-
American Spy
- Wry Reflections on My Life in the CIA
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $20.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
This ain't your daddy's spy story. In a memoir written as a series of narrative vignettes, a former CIA operations officer recounts his years of danger, intrigue, and adventure.
This candid and darkly witty memoir recounts an exhilarating life - and a few close brushes with death. With remarkable sangfroid and a humorist's eye for absurdity, H. K. Roy describes his many strange and risky exploits in his long career with the CIA. Whether he was pursuing Soviet and Cuban spies, running "denied area" operations in Eastern Europe, hunting Bosnian War criminals, or providing actionable intelligence to US government and coalition forces in Iraq, Roy usually found himself at the right place at the right time.
Except when he didn't - like the time he stumbled into a life-threatening ambush by Iranian terrorists while dodging Serb snipers and shelling in Sarajevo. Eight summers later, caught in a blinding sandstorm between Amman and Baghdad, he learned his fate was in the hands of an Iraqi tribal chief who had just lost his entire family to a US airstrike in Ramadi, in a failed attempt to kill Saddam Hussein that had tragic consequences.
Combining dedication to duty with a maverick's disdain for bureaucracy, Roy makes it clear that he prefers foreign locales to Washington and thrives on the adrenaline rush that comes with danger. He also sheds much light on why intelligence is an essential component of national defense, even our very survival as a nation.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
From Warsaw with Love
- Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance
- By: John Pomfret
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the award-winning and acclaimed author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, From Warsaw with Love tells the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War. In 1990, soon after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Polish government sent a veteran spy, who’d battled the West for decades, to rescue six American officers trapped in Baghdad.
-
-
Superb - All Americans should know about its recent and colonial history if strayegic partnership with the USA
- By zephyr99 on 07-08-23
By: John Pomfret
-
Guardian
- Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA’s War on Terror
- By: Thomas Pecora, Jon Land, Lindsay Preston
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Don’t buy it
- By L-E Industries on 06-18-20
By: Thomas Pecora, and others
-
The Targeter
- My Life in the CIA, Hunting Terrorists and Challenging the White House
- By: Nada Bakos, Davin Coburn
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1999, 30-year-old Nada Bakos moved from her lifelong home in Montana to Washington, DC, to join the CIA. Quickly realizing her affinity for intelligence work, Nada was determined to rise through the ranks of the agency first as an analyst and then as a Targeting Officer, eventually finding herself on the frontline of America's War against Islamic extremists. In this role, Nada was charged with determining if Iraq had a relationship with 9/11 and Al-Qaida, and finding the mastermind behind this terrorist activity: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
-
-
Terrible book. Feminazi Propaganda
- By Dan Wells on 08-24-19
By: Nada Bakos, and others
-
Saving Aziz
- How the Mission to Help One Became a Calling to Rescue Thousands from the Taliban
- By: Chad Robichaux, David L. Thomas - contributor, Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Chad Robichaux, Glenn Beck
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Saving Aziz, Chad will give you a behind-the-scenes view of the evacuation efforts that saved thousands from the Taliban during the historic humanitarian crisis following the United States’ hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.
-
-
Blessed
- By Teri Herron on 02-01-23
By: Chad Robichaux, and others
-
The Black Banners (Declassified)
- How Torture Derailed the War on Terror After 9/11
- By: Ali H. Soufan
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 19 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely heralded on publication as a “must-read” (Military Review) and “important window on America’s battle with al-Qaeda” (Washington Post), Ali Soufan’s revelatory account of the war on terror as seen from its front lines changed the way we understand al-Qaeda and how the United States prosecuted the war — and led to hard questions being asked of our leaders.
-
-
Magnificent !
- By JJ on 09-21-20
By: Ali H. Soufan
-
Betrayal in Berlin
- The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation
- By: Steve Vogel
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Its code name was “Operation Gold”, a wildly audacious CIA plan to construct a clandestine tunnel into East Berlin to tap into critical KGB and Soviet military telecommunication lines. The tunnel, crossing the border between the American and Soviet sectors, would have to be 1,500 feet (the length of the Empire State Building) with state-of-the-art equipment, built and operated literally under the feet of their Cold War adversaries.
