Best of
Espionage

2009

The Gray Man


Mark Greaney - 2009
    But he’s a great assassin. To those who lurk in the shadows, he’s known as the Gray Man. He is a legend in the covert realm, moving silently from job to job, accomplishing the impossible and then fading away. And he always hits his target. Always. But there are forces more lethal than Gentry in the world. Forces like money. And power. And there are men who hold these as the only currency worth fighting for. And in their eyes, Gentry has just outlived his usefulness. But Court Gentry is going to prove that, for him, there’s no gray area between killing for a living and killing to stay alive…

G.I. Joe: COBRA


Christos Gage - 2009
    He's the Joes' top undercover agent. And he's just infiltrated a top secret, highly organized terrorist organization... one the Joes aren't familiar with... one with a snake motif. As Chuckles is pulled deeper and deeper into the dark underbelly of Cobra, where one misstep means death, can he pull off the ultimate deception and bring them down from within?

The Guys Who Spied For China


Gordon Basichis - 2009
    What's remarkable is that most of this story is true.

The Project Mkultra Compendium: The Cia's Program Of Research In Behavioral Modification


Stephen Foster - 2009
    The most famous and notable of these was MKULTRA, which from 1953 to 1964 spawned 149 subprojects that developed and studied "a number of procedures for influencing and predicting human behavior by chemical and psychological means." The intention for the techniques was to "have both defensive applications ... and offensive applications (e.g. the use of psychochemicals to control or discredit an individual)." The Project MKULTRA Compendium presents the results of investigations into these programs, offering views on the ethics and limits of medical research.

Wiring Up the Big Brother Machine...and Fighting It


Mark Klein - 2009
    After the New York Times revealed in 2005 that the NSA was spying on Americans' phone calls and e-mail without Constitutionally-required court warrants, the Bush administration openly defended this practice which also violated the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. All details of the highly secret program remained hidden from the public-until Klein came forward. A technician for over 22 years at telecom giant AT&T, Klein was working in the Internet room in San Francisco in 2003 and discovered the NSA was vacuuming everyone's communications into a secret room, and he had the documents to prove it (sample pages included). He went to the media in 2006, and then became a witness in a lawsuit brought against the company by the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Spirit of Resistance: The Life of SOE Agent Harry Peulev�, Dso MC


Nigel Perrin - 2009
    On his first mission to occupied France to set up the SCIENTIST circuit, he broke his leg on landing and, after numerous close calls, made an heroic crossing of the Pyrenees on sticks in December 1942. Imprisoned, he escaped and eventually returned to England in May 1943.He formed a close friendship with Violette Szabo before setting out to train a Maquis group in central France. Despite the Gestapo's repeated attempts to catch him he built up a secret army of several thousand resistance fighters. Eventually betrayed and captured, he was tortured at Avenue Foch but never broken. By coincidence he and Violette met while in captivity before Harry was sent to Buchenwald where he not only avoided execution but also managed to escape reaching American lines in April 1945. Sadly Peulev� never fully recovered from his wartime traumas but nothing can detract from his outstanding courage and contribution.

The Greatest Threat: The Black Panther Party and COINTELPRO


Marshall "Eddie" Conway - 2009
    

Spy Technology (Spies and Spying)


Stephen Timblin - 2009
    Covers the history of spy gear and an introduction to secret codes.

The Secret Agent X Omnibus: The Murder Monster, Legion Of The Living Dead & The Fear Merchants


Brant House - 2009
    The series was unique in another respect. As a Wikipedia entry notes: "In the stories, the true identity of Secret Agent X is never revealed. He is a master of disguise, known as "the man of a thousand faces", who adopts several different identities in each story. Although he is a dedicated crime-fighter working undercover for the U.S. government, this is unknown to the police who consider him an outlaw. His true role is known only to newspaper reporter Betty Dale and his mysterious Washington controller, K-9." Like other pulp hero novels, the Secret Agent X stories are filled with nonstop action, bizarre villains, fiendish weapons, and diabolical plots, as these book-length reprints show. If you love the Shadow, the Spider and Doc Savage, you will love Secret Agent X.

The Confessions of Peter Crossman


Debra Doyle - 2009
    Macdonald. From the Spear of Antioch to the Holy Grail, Crossman keeps the holy things holy and the pilgrims safe with cool wit, hot lead, and perfect faith.