The first thing one should know when reading this book is that the author, T.J. Waters, did not pass the CIA training course which is the subject of his book, a fact he conveniently omits. This fact casts some doubt on whether he is really a good source of information on the Agency and its training course.

Another fact which he distorts is his constant claim that his class was the "first post 9/11 class." His was the first class to be hired after 9/11, however, as his class started in July 2002 according to his book, it would seem that the previous class, class 10, was the first post 9/11 class.

The dishonesty and distortions aside, it was difficult to get through the book for many reasons. The main one is that TJ comes off as a self-involved jerk, not nearly as witty, talented or funny as he thinks he is. He takes every opportunity to let you know that his wife is hot, that he lives in an expensive house, and he does cool things like scuba diving and karate. Perhaps he was overcompensating for feeling inadequate for not passing the course.

Although his attempts at humor fall flat, there are many parts of the book which are unintentionally laughable, such as the following passage from the Afterword:

"Bin Ladin. He is our singular obsession - the one man who shook Western society unlike any other before him. This is the reason we scour the Pakistani mountains, interview thousands of Afghan tribesmen, and elicit nefarious individuals in the dusty hinterlands of the Middle East. We cannot stop. We will not stop."

Please. So overdramatic. Not to mention the fact that TJ himself has done none of this. Its another example of his dishonesty.

The passage also illustrates the book's poor writing. At times it sounds like a third-rate romance novel, as in the below passage from page 11, describing his first trip home to visit his wife:

"I slip out from under the covers without waking Cathy and go to the kitchen to start the coffee...It's an absolutely spectacular Florida morning.

A voice startles me from the tranquil scene. 'So, do you miss me or the water?'

Cathy waits until I walk back to the house before applying a coy, come hither tactic.

'I'm glad you came home,' she whispers in my ear.
The coffee will have to wait."

OK TJ, I get it, you had sex with your wife. Good for you.

I also noticed that many of the women in the book "coo" (see page 80). Again, bad romance novel.

The main reason people would read this book would be to find out about the CIA training program. I did not feel like I got a good sense of the program. TJ was too busy talking about himself and his run-ins with the instructors. One thing that was clear was that TJ really bonded with his classmates. But his efforts to capture the spirit of camraderie fail, and some of his classmates come across as being just as self-involved and shallow as he does.

Overall, I regret putting money in TJ's pocket by buying this book. But, perhaps it was worth it for all the laughs I have gotten at his expense by reading passages aloud to my friends.

I'm dumbfounded by all of the credit given this book, especially by former author's who have written about the Agency and the subject of intelligence. Shame!

There's an old saying in CIA that says, "There's nothing more useless than a well known secret," which leaves me to wonder of the purpose of this book, other than to make a fast buck. I get the feeling that what we have here is "payback" from a trainee that has been found "wanting" in a program that challenged him beyond his talents.

As a former intelligence officer with 38 years of service in the intelligence business from both a civilian and a military perspective, I am intimately familiar with the training program described in this book not only as former instructor but also (and later) as one of its managers.

While I could nit pick this thing do death, I'll raise only a few questions that challenge the veracity of its contents.

First, in my not so humble opinion the segment regarding remote delivery bugs (no pun intended), p. 17, such as the "dragon fly" is pure fiction given microphone technology (not to mention battery technology as well as laser technology) 40 years prior to Class 11. Back then, we would have needed a Stork and a diaper to deliver the dragonfly to its intended target. And what about the Agency, with all of its resources, needing the author to gratuitously get it a "real dragonfly" to put on its demo board. Give me a break!

Second, the segment, p.54, regarding car surveillance training is ludicrous. The author relates having been shown pictures of purported car crashes from previous class mishaps that calls to my mind a picture resembling a demolition derby. Consider the potential impact, if true, of the property damage, personal injury, and possible death to US citizens, not to mention court battles, as a result of a classified training program undertaken by a secret organization of the US Government having "deep pockets"--a veritable personal injury lawyer's paradise. Allen Dulles would be turning over in his grave were this a true case.

Third, the segment, p. 223, regarding disguises is almost as bad, if not worse, than the one above. From the author's description of events one would think the Agency has turned loose a group of trainees going to a Halloween party in a mall of all places. This whole segment discredits the fine work of the men and women in the "disguise department" who are nothing but professional. The bit about the police officer who immediately connects the trainees to the Farm as a result of their disguises is even too much for my imagination to accept.

I'd give this book half a star, were it possible, so as not to denigrate my fallen colleagues whose stars appear on a wall as the author describes on page four of his book. Upon completion of this book, which I found to be a challenge, I come away with a feeling that the author has mastered the art of "Bovine Excrement." I'm convinced it was an art that he had honed long before he joined the Agency in a career that was far too long in my "not so humble" opinion.

Mr. Water's book is both ill-informed and near worthless. He failed in his training as a clandestine officer, was rated below satisfactory (the lowest rating possible) in a number of his exercises and was not certified as an operations officer. This is merely his way of making a few bucks.

Not a bad book, it had a lot of interesting parts. Craft of Intelligence is better though. By the way...did anybody figure out who the "real" Daryll is? Whats his "real" name? If anyone knows, add a comment with it. Thanks

when I 1st saw that this book was coming out, i was incredibly excited. I love reading about the CIA, all their covert actions and such, but very little is ever discussed about the training they go through...
Then, weeks later when it was for sale, i read some reviews saying it was crappy, too personal, someone complained about "adult beverages", and whatnot...which made me very UN-excited to buy the book. Eventually, though, I did end up buying it and it was definitely the right choice!
The author definitely does sound too full of himself and how great of a class theirs was..how patriotic they all are, etc...especially since yes, what, 3 years later he's already out of the Agency and working for contractors!! but DESPITE all that, the book if full of interesting information about what exactly case officers go through for training...buy the book just for that! He talks about his time in the CounterTerrorism Center and other places at HQ..also, he provides details on how they train to go through checkpoints, airport immigration, moving into the "farm", how agents learn acting and how to spot liars, etc. Not only that, he discusses his instructors, how they graded him and what they said....it's not dry reading at the very least. ..Further, they talk about dead-drops, SDRs, which if i recall, are Surveillance Detection Routes?...and what to look for to develop your own...He also shares funny..very funny stories about his interactions with his co-workers and (training)undercover runs at local malls where the police get suspicious....
GREAT BOOK...it doesn't go into actual on the job work, just kinda ends when they graduate training...