First Casualty

The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11

By: Toby Harnden

Narrated by: Dan Woren

"Harnden skillfully interweaves dramatic action sequences with the backstories of the book’s central figures, and briskly highlights the failures of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Readers will be swept up in this little-known chapter of America’s 'forever war.'" (Publishers Weekly)

This dramatic true story reveals the secret mission of the eight members of the CIA’s Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11.

America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck, and thousands are dead. The country scrambles to respond, but the Pentagon has no plan for Afghanistan - where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack and is protected by the Taliban. Instead, the CIA steps forward to spearhead the war. Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of Northern Afghanistan on October 17, 2001. They are Team Alpha, an eclectic band of linguists, tribal experts, and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory. Their covert mission is to track down Al-Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again.

First Casualty places you with Team Alpha as the CIA rides into battle on horseback alongside the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. In Washington, DC, few trust that the CIA men, the Green Berets, and the Americans’ outnumbered Afghan allies can prevail before winter sets in. On the ground, Team Alpha is undeterred. The Taliban is routed but hatches a plot with Al-Qaeda to hit back. Hundreds of suicidal fighters, many hiding weapons, fake a surrender and are transported to Qala-i Jangi - the “Fort of War”.

Team Alpha’s Mike Spann, an ex-Marine, and David Tyson, a polyglot former Central Asian studies academic, seize America’s initial opportunity to extract intelligence from men trained by bin Laden - among them a young Muslim convert from California. The prisoners revolt and one CIA officer falls - the first casualty in America’s longest war, which will last two decades. The other CIA man shoots dead the Al-Qaeda jihadists attacking his comrade. To survive, he must fight his way out against overwhelming odds.

Award-winning author Toby Harnden gained unprecedented access to all living Team Alpha members and every level of the CIA. Superbly researched, First Casualty draws on extensive interviews, secret documents, and deep reporting inside Afghanistan. As gripping as any adventure novel, yet intimate and profoundly moving, it tells how America found a winning strategy only to abandon it. Harnden reveals that the lessons of early victory and the haunting foretelling it contained - unreliable allies, ethnic rivalries, suicide attacks, and errant US bombs - were ignored, tragically fueling a 20-year conflict.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2021 Toby Harnden (P)2021 Little, Brown & Company

Critic reviews

"Run, don’t walk to pick this up. Toby Harnden has done a masterful job.... What a powerful read." (James Gagliano, former senior FBI officer)

"This is Afghanistan's Black Hawk Down.... Harnden’s account is both well-informed and panoramic." (Daily Telegraph)

"The hard-to-imagine drama, in the hands of another narrator, could easily turn overwrought; in this book, it is not. First Casualty is rife with heroic moments. But it is the variety of the human reactions in those moments, and afterward, that separates this book from others. Fear, combat fatigue, and sadness appear often in the narrative.... This book is compelling, sometimes disturbing, but in a necessary way." (Philip Mudd, former senior CIA officer, The Cipher Brief)

Couldn’t stop listening

Incredible book about the aftermath of 9/11 and the role of The Alpha Team. Really gives you prospective of what they encountered and their incredible stories of heroism. The narrator was terrific!

Outstanding Read

Excellent read on the experience and backgrounds of America’s brave fighters and clandestine efforts in the wake of 9/11. The author is not afraid to pull punches regarding the strategy from higher ups while also offering an honest insight to the individual experiences of operators on the field… which is an amazing task in itself. Highly recommend.

A great insight to the events that shaped our war in Afghanistan.

The story can be a bit choppy trying to get everyone’s back stories to set up the tale. Still it was eye opening how effective the war was at its start and could have been if politics and leadership hadn’t impeded the process.

Excellent Telling of an Amazing Story

Mr. Harnden is an excellent writer. He successfully develops the character and personalities of the primary subjects while seamlessly and simultaneously painting a detailed picture of everything from the geo-political environment at Langley, The Pentagon and the White House situation room down to the sights, sounds and smells of the combatants. This historical and detailed account of the previously untold story of members and actions of Team Alpha and the early days of America’s response after 9-11 is a must read.

Definitely worth a read.

I’ve read a few books from this era and about this particular conflict and its early days. This book was very well researched followed a chronological order and laid out some interesting previously unknown facts even if they were very raw. The fact that it was centered around a small group of people made it easy to follow and made it feel more personal. I would definitely recommend it as a read.

A Time Capsule

Thank you for sharing this part of history that most had no idea, that the CIA was the first in on this fight.

Well researched and well written!

The book was very well researched and well written. Additionally, the voice performance is excellent.

Deeply researched

This is a riveting account not just of one battle at the beginning of a long engagement in Afghanistan, but how and why the CIA was leading the fight in Afghanistan in the days after September 11. I appreciated the background that the first third of the book afforded.

The Trojan horse revolt of al-Qaeda prisoners that resulted in Mike Spann’s death was a griping account and clearly the author did a lot of research and apparently even interviewed Dostum.

The Audible reader comprehends the topic and I found him to be easy to listen to at fast speeds.

Thank you-A Must Read

Fascinating. I recommend this book to everyone who wishes to gain a greater understanding and appreciation for what people are willing to do for freedom. The intricate and broad interaction between individuals and groups from very different cultures is incredible.

what a blend of history and personal stories

Amazing detail of the experiences of so many involved. And the fact that the main participants are followed up with decades later was the perfect ending!