HOLIDAY SPECIAL REPORT – On this season of giving, your pleasant neighborhood Cipher Temporary “Undercover” group (which spends the majority of the 12 months publishing ebook opinions and interviews with authors and publishers) presents our annual checklist of books to think about when you find yourself shopping for for the buddy who has every part or the member of the family who’s actually serious about intelligence, international coverage, nationwide safety, and/or spy fiction. Our checklist additionally is perhaps helpful if you happen to’re seeking to drop some hints to Santa for stuff you’d like to seek out in your individual stocking this 12 months.
WHERE TO BEGIN?
The apparent place to start out is within the ebook evaluation part of The Cipher Temporary. Throughout 2023, we printed opinions of 45 books. That variety of books is just too unwieldy for this checklist, so we thought we’d pare it down and deal with these which earned the best honors of three.5 or 4 Trench Coats (The Cipher Temporary’s ranking system for singling out excellence.) However even that didn’t put a lot of a dent within the workload – since 27 of our 45 books scored these highest rankings.
Editor’s observe: the Trench Coat rankings are solely decided by our volunteer reviewers – so your mileage could range. Chances are you’ll love a ebook that solely snared two Trench Coats from our reviewer – or hate one which earned 4. However Cipher Temporary reviewers deliver a wealth of expertise and an eagle eye to the method, so we suspect you might be more likely to agree.
Whereas we don’t have the bandwidth to summarize even 27 books, listed below are some standouts that our reviewers beloved probably the most. Nearly all of the books we reviewed have been non-fiction – so let’s flip that on its head and begin with some stellar novels.
OUR FAVORITE FICTION BOOKS
Cipher Temporary knowledgeable and veteran CIA Russia hand Paul Kolbe actually appreciated the newest novel from former CIA analyst David McCloskey known as Moscow X. In Paul’s evaluation he wrote that he was “intrigued by and finally immersed, in a terrific plot seasoned with traditional tradecraft, new methodologies and compelling characters.” If you’re intrigued by McCloskey – try the interview he did with us for our Cowl Tales podcast.
We turned to Rob Richer, a former high-ranking CIA clandestine service officer (and Cipher Temporary knowledgeable) with tons of expertise within the Center East to evaluation The Peacock and the Sparrow a novel written by one other former CIA officer, I.S. Berry. Richer praised Berry’s means to seize the “political complexity and inner sensitivities” of Bahrain and prose so sharp readers can “see the streets described of their thoughts’s eye, to sense the ambiance, and (even) think about the smells.”
The Cipher Temporary has on name, Dr. Ken Dekleva, a former State Division Regional Medical Officer/Psychiatrist, to assist us evaluation a number of espionage novels. He awarded The Lifeless Drop by James Roth, a stable 3.5 trench coats. That ebook is a few northern Virginia teenager who stumbles throughout a lifeless drop that results in a fancy story of KGB vs CIA chilly warfare espionage.
Earlier within the 12 months, Dr. Dekleva reviewed: A True American Patriot: A Novel by retired CIA officer Dan O’Connor. The novel has two protagonists – “Doc” – who Dekleva describes as a combination of “Secret Service agent and CIA paramilitary officer” and “the Professor” who’s “gifted in math, physics, unique international languages, and diplomacy.” Collectively they confront terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and extra. By the way in which, we flip to Dr. Dekleva not simply due to his means to investigate the personalities of the characters within the books he opinions – however he’s additionally a novelist on his personal proper having written The Negotiators Cross and The Final Violinist.
WHAT ABOUT NON-FICTION?
There are such a lot of good titles to select from. Calder Walton, Assistant Director of the Harvard Heart’s Utilized Historical past and Intelligence initiatives, was out with Spies: The Epic Intelligence Conflict Between East and West this summer season, so we turned to Daniel Hoffman, a former senior CIA officer, three-time station chief and Cipher Temporary knowledgeable to interrupt it down for us. Dan discovered it to be a “fascinating historical past of cloak and dagger espionage” which “lifts the veil on the multifarious clandestine operations Russia and the West carried out towards each other for over a century.” If you wish to know extra about how that ebook got here to be, Walder reveals a number of the secrets and techniques of his scholarship on this Cowl Tales podcast.
