What do you think?
Rate this book
Victor Caro #1
Victor in the Rubble
Victor Caro is a counterterrorism officer with the CYA, caught in a world where job security trumps national security. On assignment in West Africa in a post-9/11 world, he is tasked with hunting down the terrorist Omar al-Suqqit, who is looking to launch his group of ragtag militants onto the international jihadi stage. But chasing a terrorist proves an easier challenge than managing his agency’s bureaucracy. Omar, meanwhile, faces his own bureaucratic struggles as he joins forces with a global terrorist group that begins micro-managing its franchises in an effort to streamline attacks. When Victor appears on his own country’s Terrorist Watch List and Omar finds himself struggling to write “Lessons Learned” in the suicide bomber program, they each realize they might have a common red tape.
261 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 10, 2016
60 people are currently reading
415 people want to read
About the author
Alex Finley
5 books60 followersAlex Finley is a former officer of the CIA’s Directorate of Operations, where she served in West Africa and Europe. Before becoming a bureaucrat living large off the system, she chased puffy white men around Washington DC as a member of the wild dog pack better known as the Washington media elite. Her writing has appeared in Slate, Reductress, Funny or Die, POLITICO, and other publications. She has spoken to the BBC, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal, CBC’s The National, Sirius XM’s Yahoo! Politics, The Cipher Brief, the Spy Museum’s SpyCast, and numerous other media outlets.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews
May 11, 2016
Easy and quick read. The absurdity of the bureaucracy resonated and rang true. First few chapters read like a law school/nat sec hypo but once the story got going it was easy to follow and gave more than a few good laughs.
May 22, 2016
Diplosatirical beach reads are normally my guilty pleasure but I just did not enjoy this one at aalllll. Heavy-handed, lacks any sort of emotional anchor, and the writing is somehow hard to follow despite the short length. Pick up Florence of Arabia instead.
February 11, 2019
3.5, very quick read, terrifying if any of this is based in the truth....
March 27, 2020
Satire but also 99% accurate. Read it and laugh and cry a bit.
August 5, 2016
This is a great read if you're looking for something quick and might I add hilarious. Little scary that it's based off of true events Alex Finley experienced while being part of the CIA...
August 26, 2016
Catch-22 meets Global War on Terror.
October 6, 2021
When I read the blurb for this book and it said "laugh out loud comedy" my heart immediately sank because of all the other sad and pointless "comedy" books I have had the misfortune to have picked up.
Not so though, not here, I really did laugh out loud, it is full of ironic comedy through the two main protagonists, a CIA agent and a terrorist, both of whom get thwarted in their endeavours by the same things without realising just how much they have in common in their lives but not in their idealogy.
Based on someone's true experience of the War on Terror (supposedly) but there is enough crazy shit in here that methinks is so weird that it can only be true.
I really enjoyed every page of this book
Not so though, not here, I really did laugh out loud, it is full of ironic comedy through the two main protagonists, a CIA agent and a terrorist, both of whom get thwarted in their endeavours by the same things without realising just how much they have in common in their lives but not in their idealogy.
Based on someone's true experience of the War on Terror (supposedly) but there is enough crazy shit in here that methinks is so weird that it can only be true.
I really enjoyed every page of this book
January 27, 2024
Whant to know how government system works? Read this!
It is truly funny! Especially if you work in state institution because you will recognize different patterns and absurdities. I do not live in USA, yet this book might have been also about governmental system in my own country.
As I read, I thought about how absurd it all is. If the terrorists have the same reverence for the administrative process as the authorities, then we are in relative safety. However, perhaps this is just wishful thinking. I would like to hope that cheques and receipts are not more important than the main task.
It is truly funny! Especially if you work in state institution because you will recognize different patterns and absurdities. I do not live in USA, yet this book might have been also about governmental system in my own country.
As I read, I thought about how absurd it all is. If the terrorists have the same reverence for the administrative process as the authorities, then we are in relative safety. However, perhaps this is just wishful thinking. I would like to hope that cheques and receipts are not more important than the main task.
