Risk Taker, Spy Maker
Tales of a CIA Case Officer
Barry Michael Broman
Casemate, Philadelphia, 312 pages, 2020
Book Review published on: March 10, 2023
Risk Taker, Spy Maker: Tales of a CIA Case Officer lives up to its title as Barry Michael Broman treats his reader to many tales, alternating between Southeast Asian jungle firefights and haute cuisine.
The first quarter of the book focuses on Broman’s pre-CIA life, from English boarding school to apprentice photo editor for a major newswire service in Southeast Asia, culminating in Vietnam as a Marine infantry platoon leader. Broman spends the next half of Risk Taker detailing his time in the CIA clandestine service, mostly in Southeast Asia from the early 1970s through the 1990s. The beginning of this section is a vivid description of the CIA’s basic organization, initial training regimen, and operational versus headquarters cultural rivalries. He then provides some anecdotes as a newly minted clandestine service officer on his first posting to Cambodia. The last quarter of the book details his postretirement travels, mostly to Myanmar, highlighting film documentary and book projects, and the colorful lives of his associates.
Broman rewards the reader with many excellent photographs and colorful stories of his travels with fellow correspondents continue throughout his CIA career. These vignettes are the most engaging moments in Risk Taker, at times reading like a screenplay. Almost as much print is devoted to the lifestyle of a CIA case officer as it is to his activities in the field. And perhaps that is his point, that you cannot separate the two. Unfortunately, he often departs from these first-person narratives and ventures into stereotypical tropes about incompetent military officers or government bureaucrats. These characters serve as foils to more capable CIA case officers. Broman clearly states in the preface that his account is based on his personal recollections and was subjected to review by the CIA. As such, Risk Taker lacks notes or a bibliography to help the reader with historical context. Less significant but equally distracting, some passages and themes are repeated, sometime in the same paragraph.
Most of Broman’s tales stand on their own and would make riveting magazine features. But in Risk Taker, they are often lost in a wandering narrative. Those looking for a deep understanding of the spy-craft involved in recruiting and running agents may want to look for other sources with more attention given to the subject, and a bibliographic offering. However, Risk Taker is an entertaining first-person narrative and a unique addition to a comprehensive espionage library.
Book Review written by: Brian D. Allen, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas