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America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. PresidentialElection- by theForm
 
 
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America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. PresidentialElection- by theForm [Hardcover]

Larry J. Kolb (Author)
3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)


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Book Description

February 1, 2007
The True Story of Two Master Criminals Aiming to Take America's Biggest Prize and Our Security Agencies' Systematic Inability to Stop Them by the Former Intelligence Agent Recruited to Foil Their Plan

Robert Sensi has worked for the CIA, the Republican National Committee, and, as cover, for Kuwait Airways and the Kuwaiti royal family. He has twice served time in federal prison for embezzlement and fraud. Richard Hirschfeld, originally recruited to the CIA by Sensi, boasts an equally illustrious past: in the seventies he duped investors out of millions of dollars, later allegedly stole a $12-million payoff from Ferdinand Marcos intended for Ronald Reagan, and came within a hairbreadth of conning the U.S. Senate out of $50 million.

When the Department of Homeland Security suspects that Sensi and Hirschfeld are at the center of an investigation involving money laundering and the funding of Al Qaeda-and when their supposedly comprehensive database turns up little to no information on either man-it takes onetime spy Larry Kolb to crack the case, ultimately orchestrating Hirschfeld's spectacular capture. But when Kolb begins to connect the dots, he realizes something even more sinister is afoot, and that he's on to the biggest possible con with the highest political stakes.

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

After 20 years of CIA covert operations, Kolb looked forward to retirement and the obligatory memoir (Overworld, 2004), when he discovered the wildly sinister plot recounted in this engaging book. As a favor to the Department of Homeland Security, he consulted colleagues, his files and the Internet for information on Robert Sensi and Richard Hirschfeld, once vaguely CIA-connected but now wanted by the FBI for numerous financial scams. The avalanche of data he unearthed makes the inability of the FBI, CIA and DHS to gather information very disturbing. Specifically, Kolb discovered the pair had placed the treasurer of Sen. John Kerry's campaign committee on the board of a company that (perhaps inadvertently) sold supplies to al-Qaeda—a revelation that would have devastated Kerry's 2004 presidential campaign. Kolb also recounts details of his subjects' long career of fraud and extortion, often with cooperation from prominent Washington figures. Stories of powerful men behaving badly have irresistible appeal, and Kolb relates them in prose far more lively than the average bureaucrat's, while backing his story with footnotes, Internet addresses and quotes from named sources. (Feb. 1)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review

A story that's murky but exciting from beginning to end... -- Kirkus Reviews, December 1, 2006

Product Details

  • Hardcover: 320 pages
  • Publisher: Riverhead Hardcover (February 1, 2007)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 1594489009
  • ISBN-13: 978-1594489006
  • Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,159,862 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Larry J. Kolb was born in the United States and raised around the world. He has lived, among other places, in Washington, New York, London, Berlin, Japan, Switzerland, South Africa, and in a safe house on a beach in Florida. As the son of a senior American intelligence official, Kolb was recruited by the CIA when he was twenty-two years old, but he declined. Instead he became a businessman, and the following year was featured on the front page of The Wall Street Journal. While still in his twenties, Kolb became an agent for professional athletes, including Muhammad Ali. This brought Kolb into contact with many of the world's most powerful and wealthiest people, especially in the Middle East, and made him almost irresistible to legendary CIA cofounder Miles Copeland. When Copeland recruited Kolb, Kolb said yes, and soon he was involved in covert intrigues in Beirut, Saudi Arabia, Libya, Nicaragua, Peru, Pakistan, and India, as well as the halls of power in London, New York, and Washington. With Copeland, Kolb cowrote white papers for the President of the United States and the National Security Council. While running a covert propaganda campaign for Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Kolb anonymously wrote a widely-published series of investigative newspaper reports that electrified India. After Gandhi's assassination, Kolb found himself in a safe house in Florida with little to do but listen to waves roll in and put down on paper extraordinary true stories drawn from his own life experiences.

 

Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
3.2 out of 5 stars (8 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars SINUOUS, SINISTER, AND A GREAT READ, February 2, 2007
This review is from: America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. PresidentialElection- by theForm (Hardcover)
America at Night starts on a sunny day in the Hollywood Hills, but it soon turns dark, moving, sinuous and sinister, through the back streets and back rooms of New York, Washington, Beirut, Miami. It is a frightening story of homeland security failures and of rogue ex-CIA operatives beating the U.S. security services at almost every turn. As frightening as this true story is, it is equally entertaining, because it is beautifully written in the style of a thriller, and it is satisfying, perhaps especially because in the end the truly astonishing and evil villain of the story is brought to justice with surprising results. The whole thing would be unbelievable were it not extensively documented and corroborated. Reading America at Night was the best few hours of reading I've experienced in years.
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8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars FASCINATING, March 7, 2007
This review is from: America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. PresidentialElection- by theForm (Hardcover)
America at Night is one of the most riveting books I've read in a long while. I absolutely couldn't put it down. Not only is the story completely intriguing, but Kolb--unlike many true crime authors--can really write. The man is obviously a born storyteller. And in this case, the story he's telling happens to be true--which makes the book all the more fascinating. I highly recommend this to anyone interested in how politics really works in this country, or anyone that just enjoys a compulsive, compelling read.
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7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A GREAT AND FRIGHTENING TRUE STORY, WELL TOLD, March 5, 2007
This review is from: America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. PresidentialElection- by theForm (Hardcover)
With the 2008 Presidential elections approaching, everyone interested in the secret war conducted beneath the surface by both major U.S. political parties should read this book. For fans of spy novels, this book is written in the style of espionage fiction, but it is even more compelling and frightening because it is true (and extensively documented and corroborated both inside the book and on the author's website). For those interested in political intrigues, as I am, this book is riveting. Though, in the case of the story told in this book, it is Republican covert operatives (a fascinating pair of former CIA agents, now con men claiming that they are still CIA agents, while making millions for themselves) working against the interests of the Democratic candidate for President during the 2004 election, as the author admits, both parties probably conduct this sort of covert political operation against the other party in most major elections. But the intricacy and audicity of the plot revealed in this book must be unique. It is an amazing read.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
Unfortunately, this is a true story. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
campaign treasurer
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Richard Hirschfeld, United States, New York, Engin Yesil, Jerris Leonard, John Kerry, White House, Richard Marshall, Bob Sensi, President Bush, Kevin Hirschfeld, Homeland Security, Gary Messina, Greg Craig, Muhammad Ali, Vince Messina, Dan Schwartz, Dave Kindred, Lens Express, Boris Birshtein, Republicans Abroad, Middle East, Henry Hyde, George Bush, Saddam Hussein
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Front Cover | Front Flap | Table of Contents | First Pages | Index | Back Flap | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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