The book received a favorable reception and was a joint winner of the 2009 Paul Guggenheim Prize in International Law given by the Geneva Graduate Institute.

– Israel's High Court Judgment on Targeted Killing and the Restrictive Function of Military Necessity" in the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law in 2006,[5] and a dissertation in 2007.

[6][7] Melzer also authored "Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities under International Humanitarian Law", published in 2009 by ICRC.

[1][2] Melzer's research was utilized in Section IX of the ICRC's Interpretive Guidance on the Notion of Direct Participation in Hostilities under International Humanitarian Law.

[17] Melzer claims that during the Vietnam War the Central Intelligence Agency used targeted killings as part of the Phoenix Program, attempting to eliminate Vietcong sympathizers.

[17] According to Melzer, after the September 11 attacks, U.S. strategists began to support targeted killings and accepted advice from Israel on how to use such tactics to deal with suicide bombers.

Melzer finds this policy shift incongruous, due to the fact that targeted killing had never before been acceptable as police strategy.

[20] Abresch calls the author's writing style logical, and praises the book's organizational structure including its separate sections on use of targeted in war contrasted with use by police.

[20] A review of the book in the Leiden Journal of International Law by Tamás Hoffmann recommends the work to multiple potential readers, including those who engage in targeting killing, academics, and students.

[21] The review places the book within the context of addressing legal issues inherent in debating the murky concept of targeted killing.

[21] Helen Durhan praises the writing quality of Melzer's work, in a review for the Australian Year Book of International Law.

[22] The review concludes Melzer's thorough analysis goes a long way towards furthering scholars' impressions of legal issues surrounding when it is permitted for sovereign governments to kill people.

[22] Writing in a review for the American Journal of International Law, Michael N. Schmitt observes that the arguments put forth in the book by Melzer are indeed accurate.

[23] Schmitt writes that Melzer correctly argues that in the police model sequential events within the legal system lead to precedent for engaging in targeted killing.

[23] Schmitt concludes, "Targeted Killing in International Law is not just a major contribution to the legal literature, it has justifiably emerged as the premier work on the subject.