Chasing Shadows: A Special Agent's Lifelong Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assassin to Justice

by Fred Burton, John R. Bruning

On a warm Saturday night in July 1973 in Bethesda, Maryland, a gunman stepped out from behind a tree and fired five point-blank shots into Joe Alon, an unassuming Israeli Air Force pilot and family man. Alon's sixteen-year-old neighbor, Fred Burton, was deeply shocked by this crime that rocked his sleepy suburban neighborhood. As it turned out, Alon wasn't just a pilot―he was a high-ranking military official with intelligence ties. The assassin was never found and the case was closed. In 2007, Fred Burton―who had since become a State Department counterterrorism special agent―reopened the case. Published to widespread praise, Chasing Shadows spins a gripping tale of the secret agents, double dealings, terrorists, and heroes he encounters as he chases leads around the globe in an effort to solve this decades-old murder.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, True Crime, Politics, Espionage, Crime, Russia

272 pages, Paperback

First published March 31, 2011

About the author

Former police officer and special agent.

Reviews

[Tomasz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shallow, and puny, and biased, and mercilessly padded to appear more than a confectionery made out of rumors, distant memories, and weak conjectures. I mean, just the index runs to 18% of an already unpreposessing volume. The assassination of Joe Alon deserves a far better chronicler.

[Ronald Roseborough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Terrorism, murder, revenge, an eye for an eye, so very little separates one from the other. Small nuances that define our lives. Thin lines crossed by individuals and governments. Who is to say what is right? A statement often attributed to Winston Churchill states, history is written by the victors. As a young man of sixteen, Fred Burton's life was changed forever by the news of a murder in a quiet suburb of Bethesda, Maryland in 1973. The mystery of the unsolved shooting would haunt him as his life followed a career in law enforcement and security analysis. The victim was Colonel Joe Alon, an Israeli Air Force pilot assigned to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. On an otherwise quiet July night, he was shot, execution style, in front of the home where he lived with his wife and two daughters. The murder would go unsolved by the local police and the FBI. Why was this man murdered in the U.S.? Was it a random shooting or was it tied to the history of this Israeli pilot who had fought in the Israeli-Palestinian wars while protecting his country. Reopening the cold case on the killing, Fred Burton traces Joe Alon's life through the formation and defense of the Israeli state, as Alon plays a leading role in the development of the Israeli Air Force. The trail leads across the years through the Middle East to Europe and the United States. The story of Joe Alon is a story of individuals and governments, mystery and intrigue, spies and terrorists, obfuscation and cover-up on many levels, ultimately leading the author to an inescapable conclusion and a moral conundrum. Book provided for review by the well read folks at Palgrave/Macmillan.

[Enso · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book by the author of "Ghost" on his lifelong search for the assassins of an Israeli pilot (and possible Mossad agent) in the author's hometown when he was 16. This is the event that pushed Fred Burton to becoming a cop and eventually working in counter-terrorism. The book covers the milieu of the early 70s beginnings of Palestinian terrorism and the "Black September" organization as well as a bit of the history of that era in the intelligence world.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Burton takes the reader on a journey through time in this masterful book. More than just his hunt to find a killer, this book details the history of Israel in the late 60s and 70s. This book does a wonderful job of making this history lesson a page turner. I simply could not put it down, It reveals the ruthlessness of both countries. This book reads more like a spy thriller than a history book.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a very interesting book. I liked all of the background and history that the author provided, because it helped me to better understand the social and political landscape that led to the murder of Colonel Alon. This book was written very well, and in a way that was able to hold my attention. While there were one or two spots where my interest began to wane, and there were a lot of people and events to keep track of, overall it was not written in a dry or boring way like many non-fiction books that I have read. It was more than a collection of facts. The personal stories and background, including the author's own, helped to humanize it. The ending was not entirely satisfying, but it felt like enough. I'm glad that the Alon family was finally able to get some answers, and some measure of justice. I came away from this story saddened by all of the tragedy and conflict, but having learned quite a bit about the complexities in the Middle East, particularly during the Cold War.

