The Reluctant Spy

Long before the waterboarding controversy exploded in the media, one CIA agent had already gone public. In a groundbreaking 2007 interview with ABC News, John Kiriakou called waterboarding torture—but admitted that it probably worked. This book, at once a confessional, an adventure story, and a chronicle of Kiriakou’s life in the CIA, stands as an important, eloquent piece of testimony from a committed American patriot. In February 2002 Kiriakou was the head of counterterrorism in Pakistan. Under his command, in a spectacular raid coordinated with Pakistani agents and the CIA’s best intelligence analyst, Kiriakou’s field officers took down the infamous terrorist Abu Zubaydah. For days, Kiriakou became the wounded terrorist’s personal “bodyguard.” In circumstances stranger than fiction, as al-Qaeda agents scoured the streets for their captured leader, the best trauma surgeon in America was flown to Pakistan to make sure that Zubaydah did not die. In The Reluctant Spy, Kiriakou takes us into the fight against an enemy fueled by fanaticism. He chillingly describes what it was like inside the CIA headquarters on the morning of 9/11, the agency leaders who stepped up and those who protected their careers. And in what may be the book’s most shocking revelation, he describes how the White House made plans to invade Iraq a full year before the CIA knew about it—or could attempt to stop it. Chronicling both mind-boggling mistakes and heroic acts of individual courage, The Reluctant Spy is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand the inner workings of the U.S. intelligence apparatus, the truth behind the torture debate, and the incredible dedication of ordinary men and women doing one of the most extraordinary jobs on earth.

The Reluctant Spy: Revolution is the first half of the timely story of Calvin Evan, a smart but flawed CIA agent, beginning with the 1979 Iranian revolution. Cal develops a critical Iranian operative and becomes embroiled in the audacious yet little honored effort to liberate the American embassy hostages. Romantically, hes caught between his love for a rescued refugee and the aggressive intentions of his bosss manipulative daughter. Ensnaring him, the savvy daughter navigates his career away from the political fallout of the missions failure and directs him to the battleground of the 1980s, the Nicaraguan Contra War, where Cal runs an illegal funding operation. Morally conflicted and victimized by his erratic behavior, he slips into a burned-out funk, posted to Switzerland. There, amidst the rise of Middle Eastern terrorism, his past pulls him into conflict with his former Iranian asset, possibly a double agent, and reunites him with his long ago betrayed love, now a death squad target.

Hilda Campbell was born in the north of Scotland in 1889. She married a German national, Dr. Willy Buntner Richter in 1912. They honeymooned in Scotland and lived in Hamburg. Dr. Richter died in 1938. Later that year she decided to visit her ailing parents in Scotland. 1938. After visiting her ailing parents, she returned to Germany just before the Second World War began. She became a double agent, controlled by Gerhard Eicke in Germany and Lawrence Thornton in Britain. How could she cope under the strain, with her son Otto in the German Army? Hilda went on to give evidence against her German handler at the Nuremburg trials. Soon after, she married a British Ambassador in Helsinki and joined her husband abroad. Hilda died in 1956. This is an extraordinary story based on the life of the author’s great aunt, Hilda, including several authentic accounts.

Whether you are man,woman,or child. There are situations in life that may be darken with hardships but through it all, with time there will be brighter days.

Hilda Campbell was born in the north of Scotland in 1889. She married a German national, Dr. Willy Buntner Richter in 1912. They honeymooned in Scotland and lived in Hamburg. Dr. Richter died in 1938. Later that year she decided to visit her ailing parents in Scotland. 1938. After visiting her ailing parents, she returned to Germany just before the Second World War began. She became a double agent, controlled by Gerhard Eicke in Germany and Lawrence Thornton in Britain. How could she cope under the strain, with her son Otto in the German Army? Hilda went on to give evidence against her German handler at the Nuremburg trials. Soon after, she married a British Ambassador in Helsinki and joined her husband abroad. Hilda died in 1956. This is an extraordinary story based on the life of the author’s great aunt, Hilda, including several authentic accounts.

John Mason, CIA agent and Medal of Honor recipient, is sent to England where he meets a most sinister terrorist who plans to destroy the economy of the UK. Aided by a beautiful and intelligent operative, Mason's relentless drive brings him to a final confrontation with the terrorist as the clock ticks rapidly against devastating tragedy.

Tall, tanned and blonde, Rachel Edmistone, forty-something mother of three, lives in sparkling, harbourside Sydney and is married to the perfect man - Adrian, who has the looks to match his piles of cash. Or so she thinks. Rachel is the powerhouse behind the star-studded Butterfly Ball, a fundraiser for humanitarian causes in Sydney and Sri Lanka. She also runs a busy PR company. Then tragedy strikes. Adrian is killed in a freak accident - she is left in overwhelming grief and massive debt. When the stars align for a fresh start in Sri Lanka, will Rachel have the courage to take a chance on herself and discover what riches really mean?