Böcker av Richard J Kerr

In Unclassified: My Life Before, During, and After the CIA, Richard James Kerr, a former Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, recounts how he joined the Agency fresh out of college as a GS7 analyst/clerk. During his more than 30 years, Kerr rose through the ranks quickly, serving in all four directories—Intelligence, Operations, Administration, and Science/Technology (reaching Director level in both Intelligence and Administration)—before eventually becoming Deputy Director of the CIA (DDCI).Kerr was responsible for many highly visible tasks such as providing the US President with a daily briefing of CIA intelligence. He was known for his stabilizing influence during his tenure and his ability to address countless “hot button” issues. He also established a reputation for his integrity and objectivity when presenting CIA findings to high-ranking officials.Now retired, Kerr has the opportunity to reflect on his many experiences and he even shares his thoughts on how someone working in the intelligence community should consider approaching an administration that does not understand how useful agencies like the CIA can be when managing world issues.

The Dark Side of Paradise blends together Richard Kerr’s professional experiences from his over-thirty-year career as a high-ranking official in the CIA with his idyllic life as a Florida retiree living in beautiful Vero Beach. Using his involvement in a local writing group as a common thread weaved through the stories, the author shares tales that explore the inner workings of the mind and examine good vs. evil. How do we decide between right and wrong? What do we do when we think no one is watching?Richard Kerr crafts short stories that are unsettling, amusing, whimsical, and illuminating. Divided into four sections, the book begins with spy-centric tales, moves to stories of surprise, segues into tales of death, and finishes on a lighter note. All the while, regardless of the section, the author’s writer group and some of its members are weaved in and out of the stories to provide a common bond.  Only someone of his unique background could provide such an enlightening and intriguing look inside the mind of a CIA intelligence official as filtered through captivating tales that remain with the reader long after the last page has been turned.