
The Reluctant Spy
My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror
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Narrated by:
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Arthur Morey
About this listen
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 listening 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.
©2010 John Kiriakou (P)2010 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
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Editorial reviews
Fans of Arthur Morey will not be disappointed as they listen to The Reluctant Spy. The autobiography is the story of John Kiriakou's tenure as both an analyst and covert operator at the nation’s spy shop.
Morey has much to draw from in The Reluctant Spy. Kiriakou writes of his Greek immigrant family and tells of an interest in the larger world that began when he was a boy. Morey leads listeners through the exploits of college student (and political junkie) Kiriakou as he tries to sneak his way into Capitol Hill functions to the author’s recruitment into the C.I.A., beginning not as a covert operator, but as an analyst of unstable countries and their suspect leaders. Through Morey we can imagine Kiriakou’s transition to a savvy operative whose fluency in Arabic and Greek make him highly sought after for duty in the Middle East and Pakistan.
Anxiety builds in Morey’s voice as Kiriakou identifies his targets and moves in for either the recruiting of informants or the capture of international terrorists. There is also unabashed anger to be heard as Kiriakou writes of essential evidence destroyed, mishandled, or even worse not investigated at all by the supposed partners of the C.I.A. in other government agencies.
You can also hear Kiriakou’s steely professionalism in Morey’s reading of the C.I.A. assignments, so painstakingly planned and meticulously executed. However, Morey also captures the anguish of a man caught between his job so much of which he could not share with friends or family and his increasingly problematic personal life. Fury even arises as Morey reads the author’s words describing how badly an acrimonious separation can destroy a father’s long-awaited visit with his children.
Listeners truly get a sense of the author’s expertise in his covert assignments, as well as his innate inability to suffer fools gladly. Several chapters of the book deal with Kiriakou’s take on torture (he’s not for it) and the C.I.A.’s bureaucratic ways. Morey perfects a sarcastic tone that allows you to grasp unequivocally the author’s exasperation with Standard Operating Procedures.
From feature film-like moments and bureaucratic tedium to the personal toll a life’s work takes on an individual, The Reluctant Spy is another exciting experience as the inner workings of a CIA professional’s career are brought to life by Arthur Morey. John Kiriakou is not afraid to share honestly his experiences, from the admirable to the not-so-much, providing a full palette for the talent of Morey. Carole Chouinard
Critic reviews
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By: Ric Prado
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A Reluctant Spy
- By: David Goodman
- Narrated by: Norman Bowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Jamie Tulloch is a successful exec at a top tech company, a long way from the tough upbringing that drove him to rise so far and so quickly. But he has a secret...since the age of 23, he's had a helping hand from the Legend Programme, a secret intelligence effort to prepare impenetrable backstories for undercover agents. Real people, living real lives, willing to hand over their identities for a few weeks in return for a helping hand with plum jobs, influence and access.
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sound isnt good
- By Amazon Customer on 03-29-25
By: David Goodman
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Shadow Cell
- An Insider Account of America's New Spy War
- By: Andrew Bustamante, Jihi Bustamante
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrew and Jihi Bustamante were a “tandem couple”: married spies who’d dedicated their lives to the CIA. They met as trainees at Langley, and got married while hunting terrorists across the globe. Then, suddenly, they were assigned to a mission so sensitive and explosive that the CIA still has never acknowledged it.
By: Andrew Bustamante, and others
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The Spy Who Knew Too Much
- An Ex-CIA Officer’s Quest Through a Legacy of Betrayal
- By: Howard Blum
- Narrated by: Steve Hendrickson
- Length: 10 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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On a sunlit morning in September 1978, a sloop drifts aimlessly across the Chesapeake Bay. The cabin reveals signs of a struggle, and “classified” documents, live 9 mm cartridges, and a top-secret “burst” satellite communications transmitter are discovered aboard. But where is the boat’s owner, former CIA officer John Paisley? One man may hold the key to finding out. Tennent “Pete” Bagley was once a rising star in America’s spy aristocracy, and many expected he’d eventually become CIA director.
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The, too long, story of an obsession
- By Tony on 10-30-22
By: Howard Blum
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The Quantum Spy
- By: David Ignatius
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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A hyper-fast quantum computer is the digital equivalent of a nuclear bomb: whoever possesses one will be able to shred any encryption in existence, effectively owning the digital world. The question is: Who will build it first, the United States or China? The latest of David Ignatius' timely, sharp-eyed espionage novels follows CIA agent Harris Chang into a quantum research lab compromised by a suspected Chinese informant. The breach provokes a mole hunt that is obsessive, destructive, and - above all - uncertain.
