• Gray Work

  • Confessions of an American Paramilitary Spy
  • By: Jamie Smith
  • Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
  • Length: 15 hrs and 17 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (1,165 ratings)

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Gray Work  By  cover art

Gray Work

By: Jamie Smith
Narrated by: Jeff Gurner
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Publisher's summary

In this unprecedented audiobook, a paramilitary contractor with more than two decades of experience gives us a firsthand look into the secret lives of America's private warriors and their highly covert work around the world. Author Jamie Smith has planned and executed hundreds of missions on behalf of government agencies and private industry in some of the world's most dangerous hot spots - and lived to tell the tale.

They are elite warriors who run highly dangerous missions deep inside foreign countries on the brink of war. Jamie Smith knows these men well. Not only is he one of them, but he was the founding director of one of the most successful global, private military contracting firms. For the first time, he breaks his silence, pulling back the curtain to reveal in raw, intimate terms exactly what paramilitary spies and operators like him do when the government cannot act or take public responsibility.

Combining the thrilling narrative of an international spy thriller with bracing boots-on-the-ground realism, Gray Work follows Smith through grinding CIA training and his career as an operative, his work with Blackwater Security, and the creation of his own successful company. Here is the grit and gristle of modern warfare, from espionage and assassinations, rescues and renditions; from the dark corners of the Arab Spring and the fall of Qadhafi to black ops; from Syria to Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran, and beyond. Smith has fought terrorists and won; he was ambushed on a mission in Pakistan and took a bullet through his shoulder and to his back and subsequently survived a grueling mountain trek that almost cost him his life.

As founding director of Blackwater Security and then as head of his own company, Smith has helped shape a decade of war. His book powerfully illustrates how the men who serve in this gray area between the public and private worlds are transforming the art and science of modern warfare.

©2015 Jamie Smith (P)2015 HarperCollins Publishers

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What listeners say about Gray Work

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Don't believe a word of it.

It's all fake. Just Google the author, that will tell you all you need to know.

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64 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

BS Book

I did my research on this book I can't believe Harper published it Jamie Smith is a con artist

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60 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

What a load of malarkey.

I started listening to this book and after chapter one I could tell things didn't add up. The further I got in the book the more full of crap the author seemed to be. I couldn't stomach the whole book, and decided to look into this guy. Low and behold he is full of crap ever his co-workers said so.

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57 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Total horse sh!+. This book is far from true

While the author may have had a few close calls in his career, he makes himself out to be a super spy. Consider this book fiction with a few stories embellished.

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54 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

don't waste your time

wasted time comes off as a know it all that's more like a wannabe. Not a good edit and poor sound quality.

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49 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

This guy is a fraud. The stolen valor is sickening

This book is a complete work of fiction. Google Jamie Smith and decide for yourself

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40 people found this helpful

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Read about Jamie Smith before buying

Read about the author prior to buying this book, it puts a whole other perspective on the stories it contains.

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34 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Not true?

After I finished, I read more about the author and learned that many sources claim that his history is fabricated.

If you are looking for an interesting story it was. Just really disappointed to learn that it's potentially false.

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19 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Annoyingly Arrogant Fiction

I knew the credibility of the Author was in question however, I thought maybe it would be a good book if I thought of it as fiction. I was wrong. Its terrible and, the author is so arrogant. listen to yhe reviewers and do not buy.

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18 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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Should be in fiction

I found out about half way that most of the stories in this book are fabricated. See Outside magazine for a thorough run down.

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15 people found this helpful