Valerie Plame Wilson
Author of Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House
About the Author
Former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson was born in Anchorage, Alaska on April 19, 1963. She received a B.A. in advertising from Pennsylvania State University in 1985 and two Master's degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. She show more worked as a classified covert intelligence agent for the CIA for over twenty years. She married former Ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV in 1998 and had twins in 2000. She was chosen to be the Director of Operations for the Joint Task Force on Iraq and it was her job to mount the operations that would discover if there were weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. On July 14, 2003, her covert identity was exposed and ended her career. Her experiences before and after the outing are recounted in her autobiography Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, in which the CIA redacted about 10% of the book. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: Hunter Kahn
Series
Works by Valerie Plame Wilson
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1963-04-19
- Gender
- female
- Education
- Pennsylvania State University
London School of Economics
College of Europe - Occupations
- intelligence officer
- Organizations
- Central Intelligence Agency
- Agent
- Elyse Cheney
- Relationships
- Wilson, Joseph (husband)
- Short biography
- Valerie Plame Wilson, the former CIA covert operations officer, was born on Elmendorf Air Force base n Anchorage, Alaska, in 1963. She holds a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University and master's degrees from the London School of Economics and Political Science and the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. Her career in the CIA included extensive work in counterproliferation operations. She and her husband, former ambassador Joseph C. Wilson IV, are the parents of seven-year-old twins. Ms. Wilson and her family live in New Mexico. [from Fair Game (2007)]
- Nationality
- USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- USA
Members
Reviews
I like, respect, and honor the service Valerie Plame did for our country, so I was inclined to like this first-effort novel, written with a well-seasoned mystery writer, Sarah Lovett. And I did like it; can't say I loved it, but the story got better as the book got into the mean of the espionage. Some elements just a bit too wonky for me to understand and some of the relationships a bit over the top, but if you enjoy the show Homeland, I think you would also enjoy this book.
This would be a better book, perhaps, if the CIA-mandated cuts were restored, but the heart of the story is largely intact, that is, the Wilsons' account of what the outing of Mrs. Wilson did to her career and their lives and the documentation of the political smear campaign conducted against the couple after Amb. Joe Wilson dared to point out that the Bush Administration already knew Saddam Hussein had not tried to acquire yellowcake uranium from Niger when the President asserted that show more Saddam Hussein had done so in an attempt to justify attacking Iraq.
Why should you care? I care because one of the few unbreakable rules I learned as a diplomat was never, NEVER, connect anyone with the CIA under any circumstances. We never referred to the CIA by name, even, because of the risk to CIA officers and agents if exposed. And then our elected officials and their staff took it on themselves to out a covert CIA officer in an attempt to discredit her whistle-blowing husband. You should care if you care about good governance, our security, and the rule of law. show less
Why should you care? I care because one of the few unbreakable rules I learned as a diplomat was never, NEVER, connect anyone with the CIA under any circumstances. We never referred to the CIA by name, even, because of the risk to CIA officers and agents if exposed. And then our elected officials and their staff took it on themselves to out a covert CIA officer in an attempt to discredit her whistle-blowing husband. You should care if you care about good governance, our security, and the rule of law. show less
There is exactly one writer I'll accept "the terrorist has a nuclear device" plots from, and it's Valerie Plame Wilson, whose actual specialty at CIA was anti-proliferation. Much love for Vanessa Pierson and the deliciously untrustworthy Bhoot.
Blowback is term used by the CIA meaning there were unintended consequences during the course of a covert operation which affect the aggressor. Counter attacks that are unforeseen. Once you start reading this book you'll understand why this title works.
Overall I liked this novel and main character Vanessa Pierson. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Valerie Plame’s initials are the same as Vanessa Pierson. It’s probably not a coincidence that Vanessa is tall, athletic, blonde and show more works undercover in Counter-proliferation operations. Pierson’s background is threaded throughout the book so you slowly get to know her. You know she is driven, she breaks rules, she gets results and she is obsessed with capturing Bhoot, an international arms dealer who has given everyone the slip for many a year.
The character Pierson is a cross between James Bond (without the gadgets) and a character from the old show Mission Impossible. Get in and do your work then disappear. Nice spy story with settings in Washington DC, Prague, London, Paris and Vienna.
The first half of the novel kept me reading but it was the windup that had me completely hooked. So much happening all at once and the ends are tied up fairly neatly. It’s obvious there will be a follow up book and I will definitely read it.
Certainly this is not a foodie book but there were a few mentions here and there. Black tea and Honey; caramelized frog legs from a Masterchef television show; bourbon and more bourbon…there was a mention of marzipan Mozartkugeln (Mozart balls) regarding a key character. He had a sweet tooth and so, tracing his steps in previous days before he was murdered revealed a trip to a sweet shop.
(By the way, I didn’t spoil anything for you by mentioning murder :-)
More on Valerie Plame
Happy Reading!!
http://novelmeals.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/blowback-by-valerie-plame/ show less
Overall I liked this novel and main character Vanessa Pierson. I don’t think it’s any coincidence that Valerie Plame’s initials are the same as Vanessa Pierson. It’s probably not a coincidence that Vanessa is tall, athletic, blonde and show more works undercover in Counter-proliferation operations. Pierson’s background is threaded throughout the book so you slowly get to know her. You know she is driven, she breaks rules, she gets results and she is obsessed with capturing Bhoot, an international arms dealer who has given everyone the slip for many a year.
The character Pierson is a cross between James Bond (without the gadgets) and a character from the old show Mission Impossible. Get in and do your work then disappear. Nice spy story with settings in Washington DC, Prague, London, Paris and Vienna.
The first half of the novel kept me reading but it was the windup that had me completely hooked. So much happening all at once and the ends are tied up fairly neatly. It’s obvious there will be a follow up book and I will definitely read it.
Certainly this is not a foodie book but there were a few mentions here and there. Black tea and Honey; caramelized frog legs from a Masterchef television show; bourbon and more bourbon…there was a mention of marzipan Mozartkugeln (Mozart balls) regarding a key character. He had a sweet tooth and so, tracing his steps in previous days before he was murdered revealed a trip to a sweet shop.
(By the way, I didn’t spoil anything for you by mentioning murder :-)
More on Valerie Plame
Happy Reading!!
http://novelmeals.wordpress.com/2014/03/13/blowback-by-valerie-plame/ show less
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- Rating
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