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SPYCRAFT: Essentials
What do the main intelligence agencies do and where do they operate? How do they recruit personnel? What are real life honey pots and sleeper agents? What about truth serums and enhanced interrogations? And what are the most common foibles of popular spy fiction?
With the voice of over forty years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes answer these questions and share information on espionage history, firearms of spycraft, tradecraft techniques, and the personalities and personal challenges of the men and women behind the myths. Though crafted with advice and specific tips for writers, SPYCRAFT: Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn more about the inner workings of the Shadow World.
“As a writer, I’m always looking for those books that open my eyes to the shadowy ways the world truly works. I found just such a resource in the insightful, well-researched, and oftentimes humorous book by Bayard and Holmes, SPYCRAFT: Essentials. For any author, this is the new bible for crafting stories of espionage. It’s also perfect for anyone who wants to know the lengths nations will go to keep or steal secrets and the methods they will use to do so. This is a bombshell of a book.”
~ James Rollins, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Demon Crown
“Bayard & Holmes have done readers and writers of the espionage genre a great service. This tome illuminates the ‘inside baseball’ terminology often used, providing valuable context to the reader. Importantly, they do not just focus on the CIA, but go broader and cover differences in other parts of the US Intelligence Community. From novices to experts, I suspect everyone will find something in this book that they did not know before.”
~ Doug Patteson, Film Technical Advisor and Former CIA Officer
"Bayard and Holmes have done the unprecedented: crafted a fully informative, while wholly unclassified, overview on American spycraft with a special focus on preparing novelists for realistic scene writing. That said, this little treasure should not be limited to writers. Because it delivers solid, valuable information as a comprehensive primer on how the Intelligence Community really operates, SPYCRAFT: Essentials is a must-read for all involved Americans."
~ Rob DuBois, Retired US Navy SEAL and NSA Collector
"An instant classic. Detailed, insightful, and authentic, SPYCRAFT: Essentials for Writers is my go-to reference for all things espionage."
~ Grant Blackwood, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Briggs Tanner Series
“An essential addition to every thriller writer’s library. If you want to know how the Intelligence Community really works, read SPYCRAFT: Essentials and you’ll get it right every time. Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes know their stuff!”
~Diane Capri,Award Winning New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Hunt for Jack Reacher series
With the voice of over forty years of experience in the Intelligence Community, Bayard & Holmes answer these questions and share information on espionage history, firearms of spycraft, tradecraft techniques, and the personalities and personal challenges of the men and women behind the myths. Though crafted with advice and specific tips for writers, SPYCRAFT: Essentials is for anyone who wants to learn more about the inner workings of the Shadow World.
“As a writer, I’m always looking for those books that open my eyes to the shadowy ways the world truly works. I found just such a resource in the insightful, well-researched, and oftentimes humorous book by Bayard and Holmes, SPYCRAFT: Essentials. For any author, this is the new bible for crafting stories of espionage. It’s also perfect for anyone who wants to know the lengths nations will go to keep or steal secrets and the methods they will use to do so. This is a bombshell of a book.”
~ James Rollins, New York Times Bestselling Author of The Demon Crown
“Bayard & Holmes have done readers and writers of the espionage genre a great service. This tome illuminates the ‘inside baseball’ terminology often used, providing valuable context to the reader. Importantly, they do not just focus on the CIA, but go broader and cover differences in other parts of the US Intelligence Community. From novices to experts, I suspect everyone will find something in this book that they did not know before.”
~ Doug Patteson, Film Technical Advisor and Former CIA Officer
"Bayard and Holmes have done the unprecedented: crafted a fully informative, while wholly unclassified, overview on American spycraft with a special focus on preparing novelists for realistic scene writing. That said, this little treasure should not be limited to writers. Because it delivers solid, valuable information as a comprehensive primer on how the Intelligence Community really operates, SPYCRAFT: Essentials is a must-read for all involved Americans."