Then there was a ebook by Andrew Hoehn and Thom Shanker, Age of Hazard, the place they remedy the easy downside talked about within the subtitle of “Holding America Secure in an Period of New Superpowers, New Weapons, and New Threats.” George Galdorisi, a former naval officer and bestselling writer of fiction and non-fiction in his personal proper, reviewed the ebook for us and known as it a “clear-headed and well-reasoned argument that the U.S. coverage, intelligence and navy buildings, lots of which date again to the tip of World Conflict II, are now not satisfactory to take care of right this moment’s, and particularly tomorrow’s, threats.” Simply kidding about that “easy resolution” half. However if you wish to know extra about Age of Hazard try our interview with the authors for the Cowl Tales podcast again in Could.
That leads us to the lately printed: Battle: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine written by retired 4-star normal (and Cipher Temporary knowledgeable) David Petraeus and British historian Lord Andrew Roberts. We leaned on the experience of Ben Griffin, the Chief of the Army Historical past Division of the U.S. Army Academy, for his tackle the ebook. He discovered it a “thought-provoking ebook which is able to enchantment to policymakers, navy leaders, and people within the examine of warfare and technique.”
One other fan favourite is By All Means Accessible: Memoirs of a Life in Intelligence, Particular Operations and Technique by Cipher Temporary Skilled Dr. Michael Vickers. Cipher Temporary COO Brad Christian beloved the ebook a lot that he’s hoping Vickers will run for president.
A recurring theme in a number of the books we reviewed was the function of ladies in intelligence and navy operations. Lots of these roles have been laudatory – like these described in Valiant Girls: The Extraordinary American Servicewomen Who Helped Win World Conflict II by Lena Andrews, which was reviewed for us by former senior CIA officer (and TCB knowledgeable) Linda Weissgold, and Girls in Intelligence: The Hidden Historical past of Two World Wars by Helen Fry – which was reviewed by the aforementioned Lena Andrews (an instance of how we attempt to faucet the deep experience of oldsters to evaluation books for us.)
Different girls who have been topics of books reviewed in The Cipher Temporary weren’t worthy of emulating – for instance Ana Montes, a Protection Intelligence Company official (reviewed right here) who spied for Cuba and was the topic of two books reviewed in TCB: Code Title Blue Wren by Jim Popkin (who additionally joined us on this Cowl Tales podcast) and “Queen of Cuba” by former FBI particular agent Pete Lapp, which was reviewed for us by retired CIA senior counterintelligence government (and Cipher Temporary knowledgeable) Mark Kelton.
We might go on and on about some nice – and almost nice — books reviewed in The Cipher Temporary – however time, house and power recommend we cease right here. However to seek out different books that suit your private pursuits – or these of your reward recipients – try the cabinets filled with books reviewed over the previous 12 months and earlier than at this hyperlink.
WHAT’S NEW IN 2024?
We’re so glad you requested. There are some attention-grabbing new books popping out within the new 12 months that we’re wanting ahead to studying (and reviewing).
In early January search for God, Weapons, and Sedition: Far-Proper Terrorism in America by Cipher Temporary knowledgeable Bruce Hoffman and Jacob Ware (reviewed by Philip Mudd.) In February, search for The Beverly Hills Spy: The Double-Agent Conflict Hero Who Helped Japan Assault Pearl Harbor by Ronald Drabkin (reviewed by TCB knowledgeable Joe Augustyn).
Later that month, there will likely be The Achilles Lure: Saddam Hussen, The CIA, and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq by Steve Coll, and March will see the publication of 2054: A Novel, a futuristic have a look at synthetic intelligence mixed with a violent partisan divide sooner or later would possibly result in an existential risk to America. That ebook is by Cipher Temporary knowledgeable Admiral James Stavridis and Elliot Ackerman.
Throughout the checklist above, are simply a number of the nice books we’ve got reviewed in The Cipher Temporary. To seek out the whole checklist going again some 5 years – go to our web site. And don’t neglect to subscribe to the Cowl Tales podcast, the place we do interviews with authors, publishers, brokers and Hollywood movers and shakers.
ONE MORE THING
In the event you assume you may have the chops to be a Cipher Temporary reviewer – drop us a observe. Tell us of your pursuits and space of specialty in an e-mail to: [email protected].
You don’t need to have a selected forthcoming ebook in thoughts – simply tell us that you’re and we’ll attempt to match up the best books with the best potential reviewers.
Take a look at our Reviewer Tips.
You’ll observe that we all the time attempt to discover reviewers with deep experience and pursuits of their very own to match that of the books’ authors. In the event you assume you may have what it takes to be a Cipher Temporary reviewer, e-mail us at [email protected].
We’ve bought loads of good books (and some dangerous ones) on the horizon – and wish good reviewers to assist us type them out.
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