A vivid and gripping portrait of a spy at every stage of his life and career, from the son of a spy master who became a spy himself.
Larry Kolb was born into a house of spies. Raised all over the world as the son of a high-ranking American spy master, Kolb was taught by his father to think, look, and listen like a spy. But when Kolb himself was recruited to join the CIA, he declined, choosing instead to pursue a career in business. He became, among other things, Muhammad Ali's agent, a role that turned out to be a circuitous route back to the world of espionage.
With friends like Ali, Kolb had invitations to the parties, palaces, boardrooms, and bedrooms-especially in the Middle East-of many of the world's wealthiest and most powerful people: political leaders, arms dealers, global opinion-makers. Kolb's extraordinary access made him irresistible to legendary spy master and CIA cofounder Miles Copeland.
Beginning with secret negotiations with the Ayatollah Khomeini and a covert mission to Beirut to negotiate the release of an American hostage, Kolb found his way back to the family business, becoming Miles Copeland's eyes and ears and sometimes mouth in Libya, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Peru, the Philippines, and Pakistan.
Unlike any book before it, 'Overworld' captures what it genuinely means and feels like to be a spy - from the practical to the emotional, revealing how the world of espionage and covert statecraft actually works - and exposing the dark heart of a life spent betraying confidences. In itself an adventure story of the highest order, 'Overworld' reads like the best of John le Carré - but it's all true.
