Leigh reviewed on 8/2/2016 + 378 more book reviews

I think this would have been more effective a cautionary tale had it not been so absurdist and silly in tone. The historical personages depicted in the book came across strongly as fictional, quirky characters, which made me start viewing the organization about which the book was written - the military - with something less than concern. And that wasn't fair, considering the grave situations the author described.

A great deal of this was dedicated to describing the inhumane treatment of fellow human beings. Psychological torture is just not fun to read about and I found myself ashamed at giving taxpayer dollars to fund this. So much could have been done here.

Toward the end of the book the author lamented that readers see events separated by time as not tragic but instead as almost comical, given the amount of time that has passed. His summary of Eric Olsen's father's LSD demise made that very clear. Yet, he treated the entire subject of torture with glibness. To give this horrifying subject such an insouciant tone is insulting.

No wonder this movie turned out the parody it did.

If you want to read about a serious subject in an not-so-serious matter, with many larger-than-life characters, this fits the bill. If you want to read about PsyOps and Remote Viewing, I'd pick up any other book on the subject because it's got to be better than this author's treatment of the subject.

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