Doing Time Like A Spy
How the CIA Taught Me to Survive and Thrive in Prison
- 2017 INDIES Finalist
- Finalist, Autobiography & Memoir (Adult Nonfiction)
A great memoir offers the-rest-of-the-story appeal, and when the CIA, 9/11, waterboarding, whistleblowing, scapegoating, coverups, and federal prison all factor in, the page turning reaches hyperdrive. John Kiriakou spent fifteen years working for the CIA, including the infamous period following 9/11. In 2002, he was invited to be certified in enhanced interrogation techniques but said no, rightly recognizing it as sanctioned torture. Even so, he was privy to all the sordid details. Jump to 2007 when ABC News asked him to rebut charges that he tortured an al-Qaeda prisoner. He proceeded to go on air and disclose way, way too much detail about the interrogation policy; the CIA promptly went ballistic and then spent years fabricating a case to get Kiriakou arrested. They finally succeeded, and he spent twenty-three months behind bars. With humor and poignancy, he writes about his not-so-terrible prison experience—the CIA trained him well.
Reviewed by
Matt Sutherland
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