The Dark Side

Journalist Mayer gives an account of the Bush administration's legal prosecution of the "War on Terror." Her impassioned account lays much of the blame for condoning torture and other abuses at the feet of Vice President Cheney and others in his circle. Mayer, who seems to see the law enforcement paradigm as the best way to deal with terrorism, views the treatment of detainees by the Bush administration as one of this country's blackest moments. Richard McGonagle performs this unabridged production superbly. His deep, rich voice is a perfect match of voice and text. He reads as one making an oral argument before the bench of public opinion--passionate about the matter he is presenting, but restrained, so as to make each point hit home. M.T.F. (c) AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine

June 30, 2008
This hard-hitting expose examines both the controversial excesses of the war on terror and the home-front struggle to circumvent legal obstacles to its prosecution. New Yorker correspondent Mayer (Strange Justice) details the battle within the Bush Administration over a new anti-terrorism policy of harsh interrogations, indefinite detentions without due process, extraordinary renditions, secret CIA prisons and warrantless wiretappings. Fighting with memos and legal briefs, Mayer reports, hard-liners led by Dick Cheney, his aide David Addingtion and then-Justice Department lawyer John Yoo rejected any constraints on the treatment of prisoners or limitations on presidential power in fighting terrorism, while less militant administration lawyers invoked the Constitution and international law to oppose their initiatives. As a counterpoint to the wrangling over the definition of torture and the Geneva Conventions, the author looks at the use of techniques like waterboarding, stress positions, sleep deprivation and sexual humiliation against prisoners by the American military and CIA; her chilling account compellingly argues that this "enhanced interrogation" regimen constitutes torture. The result is a must-read: a meticulous behind-the-scenes reconstruction of policymaking that demonstrates how legal abstractions became an ugly reality.

Starred review from November 1, 2008
New Yorker writer Mayer (Landslide: The Unmaking of the President, 19841988) here examines the Bush administration's controversial policies following the terrorist attacks of 9/11. She focuses on the administration's disregard for international law, specifically its contempt for the Geneva Convention guidelines regarding the humane treatment of prisoners of war. The gravity of her riveting expos, which unfolds like a spy novel, is enhanced by actor/narrator Richard McGonagle's (www.richardmcgonagle.comChristopher Rager, Pasadena, CA

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