About

Newsweek Magazine calls Elaine Shannon “the Boswell of thugs and drugs [and] leading expert on the evil alliances of drug kingpins and corrupt officials.” A veteran national security correspondent for Time and Newsweek, she is known for investigative reporting on domestic and international terrorism and organized crime. Acclaimed filmmaker Michael Mann is developing Hunting LeRoux, her latest book, for a feature film. Shannon’s other works: New York Times bestseller Desperados: Latin Drug Lords U.S. Lawmen and the War America Can’t Win, the basis for Mann’s Emmy–winning NBC miniseries Drug Wars: The Camarena Story; Inside the FBI’s Secret Counter-Terror Force, and The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen. Honors include a Nieman fellowship at Harvard University, one of journalism’s highest awards.

Featured Work

Hunting LeRoux -- The Inside Story of the DEA Takedown of a Criminal Genius and his Empire

2019

Hunting LeRoux is the story of Paul Calder LeRoux, a brilliant renegade tech innovator who became a real-life Dr. No. From safe locations in the Philippines, Brazil, South Africa, Somalia and Israel, he created the world’s biggest illegal Internet pharmacy ; set up clandestine missile lab, complete with wind tunnel and bunker, where Eastern European engineers developed precision-guided missiles for Iran; brokered North Korean meth and set up an Amazon-style operation for arms in a remote part of Somalia. Publisher’s Weekly gave Hunting LeRoux its coveted red star. “One can practically see and smell everything,” the AP wrotes, “…a minute-by-minute account of the takedown of a master criminal. The level of research and detail — including exclusive interviews with the people involved — makes this a one-of-a-kind true crime tale.”

Other Works

  • The Spy Next Door -- The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Damaging FBI Agent in U.S. History Rate this book 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars Open Preview The Spy Next Door: The Extraordinary Secret Life of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most Damaging FBI Agent in U.S. History

    2000

  • No Heroes -- Inside the FBI's Secret Counter-Terror Force

    1999

  • Desperados -- Latin Drug Lords, US Lawmen and the War America Can't Win

    1988

Awards and Recognition

  • Nieman fellowship to Harvard University, one of journalism’s highest honors; New York State Bar Association Award; Inter-American Press Association IAPA-Bartolome Mitre Award; Women in Communications Clarion prize; Vanderbilt University Student Media Hall of Fame