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Both/And not Either/Or
- By Katherine on 12-15-18
By: David Ignatius
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The Official CIA Manual of Trickery and Deception
- By: H. Keith Melton, Robert Wallace
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 5 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1953, a top-secret manual teaching agents sleight-of-hand and other deception techniques was written for the CIA by America’s then most famous magician. All copies were believed destroyed by the CIA’s purge of the infamous MKULTRA documents in 1973, and there was no proof of the manual’s existence . . . until a copy was discovered among the CIA’s recently declassified archives. The manual in this work is thought to represent the only surviving copy of magician John Mulholland’s instructions.
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Tricks for Magicians
- By Robin in Alaska on 01-04-25
By: H. Keith Melton, and others
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Zero Footprint
- The True Story of a Private Military Contractor's Covert Assignments in Syria, Libya, and the World's Most Dangerous Places
- By: Simon Chase, Ralph Pezzullo
- Narrated by: Eric Brooks
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
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Armored cars, burner phones, top-notch weaponry, and top-secret missions - this is the life of today's private military contractor. Like author Simon Chase, many PMCs were once the world's top military operatives, and since retiring from outfits like US Navy SEAL TEAM Six and the UK's Special Boat Service, they have devoted their lives to executing missions too sensitive for the government to acknowledge. Chase reveals here for the first time the operations too hazardous and politically volatile to be officially sanctioned by his employers.
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Read Amazon reviews, not Audible reviews
- By Andrew M on 02-22-16
By: Simon Chase, and others
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Intelligence Matters
- The CIA, the FBI, Saudi Arabia, and the Failure of America's War on Terror
- By: Bob Graham, Jeffrey Nussbaum
- Narrated by: Jonathan Marosz
- Length: 11 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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For ten years, Senator Bob Graham served on the Senate Intelligence Committee, where he oversaw the conduct of the CIA and had access to some of the nation's most closely guarded secrets. In this explosive, controversial, and profoundly alarming insider's report, Senator Graham reveals faults in America's national security network severe enough to raise fundamental questions about the competence and honesty of public officials in the CIA, the FBI, and the White House.
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Utterly disturbing
- By Andrea on 09-22-04
By: Bob Graham, and others
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Three Felonies A Day
- How the Feds Target the Innocent
- By: Harvey Silverglate, Alan M. Dershowitz - foreword
- Narrated by: Chris Sorensen
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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In Three Felonies a Day, Harvey A. Silverglate reveals how federal criminal laws have become dangerously disconnected from the English common law tradition and how prosecutors can pin arguable federal crimes on any one of us, for even the most seemingly innocuous behavior. The volume of federal crimes in recent decades has increased well beyond the statute books and into the morass of the Code of Federal Regulations, handing federal prosecutors an additional trove of vague and exceedingly complex and technical prohibitions to stick on their hapless targets.
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Audible edition is not very exciting
- By jg on 10-25-18
By: Harvey Silverglate, and others
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The Spy's Son
- The True Story of the Highest-Ranking CIA Officer Ever Convicted of Espionage and the Son He Trained to Spy for Russia
- By: Bryan Denson
- Narrated by: Jason Culp
- Length: 12 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Jim Nicholson was one of the CIA's top veteran case officers. By day he taught spycraft at the CIA's clandestine training center, The Farm. By night he was a minivan-driving single father racing home to have dinner with his kids. But Nicholson led a double life. For more than two years, he had met covertly with agents of Russia's foreign intelligence service and turned over troves of classified documents. In 1997 Nicholson became the highest-ranking CIA officer ever convicted of espionage.
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Startling
- By Jean on 05-27-15
By: Bryan Denson
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Code Name Blue Wren
- The True Story of America's Most Dangerous Female Spy—and the Sister She Betrayed
- By: Jim Popkin
- Narrated by: Jim Popkin
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Just days after the 9-11 attacks, a senior Pentagon analyst eased her red Toyota Echo into traffic and headed to work. She never saw the undercover cars tracking her every turn. As she settled into her cubicle on the 6th floor of the Defense Intelligence Agency in Washington, FBI Agents and twitchy DIA officers were hiding in nearby offices. For this was the day that Ana Montes--the US Intelligence Community superstar who had just won a prestigious fellowship at the CIA--was to be arrested and publicly exposed as a secret agent for Cuba.
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It drags
- By Jules on 02-18-23
By: Jim Popkin
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The Main Enemy
- The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB
- By: Milton Bearden, James Risen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 19 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them. Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides, The Main Enemy puts us inside the heads of CIA officers as they dodge surveillance and walk into violent ambushes in Moscow. This is the story of the generation of spies who came of age in the shadow of the Cuban missile crisis and rose to run the CIA and KGB in the last days of the Cold War.
