The
Finish leverages access to key White House, military, intelligence,
and foreign-policy officials--including President Obama himself--to
get behind the intricate story of how SEAL Team Six was sent to
Abbottabad, Pakistan, to kill Osama bin Laden. . . . Bowden reviews
the evolutionary progress made in intelligence processing and
military capabilities that led to the raid on Abbottabad. . . .
close to a textbook example of complex national security
decision-making."--The Atlantic "[A] dramatic narrative . . . the
actual champion of the bin Laden hunt is a collective of mostly
nameless hands within the intelligence bureaucracy. . . The Finish
is at its best when Mr. Bowden goes deep into mission planning,
gameboarding the choice of means of attack--air strike? sniper
drone? ground-force raid?"--Wall Street Journal "A page-turner . .
. an informative, on-the-ground account of the mission. Adept at
maintaining suspense even when the outcome is widely known, Bowden
also makes judicious assessments of how much credit Obama deserves
-- and the impact of the assassination on al Qaeda."--Minneapolis
Star Tribune "Bowden would seem like the perfect person to tell the
bin Laden story. . . . There is an excellent
setting-the-record-straight section at the end that has been
missing in other volumes."--Washington Post "Bowden . . . reveals
the details of the planning, but knows when to pull back from a
close focus to give the wider view of what was at stake for
President Obama, military planners and the Navy SEALS team. . . .
[His] experience as a reporter and author shows."--Fayetteville
Observer "Shaping up to be one of the fall's big
books."--Publishers Weekly "Bowden's book draws back to look at the
raid in strategic context. I suspect that readers who choose
Bowden's wide-angle approach will find themselves better
informed."--St. Louis Today "To chart the tale of the hunt for the
world's most notorious terrorist, Bowden assembled an extensive
history of the modern warfare and intelligence tactics that led to
the rare, execution and deep-sea burial." --Philadelphia Weekly
"[Bowden] uses his hard-earned access to focus on the decade of
intelligence-gathering and decision-making that led up to the
Abbottabad raid."--National Post (Canada) "The Finish paints the
U.S. government's relationship to technology and social media as
integral in the capture of bin Laden. . . . Many see Bowden as one
of the most respected writers covering the U.S. military and
Special Forces today."--Books & Review
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