-
-
Fascinating Book
- By Toni Bowes on 01-11-20
By: Steve Vogel
-
From Warsaw with Love
- Polish Spies, the CIA, and the Forging of an Unlikely Alliance
- By: John Pomfret
- Narrated by: Donald Corren
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the award-winning and acclaimed author of The Beautiful Country and the Middle Kingdom, From Warsaw with Love tells the epic story of how Polish intelligence officers forged an alliance with the CIA in the twilight of the Cold War. In 1990, soon after the Polish people voted in their first democratic election since the 1930s, the young Polish government sent a veteran spy, who’d battled the West for decades, to rescue six American officers trapped in Baghdad.
-
-
Superb - All Americans should know about its recent and colonial history if strayegic partnership with the USA
- By zephyr99 on 07-08-23
By: John Pomfret
-
Guardian
- Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA’s War on Terror
- By: Thomas Pecora, Jon Land, Lindsay Preston
- Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Don’t buy it
- By L-E Industries on 06-18-20
By: Thomas Pecora, and others
-
The Targeter
- My Life in the CIA, Hunting Terrorists and Challenging the White House
- By: Nada Bakos, Davin Coburn
- Narrated by: Christine Lakin
- Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1999, 30-year-old Nada Bakos moved from her lifelong home in Montana to Washington, DC, to join the CIA. Quickly realizing her affinity for intelligence work, Nada was determined to rise through the ranks of the agency first as an analyst and then as a Targeting Officer, eventually finding herself on the frontline of America's War against Islamic extremists. In this role, Nada was charged with determining if Iraq had a relationship with 9/11 and Al-Qaida, and finding the mastermind behind this terrorist activity: Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
-
-
Terrible book. Feminazi Propaganda
- By Dan Wells on 08-24-19
By: Nada Bakos, and others
-
Saving Aziz
- How the Mission to Help One Became a Calling to Rescue Thousands from the Taliban
- By: Chad Robichaux, David L. Thomas - contributor, Glenn Beck
- Narrated by: Chad Robichaux, Glenn Beck
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Saving Aziz, Chad will give you a behind-the-scenes view of the evacuation efforts that saved thousands from the Taliban during the historic humanitarian crisis following the United States’ hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan.
-
-
Blessed
- By Teri Herron on 02-01-23
By: Chad Robichaux, and others
-
The Black Banners (Declassified)
- How Torture Derailed the War on Terror After 9/11
- By: Ali H. Soufan
- Narrated by: Fajer Al-Kaisi
- Length: 19 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Widely heralded on publication as a “must-read” (Military Review) and “important window on America’s battle with al-Qaeda” (Washington Post), Ali Soufan’s revelatory account of the war on terror as seen from its front lines changed the way we understand al-Qaeda and how the United States prosecuted the war — and led to hard questions being asked of our leaders.
-
-
Magnificent !
- By JJ on 09-21-20
By: Ali H. Soufan
-
Betrayal in Berlin
- The True Story of the Cold War's Most Audacious Espionage Operation
- By: Steve Vogel
- Narrated by: Joel Richards
- Length: 17 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Its code name was “Operation Gold”, a wildly audacious CIA plan to construct a clandestine tunnel into East Berlin to tap into critical KGB and Soviet military telecommunication lines. The tunnel, crossing the border between the American and Soviet sectors, would have to be 1,500 feet (the length of the Empire State Building) with state-of-the-art equipment, built and operated literally under the feet of their Cold War adversaries.
-
-
Fascinating Book
- By Toni Bowes on 01-11-20
By: Steve Vogel
-
The Cell
- Inside the 9/11 Plot, and Why the FBI and CIA Failed to Stop It
- By: John Miller, Michael Stone, Chris Mitchell
- Narrated by: John Miller
- Length: 4 hrs and 43 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Cell provides the first complete treatment to piece together what led to the events of 9/11, ultimately delivering the disturbing answer to the question: why, with all the information the intelligence community had, was no one able to stop the September 11 attacks? It also includes a first-person account of John Miller's face-to-face meeting with Osama bin Laden.
-
-
What led up to 9/11?
- By Richard on 12-31-03
By: John Miller, and others
-
The Rebel and the Kingdom
- The True Story of the Secret Mission to Overthrow the North Korean Regime
- By: Bradley Hope
- Narrated by: Lee Osorio
- Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the early 2000s, Adrian Hong was a soft-spoken Yale undergraduate looking for his place in the world. After reading a harrowing account of life inside North Korea, he realized he had found a cause so pressing that he was ready to devote his life to it. Hong journeyed to China, outwitting Chinese security services as he helped ferry asylum-seeking North Korean escapees to safety. The Rebel and the Kingdom is an exhilarating account of a man who turns his back on the status quo—to instead live boldly by his principles.
