We are too close. We know too much, and when it is time to shoot, we can zoom in until the target fills the screen.

Drones, or remotely piloted aircraft (RPA), are a mysterious and headline-making tool in the military’s counterterrorism arsenal. Hunter Killer puts readers into this secretive world: hunting terrorists from the sky, deploying cutting-edge technology to neutralize threats to national security; but also, sitting in Los Angeles traffic surrounded by civilians on the commute home, the mind still fixed on blown-up images of a target’s charred remains in the dust.

From starting out as one of the first volunteers, to becoming the commander of a squadron and writing the training manual for the entire Predator program, Air Force pilot and former intelligence operator Lt. Col. T. Mark McCurley has helped cement the status of drones as one of the military’s deadliest weapons, with the lowest accident rate in the Air Force.

Hunter Killer is a gripping and extraordinary first-hand account of Predator drones and the war on terror – equal parts techno-thriller, historical account and war memoir.