The Havana Syndrome: Secret Weapons, a Government Cover-Up, and the Greatest Spy Mystery of Our Time

NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW EDITORS’ CHOICE • An explosive, inside account of the mysterious attacks on U.S. officials around the world via an unseen, highly specialized weapon that has left dozens of victims with life-altering injuries, and the U.S. government’s attempt to cover it up—with alarming new evidence from an award-winning 60 Minutes team

“[A] startling exposé . . . the strongest case yet that these hits—some officials estimate there have been thousands—are intentional attacks by Russian agents . . . The authors’ work is admirable and compelling.”—The New York Times

For nearly a decade, U.S. diplomats, spies, and soldiers around the world have reported sudden, devastating neurological injuries—symptoms eerily consistent with exposure to a directed energy weapon. Victims were told their illnesses were “psychosomatic.” Government agencies dismissed the evidence. And the CIA insisted no adversary was behind it. As the cases grew, from Havana to Hanoi, the media dubbed the phenomenon “the Havana Syndrome.”

In this groundbreaking exposé, 60 Minutes producers Michael Rey and Oriana Zill de Granados reveal the hidden history of the so-called Havana Syndrome: from early attacks in Cuba and China, to the spread across global hotspots from Tbilisi to Vienna, to the mounting evidence implicating an elite Russian “kill” unit. Drawing on more than nine years of reporting, including secret medical records, whistleblower testimony, and intelligence reports, they expose not only the technology behind the attacks but the U.S. government’s effort to downplay and deny them.

Combining the pace of a thriller and the authority of rigorous investigative journalism, this book brings readers inside the lives of officers like “Adam” and “Poly,” whose careers and health were destroyed by the attacks, and Lt. Col. Greg Edgreen, the Pentagon investigator who risked everything to demand accountability. The Havana Syndrome is both a geopolitical saga with chilling consequences for national security and a deeply human story of betrayal and resilience.