
Member Reviews

This was a fascinating read. Ever since I found about MKULTRA, I've wanted to learn everything I could about it. Reading this was a no-brainer, and it should be required reading for all Americans. Everyone needs to know about the CIA's dark history of conducting experiments on its own citizens, from enticing them with sex workers and drugging them with LSD to attempting to completely erase their minds to essentially reprogram them to be hollow, obedient shells of themselves. It is dark, disturbing stuff that has been kept under wraps for decades.
Sidney Gottlieb, the head of the program, retired in 1973 and had the remaining evidence of these programs destroyed... or so he thought. Historian John Lisle has uncovered firsthand accounts from Gottlieb and his conspirators, and he brings them into the light in an engrossing and shocking exposé. The victims do not go unnamed or unnoticed, either, as Lisle makes sure to discuss the far-reaching impacts of the experiments, even decades later.
Project Mind Control is an astonishing, harrowing account of how a government can dehumanize its own people for selfish gain. If it was happening back then, there is no reason it couldn't be happening right now. Stay vigilant.

As mentioned in another review—if you've researched this topic on your own, this might not be for you.
Having been one of those people, this just didn't hit the mark for me. I can't say I knew all of it, of course! But I knew enough to find myself, at times, very 1) bored and 2) frustrated with how blasé this felt at some points.
The Pete Cross did a great job w his narration, at times his voice is what kept me engaged when my mind wanted to wander.
This is certainly a great starting point & then some, as long as you haven't done much info searching on your own. Because—for me—this didn't hit the mark. That doesn't mean it's not worth <i>your</i> times.
Thank you bunches to John Lisle, Pete Cross, SMP, Macmillan Audio & NetGalley for the ALC in exchange for my honest review!

Wow. What a wild, absorbing listen. This is part history, part horror story. Narration was clear and well-paced, which helped me digest the sheer volume of jaw-dropping content. John Lisle digs into CIA experiments with unsettling focus, detailing LSD trials, unethical psychiatric abuse, and the bizarre use of magic tricks in espionage training. The book doesn’t veer far into speculation, but that restraint may feel like a limitation depending on what you’re hoping to uncover. Still, the research is strong and the details often chilling. It's the kind of book that leaves you side-eyeing your tap water… and your government.

I just finished Project Mind Control Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA by John Lisle.. I received the hardcover and an ALC.
Firstly the narrator was quite excellent. I did immersion reading for this one and it was a great experience.
I was really excited to read this book. I love a good conspiracy and MKULTRA is one I have researched a lot. WARNING! If you are someone who does your own research on these things.. This book isn’t for you. The author spends a lot of time minimizing the project and making it seem like a nothing burger. The book basically comes down to whether or not the CIA was to blame for the lives this project destroyed and honestly, he didn’t even answer that.
One of my favorite moments came at the end of the book. The author talks about the fact that they did congressional hearings on CIA oversight and how they released so much of it to obscure the rest for national security and then talks about how Cathy O’Brien talks about a project called project Monarch and how there is no information on it from the CIA so it must be false. Says the CIA lied and hid the things they did… Dismisses a project because he said it doesn’t exist. It actually made me laugh.
It is hard for me to trust what he had to say because of the lack of research done outside of Sidney Gottlieb but the information about the trials was where the magic was for me but again, there isn’t a lot of substance here.
What I will say is that you can tell the author was trying to be neutral and display the facts as he saw them and I can appreciate that but MKULTRA wasn’t just about the parts touched on in this book. It was a much larger and terrifying project and this book will lead you to believe that some naughty man hurt some people with LSD trials and the CIA funded it but didn’t sanction it. The takeaway is these experiments would have happened without their involvement. Like I said, nothing burger. This book will have you believing the project failed.. And yet… It started in the 50s and continued here in Canada in the 1980s… that's a long ass time for a project to run and yet be such a failure…. Food for thought!
The worst part is the writing wasn’t half bad but for me, this is a book to make the massives feel like this project failed when there are a lot of research papers, a lot declassified.. That contradicts this view.
3.5 stars
Thank you to @stmartinspress for my gifted copy of this book and honestly I hope people buy it and do more research.

Yeah I don’t think I can ever fully trust my government but it’s even more wild that this evil man goes on to become a speech therapist after being so terrible??? Omg??
Either way, this book is so well researched, interesting, and full of info I never even knew. If you know a little about MKULTRA, read this, it’s truly shocking!

I knew a little bit about MKUltra before listening to this audiobook, which is why I was drawn to it, but there is so much more to the story than I ever would have guessed. Lisle does a great job of explaining the history of the project, all the major elements of it, and then the aftermath and the government cover-up. All in all, it was a fascinating listen.

Fascinating stuff! I've always been interested in MKUltra, and this was the longest form telling of the story that I've listened to at this point. Lisle's approach, often just placing transcripts of depositions, gives you a deep understanding of just how hard the CIA and US government goes to hide the truth of the sketchy nonsense they get up to.

