Tracy Walder started life with "floppy baby" syndrome and her family was afraid she might not even walk. With lots of work and perseverance, Tracy became strong and highly focused. She didn't let bullies in school get her down.
She was recruited right out of college for the CIA. She didn't settle for a desk job as an analyst. She wanted to be right in the thick of things. She certainly was thrown right into horrid situations since 9/11 happened right after she joined the CIA. She was just as sharp as any of her male counterparts when she was sent to the Middle East, but faced discrimination and verbal abuse. She was also frustrated that intel gathered didn't seem to be acted on until something bad happened. After some situations that would give anyone PTSD, Tracy decided she would leave the CIA and applied to the FBI. I don't want to have spoilers, but will just say that women are still not respected as the should be in important positions.
Tracy Walder wrote this powerful memoir with Jessica Anya Blau. As the author revealed her life from 2001 til present, I felt various waves of emotion. The biggest ones were extreme sadness and anger. Unfortunately, our culture does not portray women as spies in TV or films very often. When I imagine a CIA agent, I see the actor who plays Jack Ryan on the current streaming series. That is stereotyping for me who wants women to be part of the mainstream and not just outliers.
This book may be non-fiction, but talented writing makes it engaging and it is more engaging than many fiction thriller.

St. Martin's Press and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Unexpected Spy: From the CIA to the FBI, My Secret Life Taking Down Some of the World's Most Notorious Terrorists. I chose to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Tracy Walder went from being a college sorority girl to a CIA agent, providing pivotal help during the War on Terror after the events of 9/11. As Tracy takes her counterintelligence training to the FBI, her experiences there helped to form her eventual drive to help young girls become strong women.

The most shocking part of this book was not all of the crucial intel that Tracy helped to provide, but the poor treatment that she endured during her time at the FBI. It is amazing that the CIA was so nurturing, in stark contrast to her treatment at the hands of her superiors at the FBI. The author does a good job of detailing her life, showing readers how strength and determination in the face of adversity can provide meaning and purpose.

The format of this book is unique, as the author kept in the portions redacted by the CIA. Walder also changed names and situations when necessary, but it did not make a difference in the overall feeling of the book. Readers who enjoy fictional spy thrillers will like the opportunity to read the true life experiences of a young woman on the front lines during one of the most dangerous points in history to date.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Tracey Wilder for the ARC to review. I really enjoyed. I found so of the redaction hard at times. But I totally understand. I find these types of jobs very interesting and that is what drew me to this book. Thank you for your service and the best of luck to you.

Having been a "sorority girl" myself and living in Washington, DC, I was sold after readying the synopsis of Tracy Walder's The Unexpected Spy. I am happy to say that the book exceeded my expectations.

Walder's account of her time in the CIA and the FBI reads like fiction, but the redacted sections remind the read that our national security is protected, and these mind-blowing stories are indeed real. It's an intriguing look into the world of an agent who has to deal with sexism in addition to the already stressful challenges of the job. I definitely recommend this book.

Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and St. Martin's Press for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Unexpected Spy.

Tracy Walder is a young, blonde sorority girl who has always had an interest in social justice and politics. So when she is at a career fair one day and stumbles onto the poorly visited CIA booth, she is immediately interested.

In the CIA, she learns to spy, interrogate, avoid poisons, engage in high speed chases, and detect online threats, all while keeping her hair curled, and her lipstick on. From the CIA, she joins the FBI, where she is confronted with constant misogyny and prejudice. She is forced to work twice as hard to get a fraction of the recognition. But with time she learns to disregard people's opinions of her and just do the work, in hope that she can also dismantle the cultural sexism.

This was a really interesting read, and I learned a lot about the inter-workings of both the CIA and FBI, as well as the contempt that they often hold for each other. I really appreciated how the people in the book were so truly real. It's easy to fall into the trap of believing that our country is run by semi human automatons, but of course, they are just people with lives and insecurities like the rest of us.

I absolutely loved this book. It was slow moving in pints but overall interesting all the way l. A great read for anyone interested in the CIA, 9/11, FBI, or is a woman.

Tracy's memoir about her time in the CIA around 9-11 here in the US and overseas, as well as her time with the FBI was an interesting informative read because she described her experiences, struggles, successes and accomplishments in both organizations without really describing her personal life.
She over came the obstacle of "floppy baby syndrome"- which typically leads to weakness, poor fine motor skills, and difficulty with activities of daily living. balance and coordination -necessary skills to walk, ride a bike, as well as handwriting, buttoning and zipping clothing, and handling a gun. (I am a retired Occupational Therapist). She found a place dancing and although the performances were regarded as "something to get through" rather than fun and a reward for her hard work. She found acceptance in her sorority - a place where she could blend in rather than be singled out for being different. Although she looked like Malibu Barbie ( I imagine blonde hair and a big smile), she only wanted to be invisible.
I liked the way Tracy described her first assignment as a CIA undercover operative and the way she described her growth from a new college grad to a strong woman with insight into counter-terrorism, poison terrorist plots, and the cooperative roles of the counter-terrorism agencies throughout the world.
I am sorry for the misogyny and overt sexism that she had to put up with in the FBI and am glad that she could find a way to do what she always wanted to do - and in a way that challenges the young girls that she teaches today.
I am thankful that she shared her journey of self discovery and the limitations that were inherent in her jobs without faulting the organizations that she worked for.

A very enjoyable read only hindered by the amount of redaction. I understand why as the book deals with some security sensitive topics.

I found this book to be an inspiration to a woman and especially my daughters when I say they can be anything they want. She is a woman who was one day going to school at USC and took a chance on herself to apply and pass all of the different tests for the CIA.
S he goes into when she passed and when she got assigned and how her days normally went until 9-11 happens. Her days are not her own anymore and you begin to see how the world begins to change. Her world changes because her boyfriend cannot handle that she has a higher security clearance than him.
You follow her along when she is making different presentations to world leaders and how she handles the stress of public speaking. Then going from that to being in Afghanistan for questioning a terrorist and then in there somewhere she has to go back and do the training that she was supposed to do when she was hired but because of 9-11 did not happen.
After all of that, she has gotten tired of being home for a while and then sent back out overseas. She decides to apply for the FBI. It is excepted but for some reason maybe because she worked for the CIA, she has it rough. She sticks it out through the academy then is assigned to L.A. office where again she is given less than stellar assignments.
Here really is the sorriest and disappointing part of the book. The way she was treated in the FBI. Some may say it was her perception but I think not. Having worked in law enforcement I can see this happening. That was what was said that a person who wanted to work for them and could help and yet was treated as second class. Maybe because I have daughters anyway it was wrong for them and for us as a Nation in the long run.
You do get to see where she is now and how her life has turned out and she is shaping a new generation for the future. I grew up with a dad in military and government all my life and law enforcement for myself, so I found the sacrifice of her personal life a true blessing for all of us and for me I think her and all of the CIA and others who were fighting that did not get the recognition, not that they were looking for any. This is truly a very, very good book and one I hope many people read.

I received a free electronic ARC of this memoir/biography on January 9, 2020, from Netgalley, authors Tracy Walder/Jessica Anya Blau, and St. Martin's Press. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. I have read 'The Unexpected Spy' of my own volition, and this review reflects my honest opinion of this work. This should be required reading for 14/15-year-old kids of both sexes.

Most of the glass-ceiling-breaking women we read about are hard as nails and just as tough as Bruce Willis. Tracy Walder wears bright lipstick and peek-toes killer heels. AND gets the job done. I appreciated the flack she endured over her time in the CIA and especially the FBI experience. Balanced on top of the problems she had in school, it is remarkable that she was able to pull this off.
But the Tracy Walder that gets ALL my respect is the teacher at an all-girls school because we can only change that which we understand well enough to get behind. The girls taught by Ms. Walder will approach the world with a full arsenal of knowledge and tools to combat prejudice of all forms, from all sides. The battle will be tougher in peek-toed heels, but she certainly gets the job done, as will her students.

This is the author Tracy Walder's story of her time at the CIA and the FBI. Recruited by the CIA right out of college, Walder is placed in the counterterrorism unit just before 9/11. I can't imagine being 22 years old, fresh out of college and tracking terrorists and traveling to the Middle East. Her telling of her time at the CIA and FBI is without a doubt interesting. Her training at the Farm, her working in the Vault, and her experience at Quantico were all a fascinating look into a life/job I know little about. I applaud her efforts to empower and encourage young women to pursue careers in a field typically dominated by men. (Her story of her time at the FBI was particularly cringe-worthy.)

All that being said, parts of this book didn't sit well with me. Her repeated reference to being a sorority girl, her love of pink, her being bullied and being a homecoming princess didn't always seem relevant/necessary to the moments in the book. And some of the book just left me conflicted about my feelings toward the author. But, this is her story and she's definitely got a story to tell.

I had a very hard time with all the redactions. For me they were a huge distraction. The author certainly had an interesting story to tell, but I found it very off-putting.

Not a bad read.  Tracy Walder takes a rather unexpected route to her life.  She ends up in the CIA after college, eventually taking down terrorists in the Middle East.  She eventually moves to the FBI because she wants to live a more normal life.  There she finds out that there is still some terrible sexism rampant.  But, she does take down one of the worst terrorists operating in the US.  Eventually she leaves and starts teaching at a girls school where she tries to make the girls into her, preparing them to follow the path she took.

