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    The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists
    The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists
    The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists
    Audiobook8 hours

    The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists

    Written by Tracy Walder and Jessica Anya Blau

    Narrated by Devon Sorvari

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    A highly entertaining account of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA, where she hunted terrorists and WMDs

    "A thrilling tale...Walder’s fast-paced and intense narrative opens a window into life in two of America’s major intelligence agencies" —Publishers Weekly (starred review)

    When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she’d fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.

    The Unexpected Spy is the riveting story of Walder's tenure in the CIA and, later, the FBI. In high-security, steel-walled rooms in Virginia, Walder watched al-Qaeda members with drones as President Bush looked over her shoulder and CIA Director George Tenet brought her donuts. She tracked chemical terrorists and searched the world for Weapons of Mass Destruction. She created a chemical terror chart that someone in the White House altered to convey information she did not have or believe, leading to the Iraq invasion. Driven to stop terrorism, Walder debriefed terrorists—men who swore they’d never speak to a woman—until they gave her leads. She followed trails through North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, shutting down multiple chemical attacks.

    Then Walder moved to the FBI, where she worked in counterintelligence. In a single year, she helped take down one of the most notorious foreign spies ever caught on American soil. Catching the bad guys wasn’t a problem in the FBI, but rampant sexism was. Walder left the FBI to teach young women, encouraging them to find a place in the FBI, CIA, State Department or the Senate—and thus change the world.

    A Macmillan Audio production from St. Martin's Press

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Audio
    Release dateFeb 25, 2020
    ISBN9781250261267
    Author

    Tracy Walder

    Tracy Walder is a former Staff Operations Officer (SOO) at the CIA's Counterterrorism Center and a Special Agent at the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office specializing in Chinese counterintelligence operations. She now teaches global terrorism at the all-girls Ursuline Academy in Dallas and is an adjunct professor of Domestic Terrorism and Criminal Justice at Texas Christian University in Ft. Worth. She is on the Board of Directors for Girl Security, a non profit, non partisan group that brings national security curriculum to girls in high school throughout the US.

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    Reviews for The Unexpected Spy

    4.5/5

    56 ratings6 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Eye-opening and riveting. Well written with a keen wit. Inspiring and unforgettable. Catch the author’s interview from the International Spy Museum on YouTube.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great book. The writer has clearly seen and done some things. I hope she continues to write.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 4/5
      Interesting book. I will say that it’s a pretty good synopsis of someone working in the CIA and FBI. It is a little heavy on victim hood for lack of a better description. But, overall a good book.

      1 person found this helpful

    • 5/5
      Great book. Very interesting story told in a great way!
    • 4/5
      I really wanted to enjoy this book, but every 30 secs it stated. “This part of the book has been redacted by the CIA.” I understand that some things need to be kept secret & proper permission needs to be given, but they could of went with a simple bleep, or changed some names around given false or vague locations. Anything would be less distracting & annoying than the robotic voice over that was used.
    • 5/5
      Refreshing to read about a woman who has such an interesting am unusual career.