~ Rob DuBois, Retired US Navy SEAL and NSA Collector
"An instant classic. Detailed, insightful, and authentic, SPYCRAFT: Essentials for Writers is my go-to reference for all things espionage."
~ Grant Blackwood, New York Times Bestselling Author of the Briggs Tanner Series
“An essential addition to every thriller writer’s library. If you want to know how the Intelligence Community really works, read SPYCRAFT: Essentials and you’ll get it right every time. Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes know their stuff!”
~Diane Capri,Award Winning New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author of the Hunt for Jack Reacher series
- GenresNonfiction
290 pages, ebook
Published June 5, 2018
25 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
Bayard And Holmes
10 books16 followersPiper Bayard is an author and a recovering attorney with a college degree or two. She is also a belly dancer and a former hospice volunteer. She has been working daily with her good friend Jay Holmes for the past decade, learning about foreign affairs, espionage history, and field techniques for the purpose of writing fiction and nonfiction. She currently pens espionage nonfiction and international spy thrillers with Jay Holmes, as well as post-apocalyptic fiction of her own.
Jay Holmes is a forty-five-year veteran of field espionage operations with experience spanning from the Cold War fight against the Soviets, the East Germans, and the various terrorist organizations they sponsored to the present Global War on Terror. He is unwilling to admit to much more than that. Piper is the public face of their partnership.
Together, Bayard & Holmes author non-fiction articles and books on espionage and foreign affairs, as well as fictional international spy thrillers. They are also the bestselling authors of The Spy Bride from the Risky Brides Bestsellers Collection and were featured contributors for Social In Worldwide, Inc.
When they aren’t writing or, in Jay’s case, busy with “other work,” Piper and Jay are enjoying time with their families, hiking, exploring back roads of America, talking foreign affairs, laughing at their own rude jokes until the wee hours, and questing for the perfect chocolate cake recipe.
Jay Holmes is a forty-five-year veteran of field espionage operations with experience spanning from the Cold War fight against the Soviets, the East Germans, and the various terrorist organizations they sponsored to the present Global War on Terror. He is unwilling to admit to much more than that. Piper is the public face of their partnership.
Together, Bayard & Holmes author non-fiction articles and books on espionage and foreign affairs, as well as fictional international spy thrillers. They are also the bestselling authors of The Spy Bride from the Risky Brides Bestsellers Collection and were featured contributors for Social In Worldwide, Inc.
When they aren’t writing or, in Jay’s case, busy with “other work,” Piper and Jay are enjoying time with their families, hiking, exploring back roads of America, talking foreign affairs, laughing at their own rude jokes until the wee hours, and questing for the perfect chocolate cake recipe.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
June 9, 2018
Spies, and spooks, and agents, oh, my! Spycraft: Essentials by Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes has the title right. This book is for anyone who writes about spies, anyone who loves the history of American intelligence agencies and spycraft or anyone who enjoys a good and educational read.
Fascinating information and examples, suggestions for writers, and bits of humor make this a book that is a joy to read.
It is also a book you can sit down and read front to back, or choose a specific topic and only read those sections. Whatever way you read it, I’m certain you’ll learn and enjoy learning. On a scale of 1-5, I give this book a 5.
Please note: I received an Advance Readers’ Copy of Spycraft for free without obligation.
For a more detailed review visit my blog: https://lynettemburrows.com/spycraft-...
Fascinating information and examples, suggestions for writers, and bits of humor make this a book that is a joy to read.
It is also a book you can sit down and read front to back, or choose a specific topic and only read those sections. Whatever way you read it, I’m certain you’ll learn and enjoy learning. On a scale of 1-5, I give this book a 5.
Please note: I received an Advance Readers’ Copy of Spycraft for free without obligation.
For a more detailed review visit my blog: https://lynettemburrows.com/spycraft-...