[Amy Gay · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this firsthand account about a decades long assassin case that was solved and the history lesson I got in the process (which was definitely skipped over in US schooling). There is a little bias from the agent writer but overall delivers the facts in a narrative. Worth reading if you enjoy history, particularly war history, or unsolved mysteries.

[Kevin Y · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a great first person account of the tenacity required in one of many cases gone cold and what it takes to bring it to closure. I did this on audio book and didn’t want to take a break from listening.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fast-moving account of a decades-long hurt for the killer of an Israeli spy. I really enjoyed it.

[Andrew Luce · Rating 4 out of 5]

Life-long pursuit for the truth behind the unusual murder of an Israeli air force hero in DC, uncovering clues and details slowly over time.

[Robin Curry-Lindahl]

very interesting

[Chris Gager · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another gift from friend Martha - another foray into the murky world of spies and such. I learned about the poor performance by the Air Force in Vietnam.

[Gaynelle Gilbride · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book very interesting. Throughout the years this Foreign Diplomat "cold case" remains open and has yet to be solved. Evidence has disappeared from the CIA, FBI, Maryland State Police Department and several other government agencies. Crime scene cigarette butts to bullet casings and no fingerprints found.

Interestingly enough we may find more information with the National Archives with the Declassified information.

Very good book, highly recommended for reading.

[thewanderingjew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This fast-paced, non-fiction account of the long unsolved murder of a former war hero turned Israeli diplomat, Joe Alon, (aka Jospeh Placzek) is filled with intrigue, deception and conspiracy theories. I was reading several other books at the same time, as I am wont to do, but once I started this one, the others languished on the table as this story consumed me and I concentrated on it, to the exclusion of all else. It is a case of the truth being stranger than fiction. Can he have been a double agent? Was there a cover up of his murder or was it truly unsolvable at the time? There are many mysteries dealt with in this short book, as we are taken from from Brno, Czechoslavakia to Israel and finally to the United States. All of the intervening wars, including the history of Israel and the Middle East conflict, are outlined and somewhat explored in the process. It is a clear and concise explanation that is easily understood and absorbed.
Beginning with the murder of Joseph Alon, in 1973, a tale of intrigue which spans decades is born. Tracing back through the history of this unique man and his family, we are taken from the tragedy of the Holocaust to Israel’s war for independence and right up to the present day. We learn what made him successful and what motivated him to do the things he did. His courage was often tested and his piloting skills in the Israeli Air Force were legend. He was a major force in Israel’s defense forces. He loomed large, once discovered, in the Palestinian terror network. Did politics, international relations and clandestine operations prevent the details of his murder from being explored and solved in a timely fashion? Why was his family kept in the dark about the circumstances surrounding his death?
This is a well written book whose pages turn themselves. You will not be bored as you trace the history of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, through the life of this unusual hero or was he??? There are so many variables that one wonders if the whole story behind his murder can ever truly be resolved? The conjecture surrounding the secrets and ploys of various governments and their enemies create plots that rival those of a modern day spy novel. The subterfuge surrounding the secret deals between different organizations is often unfathomable. In the end, you will turn the final page with more knowledge about the event than you had before but you will still wonder about what to believe regarding the mysterious death of Joseph Alon. It is a true life tale of espionage.
If you would like further information, some can be found here: http://www.the-two-malcontents.com/20... and here: http://www.haaretz.com/news/discovery... and here: http://lahavnet.co.il/joalon/eng/pilo...

[ManOfLaBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chas­ing Shad­ows: A Spe­cial Agent's Life­long Hunt to Bring a Cold War Assas­sin to Jus­tice by Fred Bur­ton is a non-fiction book which tells about the author’s life­long inves­ti­ga­tion into a polit­i­cal mur­der of one of his neigh­bors. The prod­uct of the inves­ti­ga­tion is a mes­mer­iz­ing book of an inves­ti­ga­tion of a lifetime.

July of 1973 in Bethesda, MD Joseph Alon was shot to death. Mr. Alon was a high rank­ing Israeli Air Force pilot, a fam­ily man and a diplo­matic attaché. Fred Bur­ton, the Alons 16 year old neigh­bor, was shocked by this hor­ren­dous crime in his sleepy neighborhood.

