Spy Dust: Two Masters of Disguise Reveal the Tools and Operations That Helped Win the Cold War

by Antonio J. Méndez and Jonna Méndez

Book Overview

From the author of the Golden Globe winner and Oscar nominated Argo, a true-life thriller set against the backdrop of the Cold War, which unveils the life of an American spy from the inside and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743428528
• ISBN13: 9780743428521
• Release Date: September 2002
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 306 Pages
• Weight: 1.25 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.3" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

GOOD read

I totally enjoyed this book. If you like stories about clandestine operations, you will love this one. Just enough background description, a small amount of romance and good descriptions of undercover ops. I only wish they would have been able to tell some of the things that are still classified. Sometimes I had to 'read between the lines' in order to figure out what was REALLY going on. Read it. You will like it!

Authoritative Voice

Like Antonio Mendez' first book, Master of Disguise, this excellent entry in true espionage is filled with the nuts and bolts of daily intelligence work. As described in the book, it is a life that is messy, frustrating, and in the odd rare moment, filled with coincidences that are all the more satisfying because they are true. The tone is light, crisp and clear. As one would expect from Bruce Henderson, the story is narrative-driven, providing a human element and strong sense of place within the events described. The book offers no "dirt" on the CIA - Mendez is a loyal company man - but there is much insight into the workings of the organization during tumultuous and key years. The glossary is thorough without being exhaustive. Non-fiction fans and those interested in espionage will be pleased. David R. Bannon, Ph.D.; author "Race Against Evil."

Real spying is not a James Bond movie

My wife and I enjoyed the story line and the detail of the real trade. Unlike sensationalized books, we enjoyed knowing that what we read was actual spy craft and not an author's fantasy. The love story adds a human element to the tale in a world of characters usually thought to be as ice cold or as sensual as ... Galore. Real world spying without the cliffhanger made for movie scenes. Great read.

True life tales better than thriller fiction

Having retired after 29.5 years in the CIA, I found SPY DUST a fascinating read in one sitting. It reveals the Agency indeed has "Mission Impossible" capabilities equal to those dreamed up by thriller genre authors who lack the personal experience of Antonio and Jonna. I was a bit upset by the negative tone of some of the reviews here, from people who obviously had been so influenced by trashy fiction they were unable to recognize "the real thing" when they saw it.Antonio and Jonna were highly-specialized technicians supporting the operations of other case officers, operations whose complexity often requires the orchestrated participation of dozens of other Agency officers, and coordination with many different "desks" at Headquarters and field stations in other countries. In this sense, during their careers they probably enjoyed a higher level of job satisfaction than most case officers, who have the difficult, mostly frustrating task of finding and recruiting foreigners to spy for them. Most thriller authors have no idea of the amount of planning and preparation these real operations involve, and how easily things can go wrong. SPY DUST is a welcome eye-opener in this regard.Because of their specialization, Antonio and Jonna contributed to more interesting operations every year than most case officers see in a lifetime. My hat is off to their obvious expertise, and I fully understand (which some reviewers did not) why they were unable to include more nitty-gritty details on exactly how some of their amazing technical tricks were performed. Former CIA employees find a realistic true-life book such as SPY DUST extremely difficult to write, because it must be cleared (some would say censored) by the CIA Publications Review Board. Despite that, it is amazing how much informative detail and "been there, done that" personal experience the authors were able to reveal.I never met the authors while we were all still "on the job," but SPY DUST has given me a deeper appreciation of their technical colleagues I encountered overseas.

A Great Book With A Drop Dead Ending

I found this book to be an excellent read, and plan on giving it to several of my friends for Christmas. I have read other, similar, accounts of life in the espionage field, but have never found a book that gave you a real look at the personal side of the business. This couple stated in their Smithsonian talk, shown on C-Span, that they hoped to "undemonize" the idea of the CIA, to put a human face on it. They have done that. I caught their book launch at the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C. and was hooked. If you ever wondered how scarey the work is, they will clarify that for you. How hard does your heart beat in the middle of an operation, in the middle of a polygraph? It is all here, plus a couple of operations that will cause you to hold your breath, or at least caused me to. What more can you ask for - a definite keeper for my library shelf, and a gift that I know will please my friends. I hope they write another!