February 12, 2019
This is an excellent guide to writing about espionage. It is very detailed and methodical, and yet written in everyday language that non-spooks can easily understand. The authors clearly explain why writers should avoid all of the common myths and outright errors that appear all too often in books, movies, and television. They also make a compelling case for how writers can create good spy stories without them. I will definitely use a lot of the information in this book, and I am sure I will refer to it often in the coming years.
I was expecting a bit more discussion of historical techniques, beyond a bit of Cold War technology. I was hoping for more of how the craft of espionage had changed over the centuries (or at least over the course of the 20th century). There was next to nothing about the OSS and World War II, for example--though in fairness, entire volumes have been written about the OSS. Still, a bit more would have been nice for context. There may be more on these subjects in the next books in the series. I will definitely check those out.
The book dove deep into the methods and history of the CIA and FBI, and to a lesser degree the NSA and DHS.These chapters were excellent, but I was disappointed to see almost nothing about the Military Intelligence Division (MID) and Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Some additional information about those agencies, along with the DIA, would have rounded out the book.
I was expecting a bit more discussion of historical techniques, beyond a bit of Cold War technology. I was hoping for more of how the craft of espionage had changed over the centuries (or at least over the course of the 20th century). There was next to nothing about the OSS and World War II, for example--though in fairness, entire volumes have been written about the OSS. Still, a bit more would have been nice for context. There may be more on these subjects in the next books in the series. I will definitely check those out.
The book dove deep into the methods and history of the CIA and FBI, and to a lesser degree the NSA and DHS.These chapters were excellent, but I was disappointed to see almost nothing about the Military Intelligence Division (MID) and Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). Some additional information about those agencies, along with the DIA, would have rounded out the book.
May 2, 2021
Most successful when it sticks to spycraft essentials for writers and espionage enthusiasts. But the authors repeatedly leap on their hobby horses and tear off down rabbit trails.
Most of the material in the chapter on electronic surveillance could have been relevant if it had been presented as writer tips on types of surveillance for characters to avoid, fall into, or tap into. Instead it's a list of rules for everyone, with no discussion of why the usual precautions that reduce the risks for most people aren't good enough for spies or high value targets of espionage or extortion.
The chapter on the Cuban missile crisis blithely assumes that intelligence on Soviet capabilities provided by Penkovsky eliminated the risk of a nuclear response. That knowledge reduced (not eliminated) the risk of an all-out nuclear war. But it turned out later that the Soviet Union had more intermediate range missiles in Cuba than US intelligence knew about, about three times as many troops as they knew about, and short range tactical nuclear weapons they didn't know about, delegated to the same trigger-happy local commanders who shot down a U-2 spy plane without authorization. The risks of the most popular options considered--bombing known missile sites, sinking an East German ship, and/or invading Cuba--were *greater* than anyone knew. Miscalculation, and failure to reach an agreement or understanding about withdrawing missiles from both Cuba and Turkey, could have resulted in several US and Soviet cities being reduced to radioactive rubble in a limited exchange that cost tens of millions of lives, even if the US "won."
Their discussion of CIA methods is misleading because it ignores major restrictions since 1975 (e.g., banning assassinations and domestic spying on US citizens). Activities that are illegal now were not illegal then. It also repeatedly makes blanket statements about "the CIA" that are probably true of CIA espionage today but not its covert operations, past or present. It also ignores the CIA's drug and mind control experiments in the '50s and '60s and fails to mention covert operations in the '60s that were run from the White House and mistakenly attributed to the CIA by their targets.
The authors also get sidetracked into a windy defense of the School of the Americas, forgetting that it was a DoD counter-insurgency program. Even if they made a stronger case, SOA is completely outside the scope of the book, which doesn't even cover defense intelligence, let alone counter-insurgency. SOA was also far from being limited to Central America, as the authors imply.
