Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What it Taught Me About What's Worth Fighting For

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. It was very interesting, and so refreshing to hear about Michele's faith and the work the Lord helped her and Joseph to accomplish. Great read!

I enjoyed the book because it was written from a real life experience on being an under cover agent which isn’t like a “Bourne” or l James Bond” movie but shows how gathering information works in real situations.

This is my 3rd book reading about women in the CIA. I find it fascinating that these women were so self sacrificing for their country, at great risk but who understood their work was preserving a safer America. They went on in their lives to continue with their convictions. Excellent book for young women and men.

I liked reading the accepted autobiography of an agent. Redacted where needed. Both she and her husband were agents in the areas of their expertise. She was given a gift very useful in her work. Carries her expertise into civilian life.

This was such an inspiring and eye opening read! Being a Christian myself, you become made aware of the very real dangers that come with being a believer. In America, we experience no where near the persecution our brothers and sisters around the world endure.....its very emotional and heartbreaking to say the least.I pray reading this starts a fire in each of our hearts and spirits with a heavy burden for prayer and intercession for God to intervene and pour out His spirit of wisdom and revelation on those in person doing what they can for our brothers and sisters.Thank you Michele Rigby Assad for writing this and your transparency, touched me deeply and encouraged me so much ❤ God bless you and your husband Joseph

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. As someone who read a decent amount of literature on counterterrorism and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan (Art of Intelligence being among my favorites), I was excited to read about a woman’s perspective in the undercover world. While some of her stories were very interesting (i.e. how she got into CIA, the training she underwent, and her interactions during interviews with terrorists). I really appreciated her personal insight because most books do not dive into the personal struggles of being a woman in a male-dominated field.I was really disappointed with her overall reflections on her experiences in the Middle East, however, and how very little substance most of her accounts were in the book. The author claims to be someone who is very passionate about the Middle East and its culture, but I did not get that at all from her book. In fact, majority of the experiences that she recounts paints the culture in a very negative light. The only positive experience she recounts are the heartbreaking stories of Christian IDPs.The author also spends a great deal discussing her personal struggles with adjusting to war zones and very little about the actual work. She brushes slightly on what she did but unlike some of the other books I’ve read, never dives deeper. Granted this could be because most of her work is probably still classified but she still could have given her readers more insight than recounting stories about a man on the street who was rudely gesturing at her in a Middle Eastern country.

Breaking Cover is in a word fantastic. But one word won’t cut it for the amazing story this book tells. As a man in a male dominated profession I’ve seen women who work really hard to fit in or stand out. A definite balancing act that I imagine can be daunting. However, what I can’t imagine is how a small town girl must feel diving head first into the most secretive world of the CIA’s boys club and making not only a name for herself but breaking down barriers in place from its inception.No spoiler here. Just my opinion saying Breaking Cover is an honest look at a woman’s struggle and fight to success. The book is very well written and easily read. Sometimes I felt I wanted way more detail only to realize that much of the detail I’m used to seeing in novels most assuredly can’t be described in this memoir. This isn’t fiction with flowering romance and Bond type cliche. This is real and refreshing to have a glance behind the curtain to see the efforts and orchestrations required to make this freedom we hold so dear a reality.The book also dramatically illustrates how faith in God and leaping to the rescue of others suffering can bring more fulfillment than most of us can understand. I was moved by such efforts of this person to share a story of heroic love and dedicated skills for the sake of others.I highly recommend Breaking Cover. Take a moment to sneak a peak into the true world of spy games from a woman who thought this could never be where she would be. A woman who not only did it but allowed her faith to guide her along the way.

To have someone who has done it who has loved it, who really does seem to know what they are talking about makes a big difference. She writes well, intelligent, and interesting. If you are interested in real life CIA/ FBI this is a must read! I highly recommend it!

Michele really breaks the cover and takes us to an unimaginable journey, I really feel like I m besides her and talking to her! I would suggest all feminist and thrill lovers to get on a journey unexpectedly true.

The author was featured on The Professionals Playbook podcast a few months ago. Her candour and humility were irresistible; had the get her book. Very worthwhile.

Really enjoyed this book!

A good behind-the-scenes look, sadly somewhat spoiled for me by her non-stop religiosity

I loved reading this book! It is inspiring and informative. It’s funny and real. It reminds me that if we seek Him first then all these things will be added to you, including amazing adventures like Michelle and Joseph have had which help to bring God’s plan together for His people.