Project Mind Control: Sidney Gottlieb, the CIA, and the Tragedy of MKULTRA by John Lisle (book cover is in image) is a detailed account of the career of Sidney Gottlieb's career with the CIA, and the questionable history of the use of unconventional tactics to question and control individuals to fulfill their agenda.
In addition to reading the book, I was able to listen to the audio narration and able to smoothy transition between the two. The narration by Pete Cross is easy to follow and flows in such a natural language that it keeps the listener engaged throughout. I strongly recommend this for those who like to understand law enforcement history.
Thank you Macmillan Audio and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to listen to this ALC and read the ARC. All opinions are my own.
Rating: 5 Stars
Release Date: May 20 2025
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I adored John Lisle's The Dirty Tricks Department so I was thrilled to get the chance to read and review his newest title and it did not disappoint.
Before Project Mind Control, I had read about MK Ultra, namely in Chaos by Tom O'Neill but I loved the way that Lisle delved into Gottlieb as a driver of the narrative. Packed full of first hand accounts of the subject matter, Project Mind Control still manages to be concise, compelling, and intriguing to the last. Lisle deftly turns facts and interviews into a seamless narrative perfect for anyone who enjoys non-fiction.
I tandem read the print version with the audio and I really enjoyed audio aspect. Pete Cross did a fine job with the narration but the story translates so well to audio that I think I really preferred that version.

What an intriguing, informative, shocking read! Definitely recommend for anyone wanting to learn more about this topic!
Going into this book, I knew just a broad overview about MKULTRA and wow, it was so much crazier than I could have imagined. Seriously, be prepared to have your jaw drop… over and over!!
This book was definitely well researched, and contained a ton of facts and first hand accounts. As expected, it was a bit dense just due to the amount of information included, but the writing truly did a great job of making it easy to follow and understand. I’m not often a non-fiction girlie, but this one had me hooked!
Just as a note, there are a fair amount difficult passages in this book, particularly surrounding the drugging of unknowing people. I do think the authors John Lisle did a good job of laying out the facts without being insensitive to these people and the unfortunate events they endured.
Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audiobook arc!

4.5 🌟 (LSD-tinged stars, obviously)
Well. That was pretty crazy (/understatement).
Project Mind Control by John Lisle is a hell of a ride through the history of the CIA's mind control project dubbed MKULTRA. Lead chemist (and who I'm assuming was actually one of Satan's minions in disguise) Sidney Gottlieb and his role in MKULTRA is discussed at length. Incredibly frustrating transcripts from depositions are featured and showcase how the CIA tried to cover up information.
This is a very fascinating story. I knew a little about MKULTRA before this, but not the extent to which it was executed. Sidney Gottlieb would have done well in the Trump Administration, but fortunately, he's no longer around. Many shocking details about experiments done on unwitting human and animal participants are presented. It's pretty disturbing.
Pete Cross narrates the audiobook version. His voice is clear and strong throughout, making it easy to understand the information presented.
Recommended for: anyone with an interest in LSD or how terrible the CIA can be, anyone with too much trust in our government, anyone with a pulse, etc.
Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the ALC.

This well-researched, non-fiction account of the CIA’s MK-Ultra experiments focus on testimony given by Sidney Gottlieb, program head and chief chemist. According to the author, Gottlieb was given immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony…and the records of his depositions were hidden away for years until accessed by the author. They detail how the CIA’s silos and euphemisms kept people from thinking too deeply about what they were doing: slipping drugs into unwitting colleagues’ drinks to “see what would happen,” and studying (and testing) methods of torture.
I learned that due to a typo, the US ordered 100x the amount of LSD they intended (or needed) for drug trials, that “wet work” refers to operations in which people are “liquidated,” and other interesting factoids. Above all, it reinforced the position that government agencies without external oversight are subject to overreach, and to overstepping their remit. Crazy-pants, illegal, and ill-advised activities become part of for the course. This book is just one lantern illuminating a dark corner of our government.
Despite it being non-fiction, the audiobook narration kept my attention as if it were a novel! Fascinating and horrifying.
My thanks to the author, publisher, @MacmillanAudio, and #NetGalley for early access to the audiobook of #ProjectMindControl for review purposes. Publication date: 20 May 2025.

I really liked this book until the very end. I loved the layout of the facts and how all the information was organized and tied together. I think the author did a great job delivering the information in a little nibbles that were digestible. Some books with this subject matter are like drinking from a fire hose. This was not! I listened to this in one day because I was hooked!! I didn't like the end where I felt like I was being told what to feel and how to think about the subject matter that I had just taken in...isn't that a head-scratcher?! Is this book about mind control trying to control my mind? HUH? I think the last few chapters could have just let the public think as the will.

This book felt like a good starting point, but I wanted more. I felt like the author skimmed the surface on both MKULTRA and Sidney Gottlieb, so I didn't really see the through line that would make a book. The epilogue was good, but it felt out of nowhere - I feel like conclusions/epilogues should feel like natural progressions of the point the author was making throughout. Before there, I felt like the author was writing in a fairly apolitical way, and wasn't trying to make a point. I prefer the tone the author made in the epilogue, and I wish I could have felt that tone throughout.
Interesting nonetheless, and truly gets you thinking.

This book was very interesting as someone who, prior to listening to this novel, knew little to nothing about the topic that was being discussed. I was fully enraptured the entire time, and this book has made me want to go and research more about the topics. The only qualm I had is that there was times that I felt like it hopped around a little bit, and I would have to stop for a moment and get back on track, but it honestly only happened like 2 times, so it really wasn't that big of a deal to me.
The narrator was fantastic, and even at quicker listening speeds, the narrators easy to understand and relayed the information in a effective way. I will be listening to more of his work.