Their running line of argument throughout the book is this: Our understanding is based in multiple (uncited) publicly available sources, which are reliable because we say so and our motives are pure. Alternative versions, also based on multiple publicly available sources, are worthless because witnesses are intrinsically unreliable and the interpreters have ulterior motives, attributed by innuendo or mere labeling, but rarely by evidence and logic.
They also caricature opposing interpretations. For instance, against all evidence, they try to cast doubt on attributing the assassination of Archbishop Romero to rightwing death squads because, you see, the oligarchy wasn't monolithic and most oligarchs were religious. As if anyone claimed that the oligarchy held a national convention and passed a resolution to shoot Romero! It really only takes one shooter and a small support team, linked to a group funded by one oligarch, and one priest to offer absolution afterward. Without any evidence at all, they pretend that assassination by Soviet agents is equally likely because, well, you can't put it past them.
As an introduction to spycraft, I'd give it 3 stars: good as far as it goes, but limited because its coverage of NSA is weak when not hostile, it completely ignores military intelligence, it offers few suggestions for further reading. But the frequent, lengthy digressions earn 1 star at best. On the whole, I give it 2 stars.
Most of the material in the chapter on electronic surveillance could have been relevant if it had been presented as writer tips on types of surveillance for characters to avoid, fall into, or tap into. Instead it's a list of rules for everyone, with no discussion of why the usual precautions that reduce the risks for most people aren't good enough for spies or high value targets of espionage or extortion.
The chapter on the Cuban missile crisis blithely assumes that intelligence on Soviet capabilities provided by Penkovsky eliminated the risk of a nuclear response. That knowledge reduced (not eliminated) the risk of an all-out nuclear war. But it turned out later that the Soviet Union had more intermediate range missiles in Cuba than US intelligence knew about, about three times as many troops as they knew about, and short range tactical nuclear weapons they didn't know about, delegated to the same trigger-happy local commanders who shot down a U-2 spy plane without authorization. The risks of the most popular options considered--bombing known missile sites, sinking an East German ship, and/or invading Cuba--were *greater* than anyone knew. Miscalculation, and failure to reach an agreement or understanding about withdrawing missiles from both Cuba and Turkey, could have resulted in several US and Soviet cities being reduced to radioactive rubble in a limited exchange that cost tens of millions of lives, even if the US "won."
Their discussion of CIA methods is misleading because it ignores major restrictions since 1975 (e.g., banning assassinations and domestic spying on US citizens). Activities that are illegal now were not illegal then. It also repeatedly makes blanket statements about "the CIA" that are probably true of CIA espionage today but not its covert operations, past or present. It also ignores the CIA's drug and mind control experiments in the '50s and '60s and fails to mention covert operations in the '60s that were run from the White House and mistakenly attributed to the CIA by their targets.
The authors also get sidetracked into a windy defense of the School of the Americas, forgetting that it was a DoD counter-insurgency program. Even if they made a stronger case, SOA is completely outside the scope of the book, which doesn't even cover defense intelligence, let alone counter-insurgency. SOA was also far from being limited to Central America, as the authors imply.
Their running line of argument throughout the book is this: Our understanding is based in multiple (uncited) publicly available sources, which are reliable because we say so and our motives are pure. Alternative versions, also based on multiple publicly available sources, are worthless because witnesses are intrinsically unreliable and the interpreters have ulterior motives, attributed by innuendo or mere labeling, but rarely by evidence and logic.
They also caricature opposing interpretations. For instance, against all evidence, they try to cast doubt on attributing the assassination of Archbishop Romero to rightwing death squads because, you see, the oligarchy wasn't monolithic and most oligarchs were religious. As if anyone claimed that the oligarchy held a national convention and passed a resolution to shoot Romero! It really only takes one shooter and a small support team, linked to a group funded by one oligarch, and one priest to offer absolution afterward. Without any evidence at all, they pretend that assassination by Soviet agents is equally likely because, well, you can't put it past them.
