During my career I have successfully marketed and sold at one time or another farm and construction equipment, power plant equipment, and plastics machinery in numerous countries including the U.S., India, Sri Lanka, West Germany, Canada, Holland, Sweden, Finland, Japan, China, Taiwan, Mexico, Columbia, Ecuador, and the Soviet Union. I hold a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University and a Harvard MBA.

All of my books include an American businessman living and working for years in India or West Germany. Can I also spin a good spy novel? You decide.

The real-world spymasters are seldom like James Bond. To learn about an actual CIA spymaster’s life, I read the autobiographies of Dewey Clarridge, Tom Gilligan, Ted Shackley, Floyd Paseman, Henry Crumpton, and Antonio Mendez. I concluded that the CIA spies have the following common characteristics: integrity, perseverance, dedication to their work, deep patriotism, the satisfaction of quiet successes, and the excitement of living in another country. I found that the number one requirement of a CIA spy is personal integrity. Ironic, in that the CIA spy must exhibit honesty and trust with those around him while breaking the law of the country in which he lives and works. The spy characters of my two novels reflect these values.

I state in the opening page of my novels that:

The professional spy works best
In quiet secrecy. He operates
In highly stressful situations
With only his wits to protect him.

He depends on trust and integrity
As the basis for his relations
With his agents.

His secrets
May never be told
But are sealed forever.

To the CIA professionals whose secret, untold work keep our country safe: Thank you for your service.

James Glenn