Guardian

Life in the Crosshairs of the CIA’s War on Terror

By: Thomas Pecora, Jon Land, Lindsay Preston

Narrated by: Eric Jason Martin

Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

Somalia was Tom Pecora's first deployment as a CIA Protective Operations Cadre (POC) officer, responsible for providing protective operations support in hostile areas of the world. He later headed up a series of the Agency's undisclosed protective operations teams. From 1989 until his retirement in 2013, he was assigned to multiple war zones across Africa, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Europe, and the Middle East, doing the kind of work few are even aware exists.

But it does, and Pecora's direct involvement allowed him to work behind the scenes of some of the most well-known conflicts of our time, including the infamous encounter known as Black Hawk Down, the hunt for Osama Bin Laden, and the hotbeds across the Middle East where fires continue to burn.

Over the course of a career that saw him receive the Career Intelligence Medal, Intelligence Star, Meritorious Unit Citation, and numerous Exceptional Performance Awards, Pecora distinguished himself as a Protective Operations Cadre (POC) member and as a CIA Security Officer. And now he's prepared to shed light on the world of clandestine protective operations and the selfless, heroic warriors dedicated to keeping the United States safe at all costs....

©2019 Thomas Pecora with Jon Land and Lindsay Preston (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

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Interesting insight on the CIA and its inner workings, could have used a better narrator. Not the best CIA book out there, other than listening to the bland Amish sounding narrator for 11 hours it was a good book.

Security

With starting a personal protection business. I found this extremely helpful. with information on what it takes to succeed.

Amazing Author and Story

Thomas is such a great leader and this story is REAL and his version of a career in the CIA protecting officers. He has worked with the best and it shows. Nowadays people have an addiction to action and dramatics but this book is real and highlights the real battle that goes on after action and the weight of the job. I really loved it. The narrator wasn’t my favorite but I didn’t let that being down the quality of the book or Thomas’s story.

Issues with narrator and author but still worth it

I have heard this narrator in the past and he is super annoying in his speech patterns. Funny thing is, he fits with this story because, I believe, the author feels the need throughout the book to inflate his skills, abilities, and self importance. You will consistently find the author describing his job responsibilities in such detail you feel you are reading from a resume on steroids. Once you read between the lines you find a bureaucrat, who is dedicated to his job, but a pencil pushing bureaucrat. He describes himself attempting to re-invent the wheel at every new career posting so as to say, "look at me, recognize my accomplishments". I am not a psychologist, but maybe it is the fact he has no law enforcement or military experience prior to his CIA career. I feel there is a feeling of inadequacy there which causes him to, repeatedly, refer to his short time on a protective security detail and how that shaped his career. On more than one occasion he refers to himself as an "operator", which should rub people in the know the wrong way. That said, his overall story and anecdotes make for an interesting read (listen), as well as, a detailed terrorism timeline from his start in the agency.

Don’t buy it

I wanted to like this book. But, unfortunately it’s a boring story. The author drags out really small events like losing his girlfriend Luna. Backed by it’s a secret can’t talk about it. I lost my money, don’t waste your’s. The Mike Drop podcast summarizes this boring book for free!

Don’t wast your money

Can’t determine if it was the narrator or just the story line that made me give up on this book. This book sounded like the script from a B movie plot. As a disabled combat veteran myself I understand the stress of combat and living under constant fear but this book sounds like someone who is only attempting to inflate his own ego. I grew tired of him talking about his girl friend and things that only served the purpose of lengthening the book. He signed up for that job why does he spend so much time complaining about it?