As an introduction to spycraft, I'd give it 3 stars: good as far as it goes, but limited because its coverage of NSA is weak when not hostile, it completely ignores military intelligence, it offers few suggestions for further reading. But the frequent, lengthy digressions earn 1 star at best. On the whole, I give it 2 stars.
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May 14, 2020MWSA Review
For nearly six decades Mad Magazine featured “Spy V. Spy” as a popular feature. Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes bring these fictional antics into real life. As a source for spy novel writers, Spycraft: Essentials, reveals the not so humorous, but “real stuff” antics of spying. Backgrounds on various intelligence agencies and their interactions, along with insider-revealed unknowns are divulged. Knowledge from an experienced operative with over forty years inside is shared (but not the spy-writer’s real name) in this 276-page book. Revealed are tradecraft techniques; information about who spies and spooks are as people; the life they may lead depending on their roles and tools of the trade; and how they live (or die) in some incredibly special circumstances.
Writers wanting help with their characters and actions—even including details on weapons and their use—may want to refer to this book. Sidebars include: Conflict Alert, Side Notes, Bottom Line, Writing Tips, Pro Tips, and astute quotes by co-author, Jay Holmes. One of the two Mad Magazine cartoon characters, according to the authors’ definition, would appropriately be called a “spook.” The spook, of course, being on the good side. Spycraft: Essentials is an interesting read, churning ideas in the espionage-genre writer’s mind for their next (or first) spy story.
Review by Tom Beard (May 2020)
For nearly six decades Mad Magazine featured “Spy V. Spy” as a popular feature. Piper Bayard and Jay Holmes bring these fictional antics into real life. As a source for spy novel writers, Spycraft: Essentials, reveals the not so humorous, but “real stuff” antics of spying. Backgrounds on various intelligence agencies and their interactions, along with insider-revealed unknowns are divulged. Knowledge from an experienced operative with over forty years inside is shared (but not the spy-writer’s real name) in this 276-page book. Revealed are tradecraft techniques; information about who spies and spooks are as people; the life they may lead depending on their roles and tools of the trade; and how they live (or die) in some incredibly special circumstances.
Writers wanting help with their characters and actions—even including details on weapons and their use—may want to refer to this book. Sidebars include: Conflict Alert, Side Notes, Bottom Line, Writing Tips, Pro Tips, and astute quotes by co-author, Jay Holmes. One of the two Mad Magazine cartoon characters, according to the authors’ definition, would appropriately be called a “spook.” The spook, of course, being on the good side. Spycraft: Essentials is an interesting read, churning ideas in the espionage-genre writer’s mind for their next (or first) spy story.
Review by Tom Beard (May 2020)
September 22, 2018
Excellent read.
I didn't expect a guide book to be so entertaining. The irreverent humor and linguistic twists kept me reading when I should have been sleeping. Looking forward to the next book.
I didn't expect a guide book to be so entertaining. The irreverent humor and linguistic twists kept me reading when I should have been sleeping. Looking forward to the next book.
May 23, 2023
Spycraft
I found this book very informative. Like many spy (spook) readers, I thought of James Bond and Jason Bourne, but that’s not the truth about spies. This book provided many new ideas about the spy world.
I found this book very informative. Like many spy (spook) readers, I thought of James Bond and Jason Bourne, but that’s not the truth about spies. This book provided many new ideas about the spy world.
March 1, 2020
Well-written and entertaining, but not really what I was hoping for (I wanted a few more actual techniques). Still worth the read for a broad overview.
December 31, 2022
Another brilliant resource about spies and the work they do. It covers a variety of pieces from recruitment to the reality of the job to electronic surveillance to covert communication to silencers to poisons to myths. The descriptions and difference explored between the FBI and CIA in this book were also helpful. It's an incredibly detailed resource and I highly recommend it for writers interested in this topic (and writing it) as well as "espionage enthusiasts" as the subtitle specifies. It's a resource I will keep and return to use.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews