LIMITED TIME OFFER. Get 3 months for $0.99 a month. Get this deal.
Kill Chain cover art

Kill Chain

The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins

Preview
Get this deal Try for $0.00
Offer ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.
Amazon Prime member exclusive: get any 2 titles with your free trial. Terms apply.
Just $0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 audiobook per month of your choice from our unparalleled catalog.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at $14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo + applicable taxes after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Kill Chain

Written by: Andrew Cockburn
Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
Get this deal Try for $0.00

$14.95/mo after 3 months. Cancel anytime. Offers ends December 16, 2025 11:59pm PT.

$14.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $23.35

Buy Now for $23.35

About this listen

This essential, pause-resister narrative on the history of drone warfare by the acclaimed author of Rumsfeld explores how this practice emerged, who made it happen, and the real consequences of targeted killing.

Assassination by drone is a subject of deep and enduring fascination, yet few understand how and why it has become our principal way of waging war. Kill Chain uncovers the real and extraordinary story of drone warfare - its origins in long-buried secret programs, the breakthroughs that made drone operations possible, and the ways in which the technology works and, despite official claims, does not work.

Taking the listener inside the well-guarded world of national security, the audiobook reveals the powerful interests - military, CIA, and corporate - that have led the drive to kill individuals by remote control. Most importantly of all, the book describes what has really happened when the theories underpinning the strategy - and the multibillion-dollar contracts they spawn - have been put to the test.

Drawing on sources deep within the military and intelligence establishments, Andrew Cockburn's Kill Chain unveils the true effects, as demonstrated by bloody experience, of assassination warfare - a revelation that listeners will find surprising and shocking.

©2015 Andrew Cockburn (P)2015 Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Armed Forces Freedom & Security Military Politics & Government War & Crisis Weapons & Warfare Espionage National Security Air Force War Assassin Middle East Thought-Provoking Iran US Air Force Warfare
All stars
Most relevant
Well written book and good audio performance. However, albeit brilliantly researched the book suffers from a bias that made it hard to accept it objectively.

The book is more about the illusions of precision of the kill chain and the contributing factors that has led to the failures of weapon systems it described.

Had the title and introduction been something that connotes the illusion of precision, and the resulting negative outcome, the book wouldn’t have felt biased but true to intent.

Good background on missteps and illusions but Misleading title

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.