Dark Days for Democracy (Book Review)

 

Life Undercover: Coming of Age in the CIA by Amaryllis Fox
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I read the ebook version and listened to the audio version read by the author, Amaryllis Fox herself, simultaneously.

It was an interesting, satisfying, and well-written memoir of how Fox came to work for the CIA. It is fascinating to learn how the organization recruits, trains its workers, and is organized and structured. I also found learning the different methods of trade-craft and all the different training ops very interesting. Amaryllis is a likable person who readily shares her thoughts and does a good job of reading her book aloud with intensity and emotion but without going "over the top" with her narration.

What I disliked about this book was how dark it was as Amaryllis takes us through the various events in her life and world events that deeply impacted her and led her to pursue this type of work as her career. The decline of her mental and emotional state as she is constantly forced to live a lie every day of her life and wonder who she can trust is difficult to witness. As well as the destruction of her close personal relationships and her struggle with keeping her priorities straight and some semblance of reality and normalcy while living a life that is a complete fabrication. It tragically shows the huge sacrifices made by the youngest and brightest among us to gather and disseminate information to keep the world literally "safe for democracy".

Sex is referred to but not in a graphic manner, profanity used though sparingly, and the descriptions of violence are restrained so they don't demean or detract from the reality of what actually happened to the people who suffered. The reality of operating a clandestine life and the pathos that Amaryllis Fox has endured made me wish there was someone around while I read it so I could get a hug and then send someone out to hug Amaryllis too.

I feel like this story needs to be told and these civil servants acknowledged, so if this topic is your "thing” then definitely go for it, but if you need an emotional boost or are already feeling slightly depressed, I think you should move on and pick something else to read.

" For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?" Mark 8:36

Sincerely, Laura-Lee (was here)

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