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A review by generalheff
Spooked: The Secret Rise of Private Spies by Barry Meier
2.0
This book had so much promise - offering an insider's look into the complex, murky world of for-hire spies and their interactions with journalists. Unfortunately, the structure - if it can be called that - was so lacking that chapters, names, places, events blur indiscriminately into one another, rendering it almost impossible for the reader to process what is going on.
To take a fairly typical example: nearish the end of the book on page 224, we are treated to a discussion of Neil Gerrard - who we've apparently encountered before but likely many pages before and with no 'gentle reminder' for the reader to re-acquaint themselves with this character. We then run into Mark Hollingsworth again, his links to Gerrard, another private spy called Charlie Carr; two spy firms - K2 Intelligence and Alaco - followed by ENRC and KPMG.
That's in one page. The book does this constantly - wheeling around and dashing to and from different people and entities, as well as whole different plot points. From Christopher Steele's Dossier to multiple other scandals, events and dubious dealings by the industry - it gives the reader informational whiplash.
It didn't need to be this way - the book has an important message and the author seems genuine in their desire to 'out' the private spying industry. But the incredible lack of narrative structure renders the book so hard to follow that it puts all their good work researching this material to waste. Perhaps the long-form book format did not suit a journalist. Either way if I - someone with a fairly good ability to read heavy, dry, technical books - was alienated and almost quit this book several times, I doubt less dedicated readers will get much more out of it. A real lost opportunity this one.
To take a fairly typical example: nearish the end of the book on page 224, we are treated to a discussion of Neil Gerrard - who we've apparently encountered before but likely many pages before and with no 'gentle reminder' for the reader to re-acquaint themselves with this character. We then run into Mark Hollingsworth again, his links to Gerrard, another private spy called Charlie Carr; two spy firms - K2 Intelligence and Alaco - followed by ENRC and KPMG.
That's in one page. The book does this constantly - wheeling around and dashing to and from different people and entities, as well as whole different plot points. From Christopher Steele's Dossier to multiple other scandals, events and dubious dealings by the industry - it gives the reader informational whiplash.
It didn't need to be this way - the book has an important message and the author seems genuine in their desire to 'out' the private spying industry. But the incredible lack of narrative structure renders the book so hard to follow that it puts all their good work researching this material to waste. Perhaps the long-form book format did not suit a journalist. Either way if I - someone with a fairly good ability to read heavy, dry, technical books - was alienated and almost quit this book several times, I doubt less dedicated readers will get much more out of it. A real lost opportunity this one.