Guardian Audiobook By Thomas Pecora, Jon Land, Lindsay Preston cover art

Guardian

Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA’s War on Terror

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.

Guardian

By: Thomas Pecora, Jon Land, Lindsay Preston
Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $21.49

Buy for $21.49

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

About this listen

Somalia was Tom Pecora's first deployment as a CIA Protective Operations Cadre (POC) officer, responsible for providing protective operations support in hostile areas of the world. He later headed up a series of the Agency's undisclosed protective operations teams. From 1989 until his retirement in 2013, he was assigned to multiple war zones across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, doing the kind of work few are even aware exists.

But it does, and Pecora's direct involvement allowed him to work behind the scenes of some of the most well-known conflicts of our time, including the infamous encounter known as Black Hawk Down, the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and the hotbeds across the Middle East where fires continue to burn.

Over the course of a career that saw him receive the Career Intelligence Medal, Intelligence Star, Meritorious Unit Citation, and numerous Exceptional Performance Awards, Pecora distinguished himself as a Protective Operations Cadre (POC) member and as a CIA Security Officer. And now he's prepared to shed light on the world of clandestine protective operations and the selfless, heroic warriors dedicated to keeping the United States safe at all costs....

©2019 Thomas Pecora with Jon Land and Lindsay Preston (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books
Freedom & Security Intelligence & Espionage Military Political Science Politics & Government Terrorism War & Crisis Espionage War United States
adbl_web_global_use_to_activate_T1_webcro805_stickypopup
All stars
Most relevant  
With starting a personal protection business. I found this extremely helpful. with information on what it takes to succeed.

Security

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

Thomas is such a great leader and this story is REAL and his version of a career in the CIA protecting officers. He has worked with the best and it shows. Nowadays people have an addiction to action and dramatics but this book is real and highlights the real battle that goes on after action and the weight of the job. I really loved it. The narrator wasn’t my favorite but I didn’t let that being down the quality of the book or Thomas’s story.

Amazing Author and Story

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

I have heard this narrator in the past and he is super annoying in his speech patterns. Funny thing is, he fits with this story because, I believe, the author feels the need throughout the book to inflate his skills, abilities, and self importance. You will consistently find the author describing his job responsibilities in such detail you feel you are reading from a resume on steroids. Once you read between the lines you find a bureaucrat, who is dedicated to his job, but a pencil pushing bureaucrat. He describes himself attempting to re-invent the wheel at every new career posting so as to say, "look at me, recognize my accomplishments". I am not a psychologist, but maybe it is the fact he has no law enforcement or military experience prior to his CIA career. I feel there is a feeling of inadequacy there which causes him to, repeatedly, refer to his short time on a protective security detail and how that shaped his career. On more than one occasion he refers to himself as an "operator", which should rub people in the know the wrong way. That said, his overall story and anecdotes make for an interesting read (listen), as well as, a detailed terrorism timeline from his start in the agency.

Issues with narrator and author but still worth it

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

Interesting insight on the CIA and its inner workings, could have used a better narrator. Not the best CIA book out there, other than listening to the bland Amish sounding narrator for 11 hours it was a good book.

.....

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

It was a great listen and thank you for everything you did to protect us

Amazing service

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

I wanted to like this book. But, unfortunately it’s a boring story. The author drags out really small events like losing his girlfriend Luna. Backed by it’s a secret can’t talk about it. I lost my money, don’t waste your’s. The Mike Drop podcast summarizes this boring book for free!

Don’t buy it

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

Can’t determine if it was the narrator or just the story line that made me give up on this book. This book sounded like the script from a B movie plot. As a disabled combat veteran myself I understand the stress of combat and living under constant fear but this book sounds like someone who is only attempting to inflate his own ego. I grew tired of him talking about his girl friend and things that only served the purpose of lengthening the book. He signed up for that job why does he spend so much time complaining about it?

Don’t wast your money

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