-
-
Phenomenal true story
- By NYCdogmomma on 11-13-22
By: Bradley Hope
-
The Good Spy
- The Life and Death of Robert Ames
- By: Kai Bird
- Narrated by: René Ruiz
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Good Spy is Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Kai Bird’s compelling portrait of the remarkable life and death of one of the most important operatives in CIA history - a man who, had he lived, might have helped heal the rift between Arabs and the West. On April 18, 1983, a bomb exploded outside the American Embassy in Beirut, killing 63 people. The attack was a geopolitical turning point. It marked the beginning of Hezbollah as a political force, but even more important, it eliminated America’s most influential and effective intelligence officer in the Middle East - CIA operative Robert Ames.
-
-
Biased but interesting
- By Peggy on 05-09-18
By: Kai Bird
-
Russians Among Us
- Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories, and the Hunt for Putin’s Spies
- By: Gordon Corera
- Narrated by: Derek Perkins
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
With intrigue that rivals the best le Carre novels, Russians Among Us tells the urgent story of Russia’s espionage efforts against the United States and the West from the end of the Cold War to the present.
-
-
Should be required reading for every citizen
- By Amazon Customer on 02-27-20
By: Gordon Corera
-
Surprise, Kill, Vanish
- The Secret History of CIA Paramilitary Armies, Operators, and Assassins
- By: Annie Jacobsen
- Narrated by: Annie Jacobsen
- Length: 19 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From Pulitzer Prize finalist Annie Jacobsen, the untold story of the CIA's secret paramilitary units.
-
-
Lots of facts, offset by too much fiction
- By Steve M on 05-24-19
By: Annie Jacobsen
-
Do Not Disturb
- The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad
- By: Michela Wrong
- Narrated by: Michela Wrong
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We think we know the story of Africa’s Great Lakes region. Following the Rwandan genocide, an idealistic group of young rebels overthrew the brutal regime in Kigali, ushering in an era of peace and stability that made Rwanda the donor darling of the West, winning comparisons with Switzerland and Singapore. But the truth was considerably more sinister.
-
-
What is true and what isn't?
- By Buretto on 11-30-21
By: Michela Wrong
-
The Reluctant Spy
- My Secret Life in the CIA's War on Terror
- By: John Kiriakou, Michael Ruby
- Narrated by: Arthur Morey
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
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.
-
-
Fascinating Read about the CIA
- By Nancy on 05-13-10
By: John Kiriakou, and others
-
The CIA War in Kurdistan
- The Untold Story of the Northern Front in the Iraq War
- By: Sam Faddis
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 2002, Sam Faddis was named to head a CIA team that would enter Iraq to facilitate the deployment of follow-on conventional military forces numbering more than 40,000 American soldiers. This force, built around the 4th Infantry Division, would, in partnership with Kurdish forces and with the assistance of Turkey, engage Saddam's army in the North as part of a coming invasion. Faddis expected to be on the ground in Iraq within weeks, the entire campaign likely to be over by summer. The 4th Infantry Division never arrived, nor did any other conventional forces in substantial number.
-
-
Highly Recommended Read
- By Bill Brown on 11-11-21
By: Sam Faddis
-
Checkpoint Charlie
- The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth
- By: Iain MacGregor
- Narrated by: Dugald Bruce Lockhart
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A powerful, fascinating, and groundbreaking history of Checkpoint Charlie, the famous military gate on the border of East and West Berlin where the US confronted the USSR during the Cold War.
-
-
Hard to follow
- By J.Brock on 03-07-21
By: Iain MacGregor
-
The Triple Agent
- The al-Qaeda Mole who Infiltrated the CIA
- By: Joby Warrick
- Narrated by: Sunil Malhotra
- Length: 7 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In December 2009, a group of the CIA’s top terrorist hunters gathered at a secret base in Khost, Afghanistan, to greet a rising superspy: Humam Khalil al-Balawi, a Jordanian double-agent who infiltrated the upper ranks of al-Qaeda. For months, he had sent shocking revelations from inside the terrorist network and now promised to help the CIA assassinate Osama bin Laden’s top deputy. Instead, as he stepped from his car, he detonated a 30-pound bomb strapped to his chest, instantly killing seven CIA operatives....
