Anonymous Male

A Life Among Spies

By: Christopher Whitcomb

Narrated by: Christopher Whitcomb

A no-holds-barred memoir about identity, from a former Hostage Rescue Team sniper who left the FBI on 9/11 only to lose himself, moving deeper into a world of spies.

“Imagine if Hunter S. Thompson had been a CIA asset. That’s one way to describe Anonymous Male, whose author, Christopher Whitcomb, was an FBI sniper turned global-war-on-terror freelance intelligence agent.”—The Wall Street Journal

In September 2001, Christopher Whitcomb was the most visible FBI agent in the world. His bestselling memoir, Cold Zero, had led to novels, articles in GQ, and op-eds in The New York Times. He appeared on Imus in the Morning, Larry King, and Meet the Press; he was nominated for a Peabody reporting for CNBC. He played poker with Brad Pitt while contracting for the CIA.

Then one day in 2006, without warning, Whitcomb packed a bag, flew into Somalia, and dropped off the face of the earth. For fifteen years, he waged a mercenary war on himself, traveling the world with aliases, cash, and guns. He built a private army in the jungles of Timor-Leste, working contracts for intelligence agencies, where he survived a coup d’état only to lose his friends, abandon his family, and give up on God.

And though many stories might have ended there, Anonymous Male is a tale of redemption. While surfing the wilds of Indonesia, Whitcomb found himself trapped beneath a giant wave, where, at the edge of drowning, he came to terms with the chaos of his own clandestine life. He survived the wave to find his way home and rebuild the world that he had abandoned.

Anonymous Male is a riveting memoir about loss and recovery, a deeply intimate story that spans continents, war, politics and the media. It is a confession, and a cautionary tale of what happens to people whom the government trains to lie, even to themselves.

Critic reviews

“I can think of no recent book that so deeply penetrates the layers civilization has sifted atop the world, the one that’s always seething away at the bottom of all things. It’s not a pretty picture but a searingly beautiful one, in the way of beauty that can scorch your hand. Or your soul. I can’t explain it—read this book and you’ll understand.”—Jeffrey Lent, author of Before We Sleep

“Mr. Whitcomb writes he had a ‘backstage pass to the world.’ He tells us about it here with candor and with the stunning courage to admit he admires Emily Dickinson.”—David Mamet

“Imagine if Hunter S. Thompson had been a CIA asset. That’s one way to describe “Anonymous Male,” whose author, Christopher Whitcomb, was an FBI sniper turned global-war-on-terror freelance intelligence agent.”—The Wall Street Journal

“Traveling with Whitcomb on his self-assigned adventures is entertaining. . . . A deftly written romp through the fantastical world of federal agents, warlords, journalists, and the men who bankroll them.”—Kirkus Reviews

Glimpses of reality

Outstanding book that gives an average American insight into what goes on behind the scenes of countries and conflicts. It also talks about the realities of living with the roles these people have played and things they have seen and done. Everything has a price and often that’s what we don’t hear about afterwards. Thank you for your service to this country and others.

A long road for sure.

I’m curious why no mention of Waco and how that shaped his perspectives going forward. Chris does a great job narrating. Hopefully I’ll get “anonymous son”signed soon when Chris goes on tour. Great Book!!!

Too good to be true

Fascinating story that loses credibility finally. The story is fascinating in every way but three-fourths of the way through, I stopped. Too fantastic to be true.

Too much name dropping

Nothing too much seems to be going on here. In addition, the name-dropping is excessive. A writer should be able to stand on their own, not try to prop up their narrative with names of persons they tangentially may know or have met once or twice. May return this one.

Disappointing

I have never left a review on a book before but felt like I needed to on this one. While the description sounds promising, this book is terrible. It is poorly written and exceptionally difficult to follow…the author bounces around from story to story and the plot line is not clear at all and is just full of a lot of bragging and self promotion. Would not recommend at all.