Breaking Cover

My Secret Life in the CIA and What it Taught Me About What's Worth Fighting For

By: Michele Rigby Assad

Narrated by: Michele Rigby Assad

Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's Summary

The CIA is looking for walking contradictions. Recruiters seek people who can keep a secret, yet pull classified information out of others; who love their country, but are willing to leave it behind to head into dangerous places; who live double lives, but can be trusted with some of the nation's most highly sensitive tasks.

Michele Rigby Assad was one of those people.

As a CIA agent, Michele soon found that working undercover was an all-encompassing job. The threats were real. The mission was a perilous one. Trained as a counterterrorism expert, Michele spent over a decade in the agency - a woman leading some of the most highly skilled operatives on the planet, secretly serving in some the most treacherous areas of the Middle East. But deep inside, Michele wondered: Could she really do this job? Was she in the right place at the right time, or had she misunderstood what she thought was God's calling on her life? Did she have what it would take to survive?

The answer came when Michele faced a life-or-death choice - one that had secretly been the plan for her all along. In Breaking Cover, Michele has at last been cleared to drop cover and tell her story: one of incredible struggle; of thwarted plans and expectations; and most of all, of discovering a faith greater than all her fears.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2018 Tyndale Momentum (P)2018 Oasis Audio

Really great at times...

I really enjoyed every part of where she discussed about her experiences in the CIA and how she became an agent. her references and education towards the Middle East in both culture and knowledge was extremely fascinating to me and I felt was very eye-opening in a lot of ways. However, from someone who is not religious at all, I really wish that this book would’ve come with a large warning label that much of the book is reference to Christianity and God is talked about every other word it feels like. I don’t have any disrespect towards the religion but I also did not anticipate to read a book that solely referenced the whole book around it. That was a very large turn off for me on this book.

Misleading Title, uninteresting plot line

This book tends to focus more on faith than actually breaking her cover of the CIA. The story is not well written and hardly gives a good insight into this “secret world” of a CIA agent.

Good story, bad book

This was a story worth telling but it is not written well. It is repetitive, full of cliches (religious and otherwise) and much too self-conscious. I finished it since it was for book club but turned it off several times because It was so annoying.

Definitely worth a listen.

Very interesting story and quite different than expected. Held my attention the entire time and great to know people like this exist in the world.

Deceptive title and sample.

The title of this book leads you to believe you are reading an. experienced agent's storied, but it is really a religious book. The writer seems quite in experienced and mainly just tells long drawn out stories like a lhigh school girl would.

Who knew being a spy in the CIA could be so boring

Not very good writing or narration. Found myself wanting to skip chapter after chapter. Too much fluff. The prologue was the most interesting part of the book.

CIA and God

Here is a quick review: God, CIA, CIA, God, CIA, God, God, etc and etc.

I can usually put with a lot, but this book pushed my limits. To start with, the author never deeply delved into the work at the CIA. Much was about her own feelings about the work, but not much about the work. I never felt like I was immersed in her life. There was sense of tastes or smells. No feeling of a life lived. The author just sort of skimmed over her time with the CIA just giving a small taste of the work.

And then God. I usually have no problem with God mentioned in a book. But since this was a book about the CIA (I thought), I didn't expect the unending religious thoughts. And what was more interesting was that the author's faith was taken at face value in relation to her, but not in relation to people with other religious beliefs. God directed her, but in no way directed others with different beliefs. This deluge of fundamentalist belief became overwhelming and detracted from the story.

So in the end the book was only mildly interesting in some places and very heavy handed in religion. Honestly I wish I had given the book a pass. There are much better books on the CIA.

Amazing human along with the power of prayer

I normally don’t write that many reviews, however this is a special read for all those that have struggled or lost faith. I am power to have these types of people serving our country and humanity.

Disappointing

I have searched all over for this book, and ended up downloading audible just to read it. I had heard interviews and the initial review of the book looked great. I was excited to engage in an in depth look of a woman’s view in the CIA. Unfortunately, it was less an “exciting thriller-like read” and more an inundation of testimony and Christian bias and views. The story only barely glosses over her time in the CIA, focusing the last half of the book on her mission work outside of the CIA, after having served 10 years in the agency. She tells a few stories of life abroad, but the only detail emerges when talking about the work she did with refugees and IDPs after being employed. This would be fine if the title wasn’t “my secret life in the CIA” - it is HIGHLY misleading. Also, if you are not Christian, you will feel extremely alienated and annoyed by the fact that you spent actual money to listen to this book. The only praise should go to the marketers, who made it seem like this book was definitely worth the read. This isn’t to discount the author’s experience or work, which definitely made a mark in the lives of IDP’s specifically. But it is not a regaling tale of experiences in the CIA. It is more like part resume, (some of the “experiences” are lifted straight out of government performance reports. Anyone familiar with government work will recognize it) part Christian testimony, and has way too much religious ideology to even be taken seriously most of the time. I am very disappointed with the misleading title and cover praise for this book.

Excellent

Wonderful life story and testimony.
Once we started we couldn't put it down.
We've recommended it to others
Story is great and her narration was excellent
thanks for writing it

Not quite the book it's title suggests

At the simplest level, this is the story of one person's personal journey from entering the CIA to what they did next.

"Secret life" is a little dramatic and even what is presented doesn't go into great depth. There isn't a lot to learn about "what's worth fighting for" apart from what was important to this person, and a fair bit of that appeared to be a 'God will show you the way' type message.

I really like Michelle's narration. Having heard her on various podcasts, this was a little slower but 1.25x sorted that out neatly. I would be keen to hear her read other books. A real highlight for me.

2/3 of the book is about the CIA journey, and the final third is about a particular project to find somewhere for persecuted middle Eastern Christians. Although I wasn't expecting that, I mostly enjoyed it. However the praying and faith in God stuff here was laid on a bit too thickly for me - I am not against it's inclusion but it was definitely too much for me.

Not a lot to learn here - but you may find the personal story interesting. I was hoping for more insightful stuff to take away for my own life. If my expectation was different, I think I would have rated it a bit higher. The narration is excellent.