Life Undercover
Coming of Age in the CIA
Large Print - 2019 | First large print edition
Amaryllis Fox was in her last year as an undergraduate at Oxford studying theology and international law when her writing mentor Daniel Pearl was captured and beheaded. Galvanized by this brutality, Fox applied to a master's program in conflict and terrorism at Georgetown's School of Foreign Service, where she created an algorithm that predicted, with uncanny certainty, the likelihood of a terrorist cell arising in any village around the world. At twenty-one, she was recruited by the CIA. Her first assignment was reading and analyzing hundreds of classified cables a day from foreign governments and synthesizing them into daily briefs for the president. Her next assignment was at the Iraq desk in the Counterterrorism center. At twenty-two, she was fast-tracked into advanced operations training, sent from Langley to "the Farm," where she lived for six months in a simulated world learning how to use a Glock, how to get out of flexicuffs while locked in the trunk of a car, how to withstand torture, and the best ways to commit suicide in case of captivity. At the end of this training she was deployed as a spy under non-official cover-- the most difficult and coveted job in the field as an art dealer specializing in tribal and indigenous art and sent to infiltrate terrorist networks in remote areas of the Middle East and Asia.
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Publisher:
New York :, Random House Large Print,, [2019]
Edition:
First large print edition
Copyright Date:
©2019
ISBN:
9780593168219
Branch Call Number:
327.12730092 FOX
Characteristics:
large print., rda
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Lauraleewashere
Dec 13, 2020
Memoir of the life of a young woman, Amaryllis Fox, who goes to work for the CIA. We learn about their recruiting methods, training ops, trade craft and what it takes to keep this massive network of covert operatives going.
Fox does well to strike a balance between the aspects of her personal life and the amount of commitment it takes to dedicate your life to this vocation.
Some sex, profanity, and violence but not of a graphic nature. About a PG-13 level.
(See my Comments for this title as well)
LLR
Comment
Add a CommentI read the ebook version and listened to the audio version read by the author simultaneously.
It was an interesting and well-written memoir of how Fox came to work for the CIA. Fascinating to learn how the organization recruits, trains its workers and is organized and structured. I also found learning the different methods of trade-craft and all the different training ops very interesting. Amaryllis is a likable person who readily shares her thoughts and does a good job of reading her book aloud with intensity and emotion but without going "over the top" with her narration.
I disliked this book because it is also dark as Fox shares what her life has been like as she struggled to live with daily lies and the negative impact it had on all her close relationships and emotional well being. I feel that her story should be told so that we are aware of the sacrifices made by those who serve their countries and make sacrifices for their ideals, but if you are already slightly depressed you should probably give this book a skip.
I hope my comments help. You can read my full review at my blog "The Bible and the Biz".
Sincerely, Laura-Lee
Started Reading September 10th 2020 and Finished Reading September 22nd 2020
Started Reading September 10th 2020 and Finished Reading September 22nd 2020
Enthralling, sensitive, and concise writing. This and Samantha Power's memoir best of 2019!
This was an astonishingly detailed description of training and operations at the CIA. I am amazed that they let her publish this. Her mindful evolution in bringing peace to the world one situation at a time was so touching, I wish we could clone her and send her all over the world. It read like a thriller but also a family story, some romance, current events and philosophy. I found it to be very compelling. I would love to hear her speak. I have been listening to the impeachment hearings and am so thankful that we have citizens that put public service above their own personal lives and safety, we are very fortunate.
Being a real-life spy is so different than ones in fiction books. I LOVED this book because it taught me something about a subject I didn’t think I had a interest. Well-written and thoughtful in what it takes to be a CIA agent and how being an agent impacts your entire life.
This memoir by Amaryllis Fox about the years leading up to and covering her time deep undercover as a CIA operative is intriguing and powerful. Fox was a brilliant student with an unconventional upbringing living in many different places around the world. She lost a friend as a young girl to a terrorist attack and volunteered at a refugee camp for the Burmese in Thailand and managed to smuggle video footage of an interview with Aung San Suu Kyi out of Myanmar to the BBC DURING HER GAP YEAR. Yes, BEFORE she even went to COLLEGE. Her empathy for others, keen intelligence, and knowledge of language and culture make her into an effective and capable deep cover agent - but maybe not so great at making decisions about her personal relationships. We all have weaknesses, and the world should be grateful that hers involved leaping too quickly into romance rather than being bad at Arabic - because I have a feeling the world would be a worse place now without her help. An enjoyable, maybe a little terrifying, and quick read.