As he grew up, Fred Bur­ton, now a coun­tert­er­ror­ism spe­cial agent, reopened the case and found more than he bar­gained for try­ing to solve this almost for­got­ten murder.

Chas­ing Shad­ows by Fred Bur­ton is an amaz­ingly fast pace, excit­ing and inter­est­ing book. Mr. Bur­ton writes a com­pelling account of a four decade old unsolved mur­der which involves Israeli diplo­mats, Amer­i­can and Israeli intel­li­gence, Black Sep­tem­ber, the PLO, CIA, FBI, PFLP, the USAF and more.

At the time of the mur­der Mr. Bur­ton was 16, as he grew up, entered the gray world of intel­li­gence and law enforce­ment, the crime never left his mind. When he started to inves­ti­gate he found out some­thing strange: it seemed that none of these enti­ties want the mur­der to be solved!
That includes the Israeli gov­ern­ment who has prided itself on aveng­ing the mur­der of its cit­i­zens regard­less of bor­ders and local or inter­na­tional laws.

This very com­pelling account is not only about the mur­der, but a small les­son in his­tory to put every­thing in con­text. The strug­gle of the US Air force against the MiG fight­ers, the birth of the Israeli Air force, as well as the mutu­ally ben­e­fi­cial rela­tion­ship between the two coun­tries, as well as sec­tions devoted to how Mid­dle East­ern ter­ror­ism oper­ated in the 70s.

In my opin­ion, the mys­tery took a back seat to the fas­ci­nat­ing his­tory les­son, but that’s not to say it is not mes­mer­iz­ing as well. Due to the subject’s diplo­matic stature, many of the sus­pects can­not be named and were dif­fi­cult to track lead­ing only to dead ends or false leads. How­ever, once in a while, through sheer deter­mi­na­tion and per­sis­tence, Mr. Bur­ton slowly made progress.

The nar­ra­tive weaves the pain of the Alon fam­ily who are being blocked by the Israeli gov­ern­ment and his own frus­tra­tion of run­ning into brick walls at every turn. Mr. Bur­ton is a won­der­ful sto­ry­teller who weaves inter­na­tional intrigue and com­pli­cated rela­tion­ships between peo­ple, orga­ni­za­tions and coun­tries in a very read­able format.

For more review and bookish posts please visit: http://www.ManOfLaBook.com

[Quentin Stewart · Rating 5 out of 5]

When Fred Burton was 16 a murder occurred in his quiet community that was never solved. Burton had a difficult time accepting the fact that something like this could occur in his neighborhood in 1973. Nothing like it had occurred before and he had a difficult time accepting that it could happen and never be solved. It was one of the factors that led Burton into the field of law enforcement and he never forgot that morning when he first heard of the murder. In each stop in his career as he advance through various levels of law enforcement he kept that murder in mind and was always open to any facts or stories that might come his way as a police officer. His final position, before retirement, was with the Diplomatic Security Service in the State Department. As deputy chief of the Counterterrorism Division of the DDS he made contacts and heard things that would enable his private investigation of the 1973 killing to go on once he retired.
After retiring he made contact with two daughters of the victim who were still looking for answers to their father’s death. Burton uses sources that he made contact with before his retirement, the first police officer on the scene that night, and others to attempt to track down the person of persons that committed the murder in 1973. Of course he started with the victim, the Military Attaché to the Israeli Embassy. This leads Burton to give us a brief history of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians that started at the Olympic Games of 1972. Was the Military Attaché killed as part of this “Shadow War” or was he victim of a robbery gone badly.
Chasing Shadows is an excellent book tracing the conflict that possibly led to the death on a quiet street in the USA. It is also the story of one man’s search for justice for an invasion in his quiet community that as a teenager he did not understand. He needed to bring closure in his own mind to an occurrence that he did not understand. An excellent book and an easy and enjoyable read. It is fast paced and keeps one’s attention. Highly recommended.

