The Book of Honor

The Secret Lives and Deaths of CIA Operatives

By: Ted Gup

Narrated by: Frank Muller

A national bestseller, this extraordinary work of investigative reporting uncovers the identities, and the remarkable stories, of the CIA secret agents who died anonymously in the service of their country.

In the entrance of the CIA headquarters looms a huge marble wall into which seventy-one stars are carved-each representing an agent who has died in the line of duty. Official CIA records only name thirty-five of them, however. Undeterred by claims that revealing the identities of these "nameless stars" might compromise national security, Ted Gup sorted through thousands of documents and interviewed over 400 CIA officers in his attempt to bring their long-hidden stories to light. The result of this extraordinary work of investigation is a surprising glimpse at the real lives of secret agents, and an unprecedented history of the most compelling—and controversial—department of the US government.

Critic reviews

Douglas S. Mackiernan

Jerome P. Ginley

William P. Boteler

Howard Carey

Frank C. Grace Jr.

Wilburn S. Rose

Chiyoki Ikeda

Thomas "Pete" Ray

Nels L. Benson

Riley Shamburger

Wade Gray

Leo Baker

John G. Merriman

Barbara Robbins

Buster Edens

Edward Johnson

Mike Deuel

Mike Maloney

John W. Waltz

Louis A. O'Jibway

Walter L. Ray

Billy Jack Johnson

Wayne McNulty

Jack W. Weeks

Hugh Francis Redmond

Paul C. Davis

David L. Konzelman

John "Lone Star" Kearns

John Peterson

Ray Seaborg

Wilbur Murray Greene

Raymond Raynor

William E. Bennett

Richard S. Welch

James S. Rawlings

Ivan B. King

Dennis J. Gabriel

Robert C. Ames

James F. "Sword" Lewis

Monique Lewis

Kenneth E. Haas

Phyliss N. Faraci

William R. Sheil

Deborah M. Hixon

Frank J. Johnston

Scott J. Van Lieshout

Curtis R. Wood

Richard C. Spicer

William F. Buckley

Richard D. Krobock

Matthew K. Gannon

George Lacey

Michael Atkinson

Pharies "Bud" Petty

James Spessard

George Rudolph Bensch

Gerhard Hermann Rieger

Robert W. Woods

Lawrence Freedman

Lansing H. Bennett

Frank A. Darling

Freddie R. Woodruff

James M. Lewek

John A. Celli

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Enjoyable.The Supreme Sacrifice. Shame on US Now

Theme interesting...CIA Spy events. Narrator very good. Enjoyable listening. Would have preferred it to be longer.

Factual recreation

Interesting history of the CIA and those lost. A bit dry but moving. Well written.

Frank Muller

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

Not in this format. I'm not sure I will be able to finish it. The narration is too distracting.

Would you be willing to try another one of Frank Muller’s performances?

No. He is an award winning narrator, and has an interesting voice. However, from my perspective, his cadence is monotonous. The intonation in each sentence is spoken exactly like the next. He reminds me of Gregory Peck, but in a way where every sentence is spoken as if it is the most significant sentence in the paragraph. Each sentence separate and unconnected from anything else. I don't think I can get through this.

Good lord, why read it like that?

At present I am not far into the book but, already considering returning it due to the narrators whisper secret tone (like everything about “It’s Tuesday afternoon” is hush hush and top secret. It’s just horrible. Really going to try to finish this but, the narrator should look into reading mystery novels or something vs non-fiction.

Update: had to stop it, couldn’t get through the first story. Seriously needs a non-mystery/suspense book narrator to redo this. Just horrible.

Bitter Sweet Book

Great book in the sense you learn these interesting stories about spies.

However , it is sad because you see how quickly lives are snuffed out, or people waste away in jail as a POW, and how we live in a world of different sovereign powers using its citizens as pawns to forward the ruling elites agendas.