The irony is that Kantor’s publisher, Little, Brown, which had originally inked a deal for The Operators, dropped Hastings’ book last summer because it feared the tome was too controversial, according to Hastings.
“The book terrified them—literally,” he said. “One email from the editor said he and the publisher were terrified after reading it. I was like, shit man, the subtitle of the book is that it’s a ‘wild and terrifying story.’ But clearly, the book made them very uncomfortable—from the language I used to the views expressed about the Pentagon. I didn’t want to compromise my vision for the book.”
