Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America - Hardcover

Barsky, Jack

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1496416821 ISBN 13: 9781496416827

Publisher: Tyndale Momentum, 2017

Synopsis

One decision can end everything . . . or lead to unlikely redemption.
Millions watched the CBS 60 Minutes special on Jack Barsky in 2015. Now, in this fascinating memoir, the Soviet KGB agent tells his story of gut-wrenching choices, appalling betrayals, his turbulent inner world, and the secret life he lived for years without getting caught.

On October 8, 1978, a Canadian national by the name of William Dyson stepped off a plane at O’Hare International Airport and proceeded toward Customs and Immigration.

Two days later, William Dyson ceased to exist.

The identity was a KGB forgery, used to get one of their own―a young, ambitious East German agent―into the United States.

The plan succeeded, and the spy’s new identity was born: Jack Barsky. He would work undercover for the next decade, carrying out secret operations during the Cold War years . . . until a surprising shift in his allegiance challenged everything he thought he believed.

Deep Undercover will reveal the secret life of this man without a country and tell the story no one ever expected him to tell.

About this title

About the Author

Jack Barsky was recruited by the KGB and spent ten years as an undercover agent in the United States. He severed his relations with the KGB in 1988 and had a corporate career in information technology. He was captured by the FBI in 1997. In 2015, 60 Minutes ran a story on his life and undercover work.

Review

An incredible look at the astounding journey of a KGB officer in the midst of the Cold War. Heartbreaking, exciting, intriguing. An honest account of one of the most difficult careers known to man. Equal parts memoir, spycraft guide, and historical document, Deep Undercover perfectly describes the crippling insularity of the spy’s life. (Joe Weisberg, Creator, showrunner, and executive producer, The Americans)

Jack Barksy’s ultimate act of courage is sharing this intimate story that sheds light on the true personal consequences of a life in espionage. Gripping and emotional, Deep Undercover peers beyond the Iron Curtain for a look into the world of a KGB officer illegally living abroad. Instead of romanticizing the life of a spy, Barsky tells his story with honesty and heart. (Joel Fields, Writer and executive producer, The Americans)

As a double agent who worked against Russia, I thought I had heard it all. Then I heard Jack’s story. (Naveed Jamali, Former double agent and author of How to Catch a Russian Spy)

Jack’s honesty and sincerity were clear from the first time I met him. He was on a journey, and I was privileged to watch something very special unfold. Jack’s story is fascinating, and Deep Undercover tells it well. A true story of redemption and what can happen when God’s healing love breaks through our mind, heart, and relationships. (Rob Cruver, executive director, Urban Impact)

Our fascination with spies runs deep, particularly those who are under deep cover, the so-called sleeper agents. Living and operating under aliases, with elaborate background stories (called legends), they intrigue us for the double lives they live, sometimes with families―and even children. (The current popularity of FX Network’s award-winning The Americans attests to this.) But what is the truth beneath the often glamorized surface? How are they selected, trained, and dispatched to foreign countries? What are their secret assignments? Deep Undercover lifts the veil on one such case, giving us a glimpse of a secret life, showing us the price one man paid for undertaking such an assignment. Reading his intriguing story, you realize how few of us would willingly undertake such a mission―or succeed! (Peter Earnest, Executive director, International Spy Museum)

Edition details

• Publisher: Tyndale Momentum
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 1496416821
• ISBN 13: 9781496416827
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 352