An account of the transformation of the CIA and America's special operations forces into man-hunting and killing machines in the world's dark spaces: the new American way of war.

The war beyond -- Permission to kill -- A marriage among spies -- Cloak-and-dagger men -- Rumsfeld's spies -- The angry bird -- A true Pashtun -- Convergence -- A war by proxy -- The base -- Games without frontiers -- The old man's return -- The scalpel's edge -- The scramble for Africa -- The unraveling -- The doctor and the sheikh -- Fire from the sky -- A spy in leisure world.