Left of Boom: How a Young CIA Case Officer Penetrated the Taliban and Al-Qaeda

Great Read! Dave Edmiston I heard this author interviewed on the Adam Carolla podcast and knew I had to read his story. This is his account of joining the CIA and working as a field operative in Afghanistan and Syria. His stories are fascinating and his writing keeps the pages turning.Laux does a great job of telling the stories he believes need to be told. Strangely enough, his style was to just . "Exciting first-hand exploration of clandestine intelligence operations from a human perspective" according to Juan del Este. A friend of mine recently recommended this book to me. I'm a fan of ground level first-hand accounts of war, and this was a uniquely personal look into what Afghanistan was like for a young hard-charging CIA field officer. In contract to the various high-level academic treatments of intelligence operations in the Middle East, I found this to be a vulnerable and engaging p. Engrossing story - well worth the read I don't usually read this type of book, but I saw the author's AMA on Reddit so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm glad I did.The book offers a fascinating glimpse into one CIA Case Officer's experience trying to take down a major IED network in Afghanistan. Beyond just being a good read, this book really drives home the personal sacrifices that MANY people make every day t

The explosive New York Times best seller! On September 11, 2001, Doug Laux was a freshman in college, on the path to becoming a doctor. Dropped into a remote region of Afghanistan, he received his baptism by fire. Frustrated by bureaucratic red tape, a widespread lack of knowledge of the local customs and culture, and an attitude of complacency that hindered his ability to combat the local Taliban, Doug confounded his peers by dressing like a native and mastering the local dialect, making contacts, and building sources within several deadly terrorist networks. His double life was building to an explosi