See No Evil

This was an eye-opening book. The main thing I got from it is that the CIA of today isn't the CIA of 25 years ago. Much more emphasis is placed on internal politics, satellite photos and CYA than on on-the-ground intelligence gathering and that it's going to keep costing us lives and liberties until something changes.

The book was sort of an inverse sandwich. The tastiest parts were closest to the front and back covers and the meat that should have been in the middle was filled with an obscure web of terrorist organizations, middle-eastern names, places and events. I don't mind a little complexity (Russian authors are my favorites), but this was too much to keep up with.

Still, See No Evil was what I hoped for–crazy stories about crazier parts of the world, told in a way that gave me goosebumps, made me feel a little afraid of the condition of the world but at the same time gave me the same thrill that I get watching a Bond movie.