CIPHER BRIEF FEATURE REPORTING -- With the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, now is a good time for our annual summer list of recommended beach reads. Since we are The Cipher Brief, our favorites include not only thrillers and realistic, fast-paced novels – but some notable works of non-fiction on matters of national security, intelligence and foreign policy. And there’s a cookbook thrown in for good measure.
We’ve carefully combed through the books that we’ve recently had reviewed by experts who have lived the spy or spy-related life - and we’ve singled out some titles we think you might enjoy at the beach or wherever you’re taking refuge from the summer heat. (And just a note: if you do click and buy using links, we might make a small commission. At least enough to pay for the paper this was printed on.)
Let’s get cooking, shall we?
Cookbook / Whiskey Category
Yep, you read that right. Leading our list of summer reads is one that has taken over the #1 spot in Amazon’s whiskey and alcoholic spirits categories, A Spy Walked Into A Bar: A Practitioner's Guide to Cocktail Tradecraft by former senior CIA Officers Rob Dannenberg and Joseph P. Mullin Jr. Think of it as a real-life guide to spies and their favorite cocktails. Based on experiences from their clandestine operations backgrounds, Rob and Joe have collected, curated and perfected the cocktails that were enjoyed while celebrating milestone events during their CIA careers. From the drinks they ordered after successfully recruiting assets, to marking the end of a major operation, this book features real life stories and homegrown photos by the authors themselves.
Novels
Appropriate for summer, is a new spy novel from Tess Gerritsen, The Summer Guests: A Thriller. This is Tess’ second spy book, after her very successful TV series a few years ago called Rizzoli and Isles. Gerritsen talked with Cipher Brief CEO & Publisher Suzanne Kelly about her journey from the popular TV series to spy author in the Cover Stories podcast – that was just after her first book, The Spy Coast was released. Veteran CIA officers Jay and Anne Gruner reviewed her latest book about four retired CIA officers living in Maine. The Gruners tell us it is a “gripping account of a complex set of murders, a possible recent kidnapping, and a secretary who was missing for 50 years.” talking about her previous spy-themed book.
Former U.S. counterterrorism officer and cybersecurity executive Neal Pollard broke the code on Ken Dekleva’s novel, The Russian Diplomat’s Wife. In his review, Neal says while the book ostensibly is a spy novel set in Vienna, it’s really a love story between two spies. Author (and frequent Cipher Brief contributor) Dekleva draws on his experience as a psychiatrist working for the State Department in many of the locales central to the book and his understanding of human motivation seems to bring his stories to life. We know because we also interviewed the author for the Cover Stories Podcast.
Speaking of Dekleva, we tapped his expertise to review several books by other authors this year. One worthy of special mention is The Poet’s Game: A Spy in Moscow by Paul Vidich. Dekleva calls the novel is a terrific read about a former CIA station chief in Moscow, now working as an investor in a private equity market in Moscow. The chief was called back to duty though to exfiltrate a former agent who claims to have explosive kompromat regarding America’s president. Navigating between two perilous worlds, those of Moscow and Washington, the storyline seems to offer proof that the cold war never really ended.
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Going back even further in time, Dekleva also reviewed Assignment in Saigon: A Cold War Thriller by former senior CIA officer Bill Rapp. In his review, Dekleva says that to truly understand the intelligence war in Vietnam, fiction may offer more to the reader and Rapp’s novel is a most worthy read.
Spy mastery is the theme of retired senior CIA officer Jim Lawler’s latest novel, The Traitors Tale: A Novel of Treachery within the CIA. We turned to another seasoned Agency officer, and Cipher Brief expert, Joe Augustyn, to review it. Augustyn told us: “Jim Lawler has written an intriguing and captivating novel that should satisfy the appetite of any spy novel enthusiast. His character descriptions are impressive, his knowledge of the Agency, its bureaucracy and its inner workings is deep, and his operational savvy is on display throughout. Impressive too is his understanding of the dynamics of personal relationships, both professional and personal, which he calls the “metaphysics” of spying.” You can learn more about Lawler and his book from this Cover Stories Podcast interview.
Non- Fiction
While we have reported on a ton of fine fiction over the past six months, real life stories, history and analysis have played an even larger role in our coverage. Among the books we’d like to invite (or re-invite) to your attention here are: Secret Servants of the Crown: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence by Claire Hubbard-Hall and reviewed for us by Cipher Brief expert Tim Willasey-Wilsey, a real-life former member of the British Foreign Office. Willasey-Wilsey called it a “marvelous book and a valuable addition to what is known about the early days of the British secret services.” We were lucky to have the author join us on a Cipher Brief Cover Stories podcast as well, describing the untold tales of women who silently served – including Katleen Pettigrew who was the inspiration for Ian Fleming’s “Miss Moneypenny” in the James Bond novels.
For an American take on unsung women in intelligence, there is Propaganda Girls: The Secret War of the Women of the OSS by Lisa Rogak. The former director of the CIA’s Office of Public Affairs, Tammy Kupperman Thorp reviewed the book that focuses on four women who played significant roles in the Office of Strategic Service (OSS) influence campaigns during World War II. She writes that women members of the OSS were in charge of “black propaganda” primarily a “series of believable lies designed to cause the enemy soldiers to lose heart and ultimately surrender.”
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There is also a good read out there about the spouses and families of intelligence operatives who serve as well. For a fascinating look at that life, check out Story of a CIA Wife: Married to the Craft by Rosie Mowatt-Larssen. Veteran journalist and contributing Cipher Brief editor Elaine Shannon reviewed that one for us and lauds the author’s “razor wit” and tales of life in numerous overseas posts including time in Moscow where she helped slip KGB tails, serviced dead drops and lived a life that at times was the stuff of spy thrillers. For more on Rosie – check out her interview with us for the Cover Stories podcast.
