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)

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!

Coudn't make it past the 1 hour point

I really did NOT like the different narrators on one story, unlike others. It made it hard to follow.

I got the initial impression that the author was complaining about how the CIA was run, that she would do it differently. Employees that complain about their boss annoy me. If you could do it better, apply for the job. If not, get another job, or do your job how your boss tells you to do it.

Too much vulgar language as well.

Just my 2 cents. Obviously, it is easier to be a critic than an author, so good job to her trying to write a novel, I couldn't do better. But if I did, it wouldn't be like this.

So Slow...

I don't mean to ruin the book for you - but iraq wasn't the cause of the twin tower attacks. I just saved you 10 hours of audio... I really wanted to like this book but nothing happens. If you like to hear about bureaucracy and how the government is slow and the tedious daily lives of those in the CIA is, then this is the book for you.

Pure Propoganda

This is one of the worst, most mindless books I have ever seen. It was so bad I could not finish it. The author makes mindless political claims that she does not even try to support - perhaps because they are not true. One will only enjoy this book if looking for someone to parrot what they want to think about the world. If the facts are not on your side, you may want to hear that someone else thinks the same way. It is scary to think that the author once worked for the CIA.

Seriously? You People LIKED This????

What disappointed you about Intelligence: A Novel of the CIA?

Put simply? It sucked. Hard. Like a million-dollar space-age vacuum. Suuuuuucked. I like thrillers; this isn't thrilling. Spy novels? Sure. This is not a spy novel. This is a former employee bitching about her former employer. If I wanted that I doubt that I would be buying an audio book which implies spy-stuff. False advertising.

What was most disappointing about Susan Hasler’s story?

Uhm, there was no story. The main character was worthless and has a miserable life and hates her job. The end.

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators’s performances?

Possibly, the narration wasn't terrible itself. It's just hard to separate the performer from the material.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

Absolutely none. Not one. And the fact that there are so many 4 and 5 star reviews SHOCKS me. This is a waste of time, pure and simple.

Any additional comments?

If you haven't gotten the picture yet: This is bad. Avoid.

terrible

This story was boring and did not have anything to get you involved in the story. I stopped listening within the first hour. It was awful!!!!!

Worst book that I have ever read on Audible.

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Nothing

Would you be willing to try another one of the narrators’s performances?

It wasn't the Narrator that was the problem here, it was the author.

What character would you cut from Intelligence: A Novel of the CIA?

All of them

Any additional comments?

This book seems to be the Author's way to vent over her frustations while employed with the CIA. This read was very disappointing and a waste of money!!! Don't waste your time on this one.

Terrible

I read just about anything related to the spy world. This could just be the worst. Will be asking for my money back.

Complete and utter waste

Hi! I usually don't write reviews because time is a premium for me (like everyone else)- hence the need for audio books. But every now and again, I come across book that is so poorly written and produced on audio with equal talent that I have to break silence. This is one of those books. Political slant (and there is one) aside, the story drones on and leaves the listener hoping that it will end within the next 5 minutes. The characters have no depth and seem "cartoonish", there is no reason to like any of them to include the "heros". The dialogue could have been written by my 12 year old. The narration (with several voices) is equally as bad and at times, I wondered if I was listening in on a conversation between robots. There is nothing here for you in this book, pass it by as there are much, better books out there; books that make you feel good about the time that you passed with them.

Don't bother unless you want to be angry

Don't bother unless you want to be angry. I listened to the first five minutes and the only content was profanity-laced tirades against everyone around the author.

Perhaps there are some redeemding moments later in the book, but I could not make it through the self-loathing and seething hate evinced in the first few minutes.

This isn't a book about the CIA as much as it is a book about the things that make the author angry.