By The Book is a storyline mission in GTA V played as protagonists Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips. This mission starts when Michael or Trevor (whichever protagonist is being played at the moment) receives a call from Steve Haines asking him to meet the other protagonist at a warehouse off Dutch London in Banning. The two protagonists enter the warehouse and see Steve Haines along with Dave Norton and Devin Weston. Devin is seen leaving after which Kerimov is revealed.
Kerimov is made to sit on a chair and is taped to it. He is introduced to Michael and Trevor by Dave. Haines tells Michael and Dave to drive to Rockford Hills and find the man Kerimov is talking about. When Michael and Dave arrive at the house, they find out that it cannot be the guy they’re looking for. Dave calls up Steve and lets him know. Trevor now begins to torture Ferdinand Kerimov for the right information.
Trevor can do the following to torture Kerimov:
Waterboarding
Beating him with a wrench.
Electrical shocks from a car battery.
Extracting a tooth using pliers.
While torturing Kerimov, the player has to be careful with Kerimov’s heart rate. If it exceeds 200bpm Kerimov will die and the mission will end in failure. Haines will then ask Kerimov about a man named Tahir Javan and Kerimov reveals that he lives in Chumash on the western highway. Michael and Dave leave their coffee break and go to the house. They see a party with multiple people, many looking like Azerbaijani, with beards.
As Trevor tortures Kerimov without successfully keeping him alive, he reveals more details about the target which are as follows.
A man of average height and weight (the player is able to kill Javan at this point to complete the mission early)
Has a beard
Is a chain smoker
Smokes Redwood Cigarettes
Is left-handed
Michael finds and assassinates the target after which Steve Haines instructs Trevor to get rid of Kerimov. Trevor drives Kerimov to the airport and lets him go.
| Name of Mission | By The Book |
| Protagonist(s) | Michael De Santa Trevor Philips |
| Location |
|
| Target | Interrogate and torture Ferdinand Kerimov for information on Tahir Javan |
| Time of the Day | In-game time |
Go to the warehouse. (Michael or Trevor)
Go to the house. (Michael)
Go to the house. (Michael)
Find the target. (Michael)
Go to the airport. (Trevor)
Don't Stop Me Now - Complete without Mr K's heart stopping
Electrocutioner - Electrocute Mr K
The Tooth Hurts - Pull out Mr K's tooth
Wrenched - Hit Mr K with the wrench
It's Legal! - Use waterboarding on Mr K
Tahir Javan, an Azerbaijani terrorist, is killed by Michael.
Devin Weston as an actor in Director Mode
After this mission, Michael returns home and lands in an argument with Amanda which is interrupted by Fabien, her yoga instructor. Trevor visits Franklin at his house in Strawberry and meets Lamar and Denise as well. Trevor, Lamar and Franklin leave together to take care of something related to Stretch.
The name of this mission comes from a quote Trevor may use while he is waterboarding Kerimov: "Always by the book, that's my vibe.".
Because of the nature of this mission, it has been heavily criticized by various media outlets, and is viewed as one of the most controversial missions in the series.
The gold medal objective for waterboarding Kerimov called "It's Legal!" is a reference to the CIA using waterboarding as a form of interrogation and infamously denying that it was torture.
When Kerimov leaves the warehouse, he appears to drag his leg, regardless of where he was hit with the wrench.
A. Tahir Javan is the target to be assassinated in the By The Book mission in GTA 5.
A. By The Book is mission number 24 in GTA 5.
A. By The Book is a storyline mission in GTA 5 played as protagonists Michael De Santa and Trevor Philips. This became a very controversial mission due to its nature.
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