Author Alex Finley Dishes on Life as a Spy

Posted: July 30th, 2019

By Alex Finley

Alex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. She has experience working with foreign liaison and military partners, and received an award for her outstanding contributions to the counterterrorism mission. Before joining the CIA, Alex was a journalist, covering Capitol Hill, the Pentagon, and the Department of Energy. She reported on issues related to national security, intelligence, and homeland security. Alex currently works as an adjunct professor, teaching about terrorism and disinformation / covert influence.

Alex Finley worked for CIA’s Directorate of Operations for about six years in the early 2000s. Her roles took her to places like West Africa and Europe and also allowed for some time at Headquarters in Langley. Her work as a reports officer – which serves as a bridge between case officers who collect information and analysts who use that information – allowed her a unique vantage point from which to observe the good, the bad, and the hilarious things that sometimes transpire when doing the nation’s spy work.

Finley decided to take all of that knowledge and turn it into a hilarious work of fiction called Victor in the Rubble, about a fictional spy named Victor Caro who works for a fictional spy agency called the CYA. Finley followed that first book with a second one earlier this summer titled Victor in the Jungle, which sees Caro relocate to South America, bringing his whole family with him.

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