We also have several books about action in World War II that we’d recommend. Let’s start with Nothing But Courage: The 82nd Airborne’s Daring D-Day Mission and Their Heroic Charge Across the La Fière Bridge by James Donovan. We went to a subject matter expert to review that one – retired Army Major General Jack Leide. The book tells of one of the most operationally important but lesser-known stories of World War II. Leide praised the author for providing “incredibly insightful and intricate descriptions and actions of, not only the allied and German military forces arrayed against each other, but how the operation affected many of the local French residents and resistance forces as well.”
For a far less heroic view of some of the events in that war, there is The Traitor of Arnhem: The Untold Story of WWII’s Greatest Betrayal and the Moment that Changed History Forever by Robert Verkaik. Recently declassified British MI-5 documents help animate this story of a strategic failure that delayed Allied victory in the war and came at a steep human cost. CIA veteran (and Cipher Brief expert) Martin Peterson reviewed the book for us and writes that the author makes a strong circumstantial case that Anthony Blunt, one of Russia’s British agents, played a vital role in passing intelligence to the Germans that damaged the Allies chances of success.
For a story about operational and intelligence success, there’s Taking Midway: Naval Warfare, Secret Codes and the Battle that Turned the Tide of World War II by Martin Dugard. Had the Battle of Midway turned out differently, Hawaii and the west coast of the United States stood vulnerable to Japanese attack. The battle was won by the U.S. though through a combination of steely leadership by Admiral Chester Nimitz, and brilliant cryptological work led by a quirky Lieutenant Commander named Joe Rochefort. Normally, our go-to source for book reviewers are gray-haired subject matter experts. For this one, we tried something different and gave the mission to Jack Montgomery, a U.S. Navy ensign currently serving on a Japan-based ship. Montgomery, whose master’s degree thesis was on the Solomon Islands Campaign, notes that the author’s writing style with short punchy sentences makes the book a quick, enjoyable and informative read. Dugard joined us for a Cover Stories podcast recently in which he explained how he developed his story-telling style and researched the book.
Another book sure to fascinate many Cipher Brief readers is The Determined Spy: The Turbulent Life and Times of CIA Pioneer Frank Wisner by veteran journalist Doug Waller. Wisner’s story sounds like fiction. Standout track star in college, lawyer, innovative leader in the OSS during World War II, one of the founders of the CIA, author of successful and unsuccessful covert actions, prominent player in the Georgetown social set – but victim of what would now be called bipolar disorder – an illness that eventually led to his taking of his own life. Former senior CIA officer (and Cipher Brief expert) Mike Sulick reviewed the book for us noting that the bio was long overdue and “an invaluable contribution to understanding the rewards and pitfalls of covert action as a tool of American foreign policy.” Waller joined us in a Cover Stories podcast to share some of the secrets of writing about this trailblazing figure of U.S. intelligence.
A trailblazer of a different kind was Major General Jack Leide whose book, Professional Courage: My Journey in Military Intelligence Through Peace, Crisis and War, was featured in a January review. Leide has been inducted into four different military halls of fame. The stories he tells – and the lessons learned in Vietnam, in China during Tiananmen Square, and as Central Command Director of Intelligence during Desert Shield and Desert Storm make it a valuable read. He also kindly joined us for a Cipher Brief Cover Stories podcast where he told us about the challenges of telling a demanding boss what they need to know rather than what they want to hear.
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For a completely different kind of book, there is Zero Sum: The Arc of International Business in Russia by Charles Hecker. It is a look at the wild world of global commerce launched from Russia following the fall of the Soviet Union. Cipher Brief expert Nick Fishwick, a veteran of nearly thirty years with the British Foreign Office, reviewed it for us – calling it a “grizzly odyssey” and one “full of crisp soundbites.” Hecker addresses the question of why the west was so wrong in its analysis of the post hammer and sickle Russia.
Our tech savvy followers might particularly be interested in Chasing Shadows: Cyber Espionage, Subversion, and the Global Fight for Democracy, by Ronald Deibert. Jean-Thomas Nicole, a policy advisor with Public Safety Canada and a frequent reviewer for us, says the book “offers an enlightening and terrifying glimpse into the ubiquitous and murky world of mercenary spyware and digital transnational repression.”
To wrap up our summer books newsletter, what would be more appropriate than a book about books? We are referring to The Admiral’s Bookshelf, by retired Navy Admiral (and Cipher Brief expert) James Stavridis. This spring, the admiral published his 15th book, and this one is about 25 books (a mixture of fiction and non-fiction) that he credits with having helped guide his career and life. Former CIA officer (and author himself) Jim Lawler reviewed it for us and praised the way Stavridis candidly discusses not only his successes – but also his stumbles during his long career and how the books on his bookshelf can help all of us avoid some heartache and frustration. Suzanne hosted the Admiral on a Cover Stories podcast where he explained how leaders can learn not only from Sun Tzu’s The Art of War but also Mario Puzo’s The Godfather.
We’ve only touched on some of the books reviewed in 2025 in The Cipher Brief. You can find all of our reviews here.
One of the things that makes Cipher Brief reviews of books so valuable is that our reviewers are experts in their own right. If you think you may have the chops to be a Cipher Brief book reviewer, check out our guidelines – and if you still think you’d be a good fit – drop us a note at undercover@thecipherbrief.com to toss your hat in the ring. Let us know your particular interests and areas of expertise. Whenever possible, we try to marry up expert reviewers with forthcoming books. We try to get the reviewers advance copies – and aim to publish reviews right around the time a book is goes on sale.
We’re wishing you happy summer reading!
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