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A masterpiece of espionage history
- By kucherv on 08-21-18
By: Milton Bearden, and others
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The Looming Tower
- Al-Qaeda and the Road to 9/11
- By: Lawrence Wright
- Narrated by: Lawrence Wright
- Length: 16 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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A sweeping narrative history of the events leading to 9/11, a groundbreaking look at the people and ideas, the terrorist plans and the Western intelligence failures that culminated in the assault on America. Lawrence Wright's remarkable book is based on five years of research and hundreds of interviews that he conducted in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Sudan, England, France, Germany, Spain, and the United States.
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Supremely thorough and interesting
- By Josh on 10-05-17
By: Lawrence Wright
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Permanent Record
- By: Edward Snowden
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Edward Snowden, the man who risked everything to expose the US government’s system of mass surveillance, reveals for the first time the story of his life, including how he helped to build that system and what motivated him to try to bring it down.
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Great (if incomplete) account
- By Ryan L on 09-22-19
By: Edward Snowden
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Hunting the Jackal
- A Special Forces and CIA Soldier's Fifty Years on the Frontlines of the War Against Terrorism
- By: Billy Waugh, Tim Keown
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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For more than half a century, Special Forces and CIA legend Billy Waugh dedicated his life to tracking down and eliminating America's most virulent enemies. Operating from the darkest shadows and most desolate corners of the world, he made his mark in many of the most important operations in the annals of US Spec Ops. He spent seven and a half years behind enemy lines in Vietnam as a member of a covert group of elite commandos.
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Hunting the Jackal - epic accounting of SOF/SOG and CIA IV
- By Eric on 01-08-18
By: Billy Waugh, and others
What listeners say about The Reluctant Spy
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- Lynn
- 10-24-11
A Memoir about Kiriakou and the CIA
The Reluctant Spy is John Kirakou’s memoir of his work within the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The book doesn’t bash the CIA , but spares no quarter when telling truths not outside the classified. This is a memoir, so readers interested in how Kirakou came to work as a secret agent will be amply rewarded. Along the way, he reveals how his first marriage broke down in part because of CIA working pressures, reveals infighting in the agency, and how he finally determined he would leave the agency. To me, that was interesting and kept my interest. However, I was really looking for more insight into the CIA and how it works particularly in light of 9/11 than Kirakou revealed. On the other hand, this is a memoir and not a book about the CIA per se. A book at the opposite end which is also available from Audible is Joby Warrick’s The Triple Agent which is a book about the CIA. Both are worthwhile, but each fills a different niche. The reading of Arthur Morey is a plus!
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- Blake Tankersley
- 01-03-25
Amazing book, lazy narrator
Incredibly interesting book and the narration is OK, except for the rampant mispronunciations. How does the professional narrator do that? Just guessing the pronunciation of words they don't know? Can't be bothered to look them up?
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- Ryan Clark
- 03-21-25
John is one of the greatest storytellers of our time…
Wish John read for his audiobooks himself, great listen nonetheless! His other books are just as great!
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Overall
- Jim
- 04-06-10
The Reluctant Spy
Or government at work.
Very good
John Kiriakou another American hero
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- Gabriel Olsen
- 06-01-20
Best book in a long time
One of the best book’s I’ve read in a long time. A real page turner.
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- Steve
- 09-17-24
Captivating
Fascinating story on the journey of becoming a Spy. Interesting on how modern day terrorism is dealt with.
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- Christopher
- 06-13-23
Comes across as an honest patriotic, American spy
Overall, the author comes across as credible and with a moral center that he consistently tries to navigate within the confines of clandestine work on behalf of his country.
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- Amazon Customer
- 10-08-24
Excellent read!
Great to hear this history of experiences by this patriot! Intelligence gathering is a difficult and challenging thing even in the best circumstances, I enjoyed hearing about Mr Kiriakou’s experiences. Well done!!
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Overall
- James H.
- 12-31-19
Great listen, full of details, when possible.
I just thoroughly enjoyed this book. Period. John Kiriakou is an excellent story teller, with a life lived full of experiences that are captivating to hear about. I especially appreciate the honest reflection included when doing his own "After Action Reports" so to speak, in summary of the story. Life is full of nuance and it is important we recognize that, or our take on reality won't be painted in the appropriate colors. Great book.
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- Chris Lang
- 08-07-18
Fascinating
A great look into the life of a CIA agent. John Kiriakou’s life is so interesting. I can’t wait to read/listen to the follow up!
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