Ghost: Confessions of a Counterterrorism Agent

Being a writer myself and lived a similar life, it is hard for me to read fiction, would rather wait for the movie most times. But when a book comes around written by an actual agent, it draws my attention quickly. Fred was a cop, that like some of us wanted more excitement and challenge in his life so he decided to become a Counterterrorism agent of the DDS. Starting as the new guy at FOGHORN, he quickly worked his way up to top investigator to many well know terrorist acts aboard and in New York and sadly learns that sometimes the bad guys are guarded by the higher ups and there is nothing he can do about and is forced to put his life on the line for them.I really enjoyed the chapter on how to spot and lose a tail and many of his counter-surveillance knowledge is worth the read in it's self. Fred shows his humor throughout the novel with little snips at other agents and criminals he is forced to deal with in his daily job.After reading the book, I never want to fly on an cold AC-130 or stay at a hotel in the Middle East with snakes on the floor under the metal bed racks. The story of people falling 32,000 ft. to their deaths after a bomb going off on airliner and how they were found on the ground still clutching their crucifix's was intense. Two minutes of Terror.I would recommend his book to anyone that is interested in the ways things work in the Dark World. Its a fast paced read. Thanks for your service to the country and this most excellent book. Condolences to Fred Davis.

This is a book which can scare almost anybody, American or other nationality who reads it. The value of the book, however is not to scare anybody but to cause concern to the point that appropriate care should be taken by individuals, especially travelers and more so by international travelers. Some have said that this country needs an occasional wake-up call like Pearl Harbor or the September 11, 2001 attack. I do not think that we need to sacrifice innocent lives in order to make the populace aware that there are bad people in the world who wish us harm. Many of these people do more than merely wish us harm; they will instigate that harm. The victims are not just heads of state or public officials or even military people as in Pearl Harbor. Most of the people lost at the World Trade Center were innocent people pursuing their jobs. The same was true of the people riding the subways and that bus in London when their lives were terminated by sociopath killers.This book gives some of the background of many events that we only get a hint of in the "news" media. This book discusses the events prior to the New York, London and Bali terrorist attacks. The first bombing of the World Trade Center is covered in this book.It is a well written book with some good thoughts of what we may be doing right and wrong in our efforts toward improving the security of our country and citizens.

You may not be familiar with the state department DSS AND that’s exactly the way that they want it. This was an excellent book that is well written and that offers a lot of insights into the world prior to September 11, 2001. I highly recommend it and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I was very much impressed by author's strongest morals after an intelligence career which must require many ethical bargains. In fact, Mr. Burton has used for so many years his inherited moral imperative as a professional motivation. I consider outstanding this message that even in the darkest corners of this world and in such a difficult activity a person may maintain such trustworthiness from graduation to the well deserved retirement. Now I read in a different key author's articles in Stratfor.

The author provides a great narrative of what was happening from his perspective in the DSS. When tied in with previously known history, some new information became apparent that further clarifies the history of real world events. The author kept my interest with story after story of tracking down those who would do evil to our country, its military people, its politicians and just regular citizens. I will read this book again!

Fred Is a legend in the CT game. He was a plank-holder at the Dept of State CounterTerrorism unit. A former cop, FF/EMT, CT man, and now working in the best of private industry intelligence gathering. This is a fast moving read of real life, dark world, sacrifice.

Ever since I was almost killed by Chechen terrorists in Moscow (in July 2000, 90 people were killed near Pushkin Square), I have been reading books on terrorism. None is better than Fred Burton's book. It reads like a LeCarre novel, but it is all true.The number one target of terrorists is the US State Departments Foreign Embassies and their employees. As a member of the DSS, Fred's job was to protect those people. Of course, he knew all the details about every attack since he personally investigated many of them. While I am familiar with most of the attacks he describes, I have never before learned so many interesting and important details. Fred describes many of the techniques used to identify and counter the terrorists. While I am sure that many techniques remain classified what he presented was extremely interesting.As a former engineer who performed accident investigations on DC-8 aircraft, I was particularly fascinated by his chapters on the C-130 crash which killed Pakistani President Zia. He was personally involved in the investigation process and showed that the cause was not a missile. The description of how the investigation evolved from the challenging relationship with the Pakistanis to dodging poisonous snakes at the crash site to the conclusion that poison gas was used was fascinating. This is a unique book for anyone interested in terrorism.

I first came across Fred Burton on the Danger Close podcast. I had no idea the DSS was an Intel agency, I was only aware of the CP work they do. This book provides a fascinating history of the years leading up to 9/11 from an unusual angle. Well worth the read.

Great item.