Black Ops Audiobook By Ric Prado cover art

Black Ops

The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Black Ops

By: Ric Prado
Narrated by: Scott Brick
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.24

Buy for $20.24

Confirm purchase
Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.
Cancel

About this listen

A memoir by the highest-ranking covert warrior to lift the veil of secrecy and offer a glimpse into the shadow wars that America has fought since the Vietnam Era.

Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric’s legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism. Operating in the shadows, Ric and his fellow CIA officers fought a little-seen and virtually unknown war to keep USA safe from those who would do it harm.

After duty stations in Central, South America, and the Philippines, Black Ops follows Ric into the highest echelons of the CIA’s headquarters at Langley, Virginia. In late 1995, he became Deputy Chief of Station and co-founding member of the Bin Laden Task Force. Three years later, after serving as head of Korean Operations, Ric took on one of the most dangerous missions of his career: Re-establish a once-abandoned CIA station inside a hostile nation long since considered a front line of the fight against Islamic terrorism. He and his team carried out covert operations and developed assets that proved pivotal in the coming War on Terror.

A harrowing memoir of life in the shadowy world of assassins, terrorists, spies, and revolutionaries, Black Ops is a testament to the courage, creativity, and dedication of the Agency’s Special Activities Group and its elite shadow warriors.

A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

©2022 Ric Prado (P)2022 Macmillan Audio
Black Ops Intelligence & Espionage Military & War Terrorism Espionage Military War National Security Intelligence
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

Critic reviews

“Ric Prado is an American original, a shadow warrior whose combat and street skills actually live up to Hollywood's spy movie fantasies. Any story of his life and his C.I.A. career will stand out in the genre of such memoirs and biographies, not only because of Ric's outsized experiences, but because his adventurous work included some of the most important covert actions in recent Agency history.” —Steve Coll, New York Times bestselling author of GHOST WARS and DIRECTORATE S and winner of the Pulitzer Prize

“Ric Prado is a rare breed of CIA officer—a man as comfortable operating behind enemy lines in disguise as he is strolling the halls of power in a suit. Having interviewed numerous of Prado’s Agency colleagues, I understand him to be a badass paramilitary operations officer and a sharp-thinking member of the Agency’s Senior Intelligence Service elite. Further adding to Ric Prado’s unique and complex character is his ability to discuss his flaws, weaknesses, and struggles, as well as his myriad of strengths. He reminds me of an ancient warrior-poet, the kind who reads haiku before going into battle with a very sharp sword.” —Annie Jacobsen, New York Times bestselling author of AREA 51 and SURPRISE, KILL, VANISH

“Ric Prado is a legendary CIA Operations Officer who gave almost three decades of exceptional service to his country in the most challenging foreign assignments, including the potential risk of immediate physical danger. He has lived his personal and professional life exhibiting the highest standards of character, ethics, principle, courage, and heroism. Ric and I served together in CTC, where he was my Chief of Operations and Chief of Station. He achieved the CIA rank equivalent of military general. No stay-at-home bureaucrat, Ric always sought out and served in harm’s way with exceptional dedication and courage.” —Cofer Black, former Director, CIA Counterterrorist Center

What listeners say about Black Ops

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    900
  • 4 Stars
    152
  • 3 Stars
    53
  • 2 Stars
    18
  • 1 Stars
    22
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    830
  • 4 Stars
    111
  • 3 Stars
    53
  • 2 Stars
    14
  • 1 Stars
    23
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    820
  • 4 Stars
    131
  • 3 Stars
    38
  • 2 Stars
    22
  • 1 Stars
    18

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

what an amazing story and what a great life. the ups and downs of mr. Prados life make this a very realistic and wholesome story full of Adventure and patriotism.
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply Great True Story

Great Life story, simply great. Caption a higher attention each chapter, narrative helps understand the context of each decade and places

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing

Great book. Awesome stories. Very interesting and a solid read! Def worth your time.
Highly recommend.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Interesting read

I enjoyed the details in the book and the narration was done very well. I certainly recommend it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Sign me up!

Well done! It’s interesting to hear this perspective, particularly that we limit our reach to take care of business when the opportunity presents. Hindsight is 20:20 but seems that diffusing Bin Laden early should have been done by any means necessary.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Good read, interesting life.

A lot was redacted, wish they simply omitted that entirely somehow. Kind of annoying the abrupt redacted. Ric had a very unique and special life from childhood on, comes with special experiences and led him to be who he is today. Good stuff overall.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book

Prada does an excellent job of explaining CIA activity in difficult times. This book is a must read.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great read

It was really interesting to listen to this story from the writer and hear how the world intersects. It was a very personal account and you could feel the emotion in it. He does not like Dianne Feinstein or Hollywood’s portrayal of the Agency. A big thank you to him for everything he did for our country.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good stories, but not enough detail

This book starts well, but when it starts to cover things well known, especially parts that have been redacted, the reader already knows more than the author is telling.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Balanced and gripping tale

Prada gives up the good, bad, and ugly of the recent history of the CIA. Thanks to him and his compadres for their service to our country.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!