The Real Jack Ryan: Former CIA Analyst Tells The Real Life Story of the US Government's Top Secret Spy Agency - Softcover

Schlimmer, Scott

Softcover

ISBN 13: 9798357673039

Publisher: Independently published, 2022

Synopsis

Hear the real-life story of the popular fictional CIA Analyst.

Everything in this book is 100% true. The CIA made only minor redactions.

What’s it really like behind the walls at CIA's mysterious headquarters in Langley Virginia? Learn about the real CIA, in this book.

Would you like to sit and have coffee with a CIA officer and pick their brain? This book is a similar experience. It is a collection of 52 short stories, centered around the questions that most people ask me when they find out that I am former CIA.

This book is designed to be easy-to-read and accessible to all. It is a relatively quick read with short, digestible stories focused on my personal CIA story and the reality of the CIA, in contrast to what we see in the movies.

Would you like to see the unexpected road sign telling you where CIA headquarters is located? Or an example of a classified CIA cable? Some interesting and illustrative photos like these have also been included.

Have you ever dreamed of working at the CIA? This book also gives advice on how to get a job at the CIA.

⚠ The CIA “does not object to this book.”
That’s the CIA’s equivalent of “Two Thumbs Up” from Siskel & Ebert, right?!
(Author’s note: To make sure I don’t end up in jail, I should clarify that no, it isn’t. The CIA and the US Government did not endorse this book, in any way. Their only contribution was to insist on deletions!)

Excerpt: ◆ "I bit into a hamburger. Grease dripped onto a sheet of paper. This was no ordinary piece of paper. It was TOP SECRET. This was my first time seeing a TOP SECRET document, which should have been a momentous occasion. But we were in the middle of a crisis simulation, and there’s no time for a lunch break during a crisis! So, my first TOP SECRET document doubled as a grease napkin. This combination of state secrets and burger grease perfectly summarizes my experience as a CIA analyst. As The Real Jack Ryan." ◆

Want to hear the real story?

Then this is the book for you!

This book is not affiliated with the Central Intelligence Agency, The Jack Ryan series, Jack Ryan Enterprises Ltd, Tom Clancy, or Paramount Pictures Corporation.

About this title

About the Author

A decorated former CIA analyst, Scott Schlimmer is author of "Stories from Langley: A Glimpse Inside the CIA," his freelance articles have been read by more than one million readers, and he is a foreign correspondent for the media. He has received a National Intelligence Award and has earned multiple Exceptional Performance Awards from the US Government.

From the Inside Flap

I bit into a hamburger. Grease dripped onto a sheet of paper. This was no ordinary piece of paper. It was TOP SECRET.

This was my first time seeing a TOP SECRET document, which should have been a momentous occasion. But we were in the middle of a crisis simulation, and there's no time for a lunch break during a crisis! So, my first TOP SECRET document doubled as a grease napkin. A bit anti-climactic.

This combination of state secrets and burger grease perfectly summarizes my experience as a CIA analyst. As The Real Jack Ryan.

Jack Ryan, famously, is Tom Clancy's character who is a CIA analyst and is asked to do missions more akin to James Bond. Jack Ryan first appears in The Hunt for Red October and in many other movies and TV series. Jack Ryan has been played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, Ben Affleck, Chris Pine, and John Krasinski.

As you might imagine, Hollywood's Jack Ryan could not be further from reality. The real life of a CIA analyst is a little more like The Office, which ironically would make John Krasinski perfect. I found the job to be a bizarre combination of fascinating CIA adventures and comical government bureaucracy. The Real Jack Ryan is more heartwarming and funny, but with fewer near-death situations and car chases. Unfortunately, this reality is not portrayed accurately by Hollywood.

In this book, you'll learn the reality, firsthand, from someone who was a real CIA analyst. Unlike the movies, everything in this book is true. Nothing has been made up, fabricated, or embellished. Only some names have been changed, as current and former CIA officers often appreciate their anonymity.

This real story includes things like:

• My background and path to the CIA, like my first contact with The CIA at...a Career Fair, of all places.
• The reality of the job: from exciting things like advising the President to mundane staff meetings.
• Some bizarre and interesting stories that could only happen to CIA analysts, like telling Stevie Wonder about when I heard someone sing his songs in Tajikistan.
• And finally, the answers to the questions I'm most often asked. Most likely these are the questions you would ask if you sat down to have a beer with a CIA analyst.

I personally think the reality is more interesting than the Hollywood mythology. You truly can't make this stuff up!

Edition details

• Publisher: Independently published
• Publication date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 13: 9798357673039
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 152