June 22, 2021
Pros: Lots of humorous Catch-22s and "small world" twists as the CYA agents and terrorists play cat-and-mouse while both fighting internal bureaucracy. As someone who lives in DC (as Alex Finley does or did) both the federal culture and the descriptions of DC were pretty spot-on also.
Cons: The terrorist POV chapters often veered into outright mocking Middle Eastern culture and not just the terrorist cells, especially at the very beginning of the book, which was both unnecessary and uncomfortable.
Cons: The terrorist POV chapters often veered into outright mocking Middle Eastern culture and not just the terrorist cells, especially at the very beginning of the book, which was both unnecessary and uncomfortable.
December 15, 2022
This book is a very broad parody of the CIA, written by a former CIA operative. As a debut novel, it is not perfect, but it is laugh out loud funny in a number of places. Sometimes it is also quite sad, as the level of satire and cynicism from a former agent can be troubling. If the author's experience in the real world is at like this book, then we are in real trouble. Still, it was short and entertaining, so I will be trying the next couple of books in the series. Recommended for those looking for a light, humorous read.
January 20, 2023
Brilliantly hilarious!
Completely irreverant, outlandish, and 100% accurate. It may be hyperbolic, but anyone who has ever worked in government (especially CT) will appreciate this work for what it is, a scathing rebuke of the self-perpetuating bureaucracy that stiffles any hope of effectiveness.
Ms. Finley has hit a home run with this one. It’s funny, clever, accurate, end engaging. You actually find yourself rooting for these characters, even knowing from experience that there is probably no hope for either of them.
Completely irreverant, outlandish, and 100% accurate. It may be hyperbolic, but anyone who has ever worked in government (especially CT) will appreciate this work for what it is, a scathing rebuke of the self-perpetuating bureaucracy that stiffles any hope of effectiveness.
Ms. Finley has hit a home run with this one. It’s funny, clever, accurate, end engaging. You actually find yourself rooting for these characters, even knowing from experience that there is probably no hope for either of them.
September 12, 2018
Hilarious parody about bureaucracy in the US Government employ. Every federal employee should read this book. Although the story is told through a humorous satire, it’s actually kind of scary how close it was to the ground realities of working for a large bureaucratic organization in the US Government. All in all, excellent book. Quick and easy read and very thought provoking.
October 24, 2018
Brilliant - I enjoyed every page of this story of a covert operative and a terrorist struggling to overcome mountains of paperwork and bureaucracy to do their jobs. The analogy of peanut farming to oil production is genius - it allows us the author to maintain the humour while addressing some real-life truths.
January 9, 2022
I guess this is a satire, but Alex Finley nails the absurdity of large-organization bureaucracy so well that all the laughs are a little painful. I've seen a few reviews refer to this book as a Catch-22 for the War on Terror, and have to fully agree. What I suppose is scary is that some of the most absurd moments are clearly informed by Finley's lived experience as a former CIA operative.
September 13, 2018
A fun read that accurately details the absurdities of office politics, and more specifically, US government bureaucracies. Anyone who has ever been on the GS scale can relate. Hilarious but also terrifying.
April 18, 2022
Such intense satire that I need a break before tackling Victor in the Jungle. This will not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, confronting truth through satire is an enduring art, and Alex Finley does it well.
October 17, 2022
This is definitely the funniest book I've read all year. A very well-done satire. While working for the government might increase your enjoyment of this book, I think it would be entertaining for any reader.
June 25, 2025
Not bad but also not good. There’s not much of a story and it just tends to drag on. It didn’t get interesting until about page 120 and then every page after that was not much better. Again not bad but would not recommend.
March 3, 2019
Hilarious
March 29, 2022
Hilarious
The author truly captures the absurdities of bureacracy, no matter where it operates. Got more than a few chuckles. Highly recommend!
The author truly captures the absurdities of bureacracy, no matter where it operates. Got more than a few chuckles. Highly recommend!
June 5, 2022
1-1/2*
September 13, 2023
This is like a sitcom in book form — not the most sophisticated or technically skilled writing, but incredibly funny. I highly recommend it for anyone who likes satire.
