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 defined waterboarding as torture—but still admitted that it probably was effective. 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. Kiriakou takes us into the fight against an enemy fueled by fanaticism, chillingly recounting 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, 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 reading 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.