This book is well written.  There are parts that are understandably redacted for security purposes.   Walder does take shots at the government leaders for things that they said that did not line up with what she saw while in the field.  

What she saw while in the FBI was shameful.  I do hope that those things have been corrected.  

All in all, not a bad read.  You will see some things that are hard to take, but that come with reading about what terrorists do.

What an interesting book about Ms. Walder and her life growing up to going from college to the CIA to the FBI to being a teacher, wife and mother, She has had experiences which took her to far countries, met terrorists and had a part in finding and stopping WMDs after 9/11. It was not easy but with a good attitude she was able to make a difference. The story flows well and is easy to read. I highly recommend the book.

The Unexpected Spy is a true story of how a college girl worked hard to join the CIA and the FBI and worked in counter terrorism across the world.

This was a captivating memoir with an incredibly unique perspective .
Portions of the book were redacted and if this hadn't happened, this would of been 5 stars for me and not 4.

I understand the need to ensure confidentiality, but these parts should just of been removed. This interrupted the story and was quite distracting.

A fascinating read into the secrets of a sorority girl who on a whim signs up for the CIA and FBI. She is brought into the world of secrets and her journey into that world. It was a fascinating and scary read but it's one I would recommend to those who are into reading about the secret world of the CIA.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press for this review copy!

This has been one of my favorite books of the year. I love how it is about a woman doing her job, not a woman that works being a mom and a wife. I couldn't put this down and read it in one night! Definitely recommend it!

This autobiography of the author’s long career in the CIA, short career in the FBI, and a brief look into her life as a history teacher gives a fascinating insight into the war in Afghanistan and the careful way CIA agents and analysts teased information from informants and then analyzed it and put it into the larger context of global terrorism.

I give this book five stars for content but only three for quality of writing, which, averaged, is four stars. You will learn more than you ever thought possible about what it’s like to work for the CIA in any role when you read this book.

I received this book as an ARC from the publisher and NetGalley.

Tracy Walder is quite successful in her honest and personal account of life as a CIA counter-terrorism analyst in the aftermath of 9/11. Although there seems to be many hard-working and brilliant people dedicated to the efforts in CIA, Walder also shows examples of the opposite - people in "hardship" postings in Africa or the Middle East who clearly had lost the interest in doing their jobs.
The book takes a turn for the worse when Walder leaves the CIA and joins the FBI. The FBI Academy in Quantico is depicted as a place where the instructors pick on female trainees (especially Walder) while favorizing male trainees. In this latter part of the book, Walder points out that she has been taught not to bitch - even when life is unfair. Well, the last 20 % of the book is almost nonstop bitching about unfair treatment of her as a woman and as a former CIA employee, and this self-pity is so agonising to read that it ends up costing a star. The tremendously annoying redactions of the CIA publication board of things as trivial as the CIA analysts' nickname of a cafe costs another half star, so my rating just barely makes it to the 4 stars.

“The Unexpected Spy” is the real life story of Tracy Walder’s time in the alphabet agencies, CIA and FBI. This is not a colorless, dry, news-like account, but a vibrant, funny, and frightening look at recent national and international events. I knew I would love this book as soon as Tracy pulled out a box of “Hot Tamales,” my personal favorite candy. She shares that the CIA building has an internal Starbucks, but they do not put names on the cups. Readers also learn the hazards of traveling under an alias on a fake passport with an assumed name and the airline loses your luggage. She admits that she left out a lot, but she also has a lot to tell.

Her first person narrative is casual and friendly, as if a few friends are sitting around eating “Hot Tamales” (of course) and sharing stories. She originally wanted to be a history teacher but decided making history would be better than teaching it. She was all grown up, working to save the world.

She takes readers through the thrills of learning the PIT maneuvers and looking into the woods wondering wonder how many pairs of eyes are watching. She shares the daily trauma of working in counterterrorism, knowing that the people she was chasing were planning murders, multiple murders of innocent people. She could stop them by getting important information. She traveled, ate new foods, took in all the world had to offer, and tried to get rid of the people who wanted to poison and kill all of us.

Her multisensory descriptions pull readers into the locations. “Everywhere you looked, all you saw was white, brown, or beige— different hues of sandpaper. And every surface was as dry as chalk. It sounded like shells crunching beneath our feet as we walked to the makeshift barracks.” She shares her feelings, her accomplishments, but not everything. “This country ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~” (redacted)
I received a review copy of “The Unexpected Spy” from Tracy Walder, Jessica Anya Blau, and St. Martin’s Press. It was compelling and yet easy to read. The stories were frightening, encouraging, and at times funny. Walder achieved her other childhood goal; she is a currently a teacher, and hanging on the wall in her classroom is an American flag that has written in the stripes the names of every person killed on September 11.