September 28, 2023
Painfully accurate satire on government bureaucracy. Good for several laughs during a quick and easy read.
October 30, 2023
read for class but tbh quite silly
August 1, 2024
This quick read made me laugh many times. From what I hear, it is pretty accurate.
September 11, 2024
Funny and entertaining, but didn’t keep me as hooked to every page as I would have liked it to.
December 9, 2024
This was an extremely fun book! If you like satirical fiction or you’ve ever worked for a government entity in any capacity, you’ll find this novel highly entertaining!
February 23, 2025
More or less Catch-22 for the War on Terror. It took a little while to get going, but once it did I found myself chuckling pretty frequently. And chuckling while reading is basically lol-ing at a real life joke.
September 30, 2022
i worked for both dos and dod overseas as "a" contractor. in the middle east for about ten years including iraq.
most of this genre of books, for me, is rather boring and offers minimal insight of the career field or career.
i read the second in the series first (victor in the rubble) to be direct. i doubt if i started with the 1st my opinion would of been (any) different.
this is not to say the author should reveal proprietary or non-disclosable information.
most, including here, write in a vague almost "college" level of information and story and then (attempt) to back it up with previous work credentials as the writing is "near" the real deal.
with the exception of maybe a dozen books i read, this fails terribly intellectually and realistically.
most of these books are marketed toward a broad-based audience (hence to gain the most profits/exposure).
so if the author does not keep it "middle road" it goes astray.
there are so many of these authors with 3, 4 five or say 10 years with "an" agency...then blab and 'yapp about their "credentials" in the bio and to puff up the book as the "real" thing and/or how much "they" know of the career field.
it simply is not.
years, ago-i lived in the philippines. i heard of a gentleman that lived in a seaside town with his PI wife. when i met him..he was about 65yoa...yes from (retired) "the" agency. though he never told me..i "knew".
and that was "retired". quite, unassuming, and (very) intelligent--not just a few years so to go on and write near "fantasy" level books.
he did not have to "brag" about (his) covert world on an open-source book-site. he did work online teaching political science at a university in the US. he said the following:
"those that brag and write about their credentials in this career field are those that (possibly) should never of had them in the first place or just use their former "agency" to make a quick buck, later down the road.."
no, you will not read that (above) truth and reality--in any of these "spook" books, either.
overall i will leave victor where he should be in the "intellectual" rubble of books and "reality".
most of this genre of books, for me, is rather boring and offers minimal insight of the career field or career.
i read the second in the series first (victor in the rubble) to be direct. i doubt if i started with the 1st my opinion would of been (any) different.
this is not to say the author should reveal proprietary or non-disclosable information.
most, including here, write in a vague almost "college" level of information and story and then (attempt) to back it up with previous work credentials as the writing is "near" the real deal.
with the exception of maybe a dozen books i read, this fails terribly intellectually and realistically.
most of these books are marketed toward a broad-based audience (hence to gain the most profits/exposure).
so if the author does not keep it "middle road" it goes astray.
there are so many of these authors with 3, 4 five or say 10 years with "an" agency...then blab and 'yapp about their "credentials" in the bio and to puff up the book as the "real" thing and/or how much "they" know of the career field.
it simply is not.
years, ago-i lived in the philippines. i heard of a gentleman that lived in a seaside town with his PI wife. when i met him..he was about 65yoa...yes from (retired) "the" agency. though he never told me..i "knew".
and that was "retired". quite, unassuming, and (very) intelligent--not just a few years so to go on and write near "fantasy" level books.
he did not have to "brag" about (his) covert world on an open-source book-site. he did work online teaching political science at a university in the US. he said the following:
"those that brag and write about their credentials in this career field are those that (possibly) should never of had them in the first place or just use their former "agency" to make a quick buck, later down the road.."
no, you will not read that (above) truth and reality--in any of these "spook" books, either.
overall i will leave victor where he should be in the "intellectual" rubble of books and "reality".
January 1, 2020
This book is an absolute must-read for anyone that works in the public sector. I laughed from cover to cover, mostly because of how true this book is.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 30 reviews