[Debbi Mack · Rating 5 out of 5]

One fateful summer night in 1973, in the quiet DC suburb of Bethesda, MD, a gunman stepped from behind a tree and shot Joseph Alon in his driveway. The shooter got away, despite what seemed to be the best efforts of the local police and FBI to apprehend him. Over the years, the family was plagued with questions no one would answer. This incident not only shattered author Fred Burton's illusions of safety, but led him to a career in law enforcement, then a job with the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS) as a counterterrorism agent. He quit DSS in the late 1990s, but went on to continue that line of work in the private sector. Throughout his career, he stayed in touch with Alon's family and kept seeking the answers that eluded them.

Those answers lay in Alon's work as an Israeli air attache in Washington, DC. Alon represented Israel's air force and was liaison for Israel. Alon was also tasked with studying and submitting intelligence reports to Israel, i.e., spying. The truth about his murder involved double dealing and behind-the-scenes political alliances so complex, calculating and cold-blooded, it makes a John LeCarre novel look simplistic.

Read the entire review at http://thebookgrrl.blogspot.com/2012/...

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Essentially a true crime story that links into events of global significance, I found this hard to put down. I appreciated how the book related so many newsworthy stories from the 60s and 70s to each other by pursuing just one murder case, and I feel like my cognitive map of many things I had vaguely heard of improved substantially, even if their descriptions here were sometimes thin and tendentious. But I also found the ending problematic as an apparent endorsement of or complicity with extrajudicial punishment. That's obviously a reality of the world this case had to do with, but I felt a little ill to realize that's what the work behind this book itself may have contributed to in the end.

[Sean · Rating 4 out of 5]

When the author was a teenager a murder happened in his neighborhood that he unknowingly trained his entire life to solve. This book tells the story of how he did that after over 30 years of following the case. While the book is about the murder investigation, about half of it is dedicated to explaining the Israel/Palestine conflicts and how they affected the world and ultimately relate to this murder mystery. A great story and great education on the Middle East.

[Erwin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story. Gives you a better idea of how spies, politics, and national interests all actually work.
Just like any other system with people, there are no formulas. It's just people, agendas, and opinions.

Countries pursue their interests, and then make stories that make the situation sound better then it actually is.

[Brad · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great read if you are looking for a murder/assassination/conspiracy mystery; and even better, it's a true story. The author wrote about his own experience investigating this unique case, and it covers a lot of geo-political and military history over the past 60 years. I found this to be a very engaging and compelling read.

[Carolyn · Rating 1 out of 5]

Story of one man's obsession with the murder of a man you've never heard of (an Israeli war hero, diplomat, and probable spy). You have to be really fascinated with the intricate relationships between Israel, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Arab nations, Black September, the CIA, FBI, etc. to enjoy this book. It's overdramatized and overdone.

[Linda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. A person who lived a few blocks from the author was gunned down. It probably influenced him to pursue a career in law enforcement, and later, to being a member of the counter-terrorism force of the Diplomatic Security Service (DSS). He spent years looking into this case, and was finally able to solve it and give the family some answers.

[Baker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting story about the murder of an Israeli diplomat in 1973, and lifelong quest of a young neighbor to identify those responsible. Brings back details of a violent period in international relations. Given the increasing sophistication of terrorist attacks in recent years, seems almost quaint. A page-turner.

[Tommy J Champion · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

I normally don't read this type of book. However I heard an interview on NPR and it really caught my attention. I respect the author for his dedication to this man an his family. In a world where most people could care less about others, he took it upon himself to make a difference. Thank you sir for going that extra mile to help those in need.

[richard m. · Rating 5 out of 5]

An amazing story - and it is represented as true.
A glimpse into international espionage that surpasses the myths. The range of people/places/events incorporated and illuminated in this tale was more than a little surprising.

Well written.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fascinating read for anyone interested in the history of the conflicts in the middle east. The viewpoint is very specifically the author's, and very specifically American. His readiness to kidnap a suspect for swift American justice, or rendition to God knows where, was particularly disturbing.

[Roop · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book and eloquently puts historic events of Middle East into a perspective.

[Frank · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not necessarily a thriller, but definitely interesting as to how the whole story played out with the Middle East as a background.

[Marjea Greene · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was not expecting this much background and history detail. It became boring in places.

[Bruce · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very little drama for a true crime book. Plodding.