John Kiriakou's Dead Drop

THE BLURB: After Joanne kidnaps John's two sons - instead of making them available for his six weeks summer vacation with them - John uses his espionage skills to track them all down. Hothead that he is, rather than wait for the legal system to work to his benefit, John nearly ruins everything by iniating a "hostage situation" of his own. At work, John's time in the penalty box is about to get truncated - as more and more Agency resources get focused on a terrorist quickly growing in prominence on the Agency's radar: Osama bin Laden.

SHOW NOTES
For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: Back in America, John settles in to a year or so "in the penalty box" because of what happened in Athens. John's divorce from Joanne gets complicated by Joanne's brinksmanship. But John does what he must to keep himself in his sons' life. Despite all the Life complications, John scores a small succuss at work. Whatever joy that produces gets undercut when Joanne kidnaps the boys.

SHOW NOTES
For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: In this episode, John chats with former CIA officer turned wildly successful novelist BARRY EISLER about spying and how it lends itself to storytelling. After a three year stint as a covert officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, Barry worked as a technology lawyer and startup executive in Silicon Valley and Japan, earned a black belt at the Kodokan Judo Institute and began writing great, award-winning thrillers including the #1 bestsellers Livia Lone, The Night Trade, and The Killer Collective. John and Barry discuss the current state of spies, spying and spycraft - and whether it might be over for straight humint and the human spies who cultivate it.

SHOW NOTES
For more information about Barry Eisler, please visit barryeisler.com.

For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: John's assignment in Athens comes to a head when an assassination attempt on him goes awry with tragic results. But that merely compounds the situation at home when John learns - from his 6 year old son - that his wife's been cheating on him.

SHOW NOTES
For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

THE BLURB: The very things that made Athens a great counter-terrorism assignment also made it incredibly dangerous. John's intensive training was designed to make him paranoid. It succeeded. Not all threats were terrorism. Some were just local criminals being criminals. Still, living in Athens was mostly a joy. There was ample good food and culture. But the threat of violence was both persistent and pervasive. So was the paranoia.

SHOW NOTES
For more great podcasts like Dead Drop, please visit https://costardandtouchstone.com/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.