Intelligence: A Novel of the CIA

By: Susan Hasler

Narrated by: Susan Hasler (introduction), Joe Barrett, Rachel Butera, Catlin Davies, Terry Donnolly, Peter Ganim, L J Ganser, Gayle Hendrix, Bryan Kennedy, Ken Kliban

Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

A team of intelligence agents tries to prevent an impending terrorist attack, but is thwarted by bureaucratic hurdles in this darkly humorous debut by former CIA agent Susan Hasler.

Maddie James and her colleagues are terrorism experts working in a crumbling intelligence agency. They are certain another big terrorist attack is coming, but in a post-9/11 election year, the administration is stressing its victories in the War on Terror, and few want to hear the team's warnings.

Maddie is given a team of five analysts to focus on the impending threat. The crew labors through bureaucratic obstacles, personal problems, and a blossoming romance between its senior members, Doc and Fran. They come heartbreakingly close to stopping the attack, but fail to predict a surprising twist in the terrorists’ plot.

In the wake of tragedy, the administration pins blame on Iran, despite a lack of evidence—so Maddie and her team try to investigate. With dark humor and a razor-sharp tone, they fight back against office politics, government cover-ups, and blackmail in order to set the record straight. A keenly crafted debut that could only be written by an ex-CIA agent, Intelligence will please fans of Wag the Dog and Primary Colors.

The excellent cast of narrators includes Joe Barrett, Dina Perlman, Suzanne Toren, Marc Vietor, Peter Ganim, Elisabeth Rodgers, L J Ganser, Caitlin Davies, Rachel Butera, Ken Kilban, Terry Donnolly, Eileen Stevens, Gabra Zackman, Kevin Pariseau, Joshua Swanson, Gayle Hendrix, Anthony Salerno, and Bryan Kennedy.

BONUS AUDIO: Includes an introduction written and read by author Susan Hasler.

©2010 Susan Hasler (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"A biting satire of the agency [Hasler] once called home….It’s a very funny book about a deeply unfunny slice of recent history. Read it and weep – but you’ll be laughing, too." ( The Washington Post)

"Often laugh-out-loud funny, Intelligence even manages to squeeze in a genuinely sweet romance. Susan Hasler does for the folks at the CIA what Joseph Wambaugh accomplishes with cops: she gives them human dimension. Sometimes sad, sometimes stupid, sometimes scary and at other times heroic, Hasler’s characters always seem achingly real." ( January magazine, Best Crime Fiction of 2010)

"There have been many books written about the CIA, some of them by ex-agents of the clandestine organization. But none of them have been anything like Susan Hasler’s Intelligence. For one thing, it’s refreshing to get a female point of view. For another, Hasler’s mordant wit makes reading this novel an unalloyed delight. Not since Catch-22 has a novel with such trenchantly mordant wit illuminated the inherent insanity of institutionalized war. Intelligence is funny, sad, and frightening. It’s a book to keep you up at night, one you won’t soon forget." (Eric Van Lustbader)

Intelligence?

Makes one wonder about national security and the integrity of the people we place great trust in if even some of this story has truth to it. Office politics at its highest and lowest.

Ughh... painful

I listen to all types of thrillers, but this one has to be about the most poky, boring and pointless of all the novels I've listened to. The narration isn't bad but the story line is just plain uninteresting and has plenty of the author's political opinions included. I listened to the complete first part and part of the second part but just couldn't bring myself to finish it. Glad I got it for $4.95!

Marginal. There is a plot somewhere under angst.

This book does not hook you unless you're terminally filled with angst from a failed marriage and being professional maligned. The full cast performance does not add to the story; instead it is a distraction where more time is spent trying to juggle which voice corresponds to which character. It is an interesting look inside the CIA from a disaffected former employee. I certainly hope that is not what it is really like. I would like a few hours of my life and my precious monthly credit back.

Stupid political satire; occasionally humorous

This novel did elicit 3 smiles and no laughs in 10 hours. The multiple narrators do a wonderful job, but it does not save this turkey. I cannot believe I listened to the whole thing!

I wanted to like it

The full-cast narration was cheesy - too folksy. There is a lot of dialogue in this book, and it didn't sound like natural conversation to me.

Waste of Time

What would have made Intelligence: A Novel of the CIA better?

If this was a 2 hour long book it may be to long.

Would you ever listen to anything by Susan Hasler again?

No

Ummmm

It got really good reviews but I'm only
in chapter 2 about to call it quits. I get that this is serious stuff but I feel like someone is trying to choke me with sadness. Did I mention I'm
only in chapter 2? Someone please tell me this is worth continuing! Please?

Not worth two

In the introduction the author states that ex-CIA employees should not write books. She then ignores her own advice and proves herself right. She uses the platform to justify her own views which is exactly why ex-CIA employees should not write books.

Great book for Bush Derangement

The Bush-Cheney bashers will love this. The parts of the story where it ascends into Dilbert style office politics is tolerable, but the parts that descend into sermonizing about how all conservatives/republicans are religious hypocrites with out any morals is just disgusting. I just couldn't get past the cynical, narcissistic, arrogant, "I'm so much smarter than everyone else" tone of the book. If this lady is representative of the analysts working in the CIA, we should all say a prayer and thank God we haven't seen weekly terrorist attacks.
The narration was above average. Overall, this book reads like an MSNBC editorial.

Sorry, the swearing kicked me out of the story

Wish I knew before I wasted money and space that the language would prevent me from enjoying the story.