400 pages to read in this busy period of work deadlines and holiday preparations. Turns out to be easy, actually: taking into account the preposterous amount of text blacked out by the CIA, it makes for a fast read, though somewhat choppy. Yet, therein lies the interest of the book, beyond the obvious spookertainment: the censorship of someone who put her life on the line for her country, and got betrayed by the very people she served. The publishers brilliantly made up for the redactions with an 80-page afterword by national security reporter Laura Rozen, "As a service to readers to provide a context for Valerie's own story." Meaning: filling in the CIA's blanks.photo LA Frog
