Deep Strike

by Barry M. Lando

What if, I wondered after the last presidential race, what if a small handful of CIA agents who investigated Russian hacking, were outraged by the blatant interference in America’s democratic process?

What if those agents were infuriated by the unwillingness of congressional leaders to react to their findings, and further inflamed by the refusal of the new president to acknowledge that the hacking had even taken place?

What if they were scandalised by the fact that America’s intelligence agencies and colossal military force would now be under the command of that same new feckless leader?

What if, pushed to the breaking point by the death of a colleague, three of those agents go rogue to take on the President and all his vast powers, and attempt to drive him from office?

220 pages, Paperback

Published July 11, 2017

About the author

During my twenty-five years as a producer at CBS Sixty Minutes, I made my reputation as an investigative reporter. None of the reports created more waves than those dealing with American Jews and with the State of Israel. This despite the fact that my parents and grandparents had been fervid supporters of Israel, and I had been president of the Harvard Zionist Association.

By chance one of those reports lead me to undertake a very different kind of investigation—into the subject of anti-Semitism over the past two hundred years.

That, in turn, brought me face-to-face with an even more profound topic: Do we humans, as a species, have some kind of need—possibly genetic-- to identify and fear “The Other”?

I examine that vast subject in a novel—based as much as possible on fact, focusing on the personal experiences of some of my ancestors. I follow them from Polish pogroms in the 19th Century, to the ramshackle city of Jerusalem under the Turks, to the teeming slums of East London, the rain-drenched town of Prince Rupert in the Canadian Northwest, to the dynamic port of Vancouver and virulent race riots against Chinese and Japanese and Sikhs. Then to the Jews’ dilemma of how to combat the rise of fascism and denounce the horrors of the Holocaust—in countries—like Canada and the U.S. where anti-Semitism was still very strong.

I conclude with myself at 60 Minutes and an insider’s account of the most controversial reports I produced with Mike Wallace about American Jews and Israel.

I have previously written three books. The most recent, published June 2017, is “Deep Strike.” It’s about s a Trump-like president of the United States and a small valiant group of CIA officers who go rogue in an attempt to defeat him.

I am Canadian, attended Harvard and Columbia, then worked as correspondent for Time-Life in South America, before moving to CBS News and, ultimately, 60 Minutes.

I am married with a great French wife, three wonderful children, and live in London.

Reviews

[Mary Enck · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a book I believe everyone in America needs to read. In today's media, including the Internet, everyone seems to be struggling with enough words to describe events that are taking place before our very eyes. "Outrageous" is used often along with "scary, unbelievable, and dangerous". All of these are accurate to me. DEEP STRIKE carries some of the same dazed unbelief over the state of our world and what is happening. This novel so closely parallels events, personalities and the fallout of all of the chaos that has descended upon us, that for a time whilst reading this story, I thought I was just watching it all unfold in real life. There may be parts of it that are plausible and being no expert on technology, or clandestine activities, it still worked for me. I think the story was exciting, while frightening and in the end, satisfying to me. Comeuppance is a good word to assign to what finally happens. I really enjoyed that part.

[Barry Lando]

What if, I wondered after the last presidential race, what if a small handful of CIA agents who investigated Russian hacking, were outraged by the blatant interference in America’s democratic process?
What if those agents were infuriated by the unwillingness of congressional leaders to react to their findings, and further inflamed by the refusal of the new president to acknowledge that the hacking had even taken place?
What if they were scandalized by the fact that America’s intelligence agencies and colossal military force would now be under the command of that same new feckless leader?
What if, pushed to the breaking point by the death of a colleague, three of those agents go rogue to take on the President and all his vast powers, and attempt to drive him from office?

[Jim A · Rating 3 out of 5]

This novel was actually better than I expected. Thinly disguised Trump (President Stokes) and Putin (Russian President Kozlov) are both everything those on the left think about when they write their conspiracy blogs. Former CIA agents are trying to prove that Stokes has received mega millions in kickbacks from deals with the Russian president. The con played in the end game makes for great reading.

Way too many errors that editors should have found. Characters having dialogue with themselves, calling Glocks and Berettas 'revolvers', just to name a few.

Moves right along and those who think Trump is a fool will just nod their collective heads in agreement with the characterization. The Trump fans who read this will just think "Fake news".

[Stephanie Quesnelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Published last year, this book delves into a world of fiction, grounded in reality. The blustering newly elected president rose up in a surprise victory for the Republicans because of his brash style. The protaganist, a former CIA agent, works to unravel a grand conspiracy between Russia and the US (he was the same agent that discovered Russia was meddling in the elections, a report Congress ignored).

Fast-paced, easy reading, but they wrote in a hurry and have a few mispellings, including Russian for "cheers" which drives me bananas.

[Vinay Badri · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wish fulfillment on many levels, this book is however likely to resonate with a lot of folks across the spectrum esp as the author has picked things up and interjected it with his own fantasies. While we agree with what we say, the plotting is kind of amateurish and a mish-mash of spy lore.

Why the 2 stars then? Despite the contrived nature and the ease with which the ending is achieved, the book gets the 2 starts for the kind of ending we mostly are gonna look forward to in real life

[Raven · Rating 5 out of 5]

Corruption at the highest levels of government

Too close to current events not to contain a grain of truth. Spy craft was amateurish. Hacking was also superficial. Black ops run by the president and staff is a possibility to ponder.

[Prasanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow!!!

[Cyndar · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast read

I really enjoyed this book, and was carrying my Kindles everywhere, just to grab time to read. A very timely subject indeed.