A Pulitzer Prize winning reporter's riveting account of the transformation of the CIA and America s special operations forces into man-hunting and killing machines. The Way of the Knife is the untold story of America's new campaign that has blurred the lines between soldiers and spies, and lowered the bar for waging war across the globe. Mark Mazzetti tracks an astonishing cast of characters on the ground in the 'shadow' war, from the chain-smoking Pentagon official running an off-the-books spy operation to the CIA contractor imprisoned in Lahore after going off the leash. At the heart of the book is the story of two proud rival entities, the CIA and the American military, elbowing each other for supremacy. Sometimes, as with the raid that killed Osama bin Laden, their efforts have been perfectly coordinated. Other times, including the failed operations disclosed here for the first time, they have not. For better or worse, their struggles will define American national security in the years to come.