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kathryne's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
2.0
Interesting, but not interesting enough to justify being 600 pages. The concept was fine but I wish it had been executed very differently.
Felt like it kinda fell apart when it got to the Kennedy assassination.
Was it necessary to give a mini-bio of 100+ minor characters? It felt like that ultimately made each anecdote unnecessarily confusing because each one introduced another couple names.
Felt like it kinda fell apart when it got to the Kennedy assassination.
Was it necessary to give a mini-bio of 100+ minor characters? It felt like that ultimately made each anecdote unnecessarily confusing because each one introduced another couple names.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, War, Murder, Violence, and Medical trauma
Minor: Torture and Forced institutionalization
mattbutreads's review against another edition
dark
informative
fast-paced
5.0
I personally like the authors insertion of opinion, stylistically he takes chances with what information he concludes. It works well
icallaci's review against another edition
3.0
This could have been a 5-star book, but the author’s obvious bias caused me to question almost everything he wrote. It reminded me of fiction, with good guys and bad guys, instead of an objective account of the CIA’s role in world events. For example: “…Maheu tried to make it seem like his decision [to assassinate Castro] was a tortured process. But it actually sounded like a relative no-brainer for the security contractor…. When it came down to it, he didn’t mind having Castro’s blood on his hands, or that of his brother Raúl Castro and Che Guevara, for that matter.” How could the author possibly know this? No source is given. On the other hand, “[Kennedy] did not want to appear naïve about Communist exploitation of these national liberation movements. But he was even more concerned that the United States be on the right side of history, by supporting the aspirations of the peoples of Latin America, Africa, and Asia as they threw off their colonial shackles.” Again, no source is given to back up Kennedy’s humanitarian motives. The bad guys are always power-hungry, evil, scheming liars and murderers, while the good guys are always desperately trying to do the right thing, with no self-interest whatsoever, even when their actions result in chaos and revolution. As a thriller, the book definitely held my interest, so I gave it three stars instead of two. But I would have preferred (and am still looking for) a more nuanced version of both sides of the story.
apropose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
3.75