-
-
Great modern history story
- By Melissa on 08-11-11
By: Joby Warrick
-
American Cipher
- Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan
- By: Matt Farwell, Michael Ames
- Narrated by: Christopher Ryan Grant
- Length: 12 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The explosive narrative of the life, captivity, and trial of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who was abducted by the Taliban and whose story has served as a symbol for America's foundering war in Afghanistan.
-
-
An epic he had written in his imagination...
- By Darwin8u on 03-18-19
By: Matt Farwell, and others
-
The Spymaster of Baghdad
- A True Story of Bravery, Family, and Patriotism in the Battle Against ISIS
- By: Margaret Coker
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Spymaster of Baghdad tells the dramatic yet intimate account of how a covert Iraqi intelligence unit called “the Falcons” came together against all odds to defeat ISIS. The Falcons, comprised of ordinary men with little conventional espionage background, infiltrated the world’s most powerful terrorist organization, ultimately turning the tide of war against the terrorist group and bringing safety to millions of Iraqis and the broader world.
-
-
Worth every penny
- By Michelle on 04-20-21
By: Margaret Coker
What listeners say about American Spy
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tom Parsley
- 03-13-20
Very insightful and entertaining
I really enjoyed this book. While based on cold hard facts, the stories were often told with an air of suspense and a touch of humor that captivated my attention. At other times, a somber mood perfectly conveyed the gravity of the situation or operation being described. The book gave enough background detail to paint a full picture, but was concise enough to keep the story fast-paced and engaging. I have read/listened to at least a dozen CIA and spy-related books, and so far this book has been the most enjoyable. What makes me feel that way? I really appreciated the author's candidness and lack of ego while telling captivating stories in a brutally honest, intriguing and concise manner. I definitely recommend this book.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Turbo1466
- 12-15-19
Good until the 10 minute political rant
Good listen, entertaining and fun. Would have been 5 star but he thought he needed to bash one particular president even though throughout the book they all made mistakes. Pushing his political agenda
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
10 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 09-18-23
Serious illness
The book is ok, but the author can't help but makes his serious case of TDS known throughout the book. It's both unnecessary for the story and ironically, it lacks truth.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Daco
- 03-08-24
Spy Tales
A dose of reality with chapter-ending humor! Loved it!
Going to need an updated Epilogue!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John H.
- 09-29-19
Superb storytelling of a fascinating CIA career
As a former CIA Operations Officer, I can attest to the accuracy of H.K. Roy's description of CIA training and all facets of life within the CIA's clandestine branch. His storytelling ability allows the reader to marvel at the ingenuity and dedication of CIA Operations Officers putting their lives in harm's way for the United States while having to deal with armchair bureaucrats and opportunistic policy-makers. Roy's witty and often hilarious accounts of his trials and tribulations provide a necessary relief from the seriousness of the mission at hand. Roy is a true patriot. I highly recommend this book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
8 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C
- 12-18-19
interesting fascinating enjoyable, good listening
interesting fascinating enjoyable, good listening a easy audible book to listen as I do my various things.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
3 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- A. M.
- 02-28-20
Superbly written and narrated
This is an entertaining book with interesting insights into the ordinary world of espionage. This was 100% better than Amaryllis Fox's verbose CIA memoir (Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA).
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- RANDALL
- 08-26-20
Good personal history
good personal history one can learn from, there is a part disagree with an lacks creditable proof meaning Russian hoax directed against potus, flip side in reverse previous administration there was, had Trump lost election none of this would have never been known, book could use revision regarding that an other areas, keep in mind here there's a story not the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Amazon Customer
- 03-29-22
Interesting and well written
I found this book interesting, with just the right amount of humor. I read another review, where the reader was critical of author for being too polical. I found the author's discussions of politics to be fair. Having served years in government service myself, I too share the author's displeasure with the failures, misguided intentions, and lack of ownership of our nation's politicians, on both sides of the aisle. I liked the author's stories, which shed light on a world of which most Americans are oblivious. We need more authors like H.K. Roy.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- John Gray
- 02-14-21
Eye opening, insightful and often hilarious.
A fascinating look behind the scenes of the CIA, told by a grounded and witty officer whose career spanned some of our most troubled times. Don't be put off by the carping in earlier reviews about "politics;" the author takes BOTH Democrat and Republican administrations to task for ignoring or politicizing CIA provided intelligence. The author has a sharp eye for the absurd, and the fantastic narration enhances the many laugh out loud moments.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful