A highly entertaining account of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA, where she hunted terrorists and WMDs “Reads like the show bible for Homeland only her story is real.” –Alison Stewart, WNYC “A thrilling tale…Walder’s fast-paced and intense narrative opens a window into life in two of America’s major intelligence agencies” –Publishers Weekly (starred … intelligence agencies” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)
When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she’d fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.
The Unexpected Spy is the riveting story of Walder’s tenure in the CIA and, later, the FBI. In high-security, steel-walled rooms in Virginia, Walder watched al-Qaeda members with drones as President Bush looked over her shoulder and CIA Director George Tenet brought her donuts. She tracked chemical terrorists and searched the world for Weapons of Mass Destruction. She created a chemical terror chart that someone in the White House altered to convey information she did not have or believe, leading to the Iraq invasion. Driven to stop terrorism, Walder debriefed terrorists–men who swore they’d never speak to a woman–until they gave her leads. She followed trails through North Africa, Europe, and the Middle East, shutting down multiple chemical attacks.
Then Walder moved to the FBI, where she worked in counterintelligence. In a single year, she helped take down one of the most notorious foreign spies ever caught on American soil. Catching the bad guys wasn’t a problem in the FBI, but rampant sexism was. Walder left the FBI to teach young women, encouraging them to find a place in the FBI, CIA, State Department or the Senate–and thus change the world.
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Candid, eye-opening, and inspiring!
The Unexpected Spy is the informative, intriguing story of Tracy Walder’s personal and professional experiences, successes, struggles, and accomplishments as a CIA SOO, FBI Special Agent, and beloved history teacher at an all girl’s school.
The writing is clear and precise. The characters are intelligent, focused, and driven. And the novel is a compelling, fascinating, introspective tale of one woman’s life as a covert operative in the wake of 9/11.
The Unexpected Spy is, ultimately, part memoir, part spy novel that is full of valuable, insightful information into counterterrorism and the roles and efforts of counterintelligence agencies worldwide.
Tracy Walder has lived a very different life. She was recruited into the CIA straight from college and the Delta Gamma house. She was part of the CIA during and after 9/11. Her unique experiences surrounding the terrorist cells and her travels made a very interesting and uncommon story.
Well, the only problem I had with this book is the tone. I felt the author was arrogant. She is probably not. She is probably super nice. But, part of this came across as bragging. I know, I know, just my thoughts. However, it is a good read and I enjoyed learning about situations I knew nothing about. Plus, with all her achievements…then she definitely has bragging rights.
This memoir is a true learning experience. Her job with the FBI made me want to come through this book and beat someone up. Plus, the processes and the people involved opened my eyes to the difficulties surrounding keeping the American people safe.
I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.
A strong story about how to empower women in our country. The author takes a look back at her life and is trying to shape a better future. It is frank and honest. It looks at how politics can cloud the decisions made by the intelligence agencies and bring about warped results. It points out the many issues we have here at home that we should be trying to take care. A book well worth reading.
4 stars
What an amazing memoir Tracy Walder has written! From being a Delta Gamma girl at USC to a counter-intelligence officer in the CIA during 911 and its aftermath, to joining the FBI,Tracy takes the reader to the rooms where it happened. The reader will find parts redacted by the CIA while reading this book. It is amazing how such a young woman instantly earned respect and had the confidence of the CIA at the highest levels. Many times she made this reader feel like I was right there where Tracy Walder was. I especially enjoyed the epilogue to see how she is using her experiences today. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was never a news nerd, I was never a history nerd until November until the time of the 2016 U. S. election. However, I was not unaware of what was going on in the world, I just wasn’t as well informed as I wish I had been. Prior to that election cycle, the only protest in which I had participated was a march up the Grand Concourse, in the Bronx, put on by Veterans Against the War (that would be the Vietnam War, and yes, I am a veteran).
A couple of things occurred to me more than once while reading this book. The first is there are allied intelligence services who don’t work on Sunday, and second this narrative could have been the basis for the TV show “Covert Affairs.” These observations are trivial when viewed in light of the entire narrative. The blurb calls this book “A highly entertaining account…” which it is. It is also a pretty frightening look at how we got to the post 9/11 country we are today.
When I read a book, be it fiction or non-fiction, I read everything including things like the “Author’s Note” at the beginning of THE UNEXPECTED SPY. I find these introductory tidbits highly useful in understanding what I am about to read. As I read the author’s note, I considered all that is in the news right now concerning John Bolton’s book and how it had to go through a vetting process before he could submit it for publication. “THE UNEXPECTED SPY was submitted to the CIA’s Publication Review Board. The board approved the release of this book as long as certain passages or sentences that they deemed threats to national security were redacted. I have left those redactions in place (appearing as black lines on the page) and have tried to maintain the continuity of the narrative around them.” This is no Mueller Report full of offensive black marker looking passages; the redactions are simply dashed lines (several quite long), and, overall, the book flows around them quite nicely.
This is the kind of book that looks interesting and proved to be fascinating and informative. There are passages that will make you cringe, maybe even cry, that are balanced with, if not laughter, a bit of Zen realization on the part of a woman who went from an introverted and bullied schoolgirl to a powerful participant in one of the worst times in American history. To say that I have respect for Tracy Walder is an understatement.
I was particularly captivated by Chapter 9, “Truth and Consquences.” In it I feel that I learned more about the lead up to the Iraq War than I have ever read or heard before. I could easily quote my reasons for singling out this chapter by quoting paragraph after paragraph. I won’t. You need to read them for yourself. We, the American people, were lied to then and are still being lied to today. Why do I believe this woman? Because she holds nothing back about her life or her working experience. And, because I can see no reason for her to lie. This book is as much about Tracy Walder as it is about the failings of government and its agencies.
The majority of this narrative deals with Ms. Walder’s experience as a CIA agent. She did some amazing work in the worst of places. And, she retained her humanity and strength of purpose. Her experience with the FBI is a statement on misogyny in law enforcement in this country.
Over the past few years, I have read several books by powerful women. I’m talking about women who have taken their destiny into their own hands and have made a difference. I am adding Tracy Walder to that list of women.
The Unexpected Spy is told in straight forward, easy to read style with only a few backtracks in the timeline when appropriate for setting the scene. Given the nature of Walder’s career in counterintelligence, there is a lot of information missing. I can’t decide if I agree with the decision to leave the obvious ~ to mark the redacted information in the book, though I understand why.
Readers spend most of their time in and around Walder’s career with the Central Intelligence Agency as a counterintelligence operative. This is followed by a much smaller section involving her time with the FBI. I wish there was more information about Walder’s time in the FBI but considering the length of her time in service and the role she served, it also shows readers why she was compelled to leave the bureau.
Ultimately, I enjoyed this memoir even if I didn’t binge it due to sensitivity to some of the material covered. I think out of the entire book, the epilogue was my favorite simply because of the heartwarming scenes with her students. I think her goal to educate and uplift female students is fantastic. If you enjoyed Jet Girls by Caroline Johnson, then I strongly suspect you will enjoy Walder’s story of her time with the CIA and FBI.
**I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Full review will be posted to Dream Come Review on 20 Feb 2020.
This was an interesting book, at times it was really good.
Other times I thought it was a bit wordy. I like the fact that the author was intent on girl power and teaching girls they can be and do whatever they want. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the early copy