The Dream Merchant of Lisbon: The Game of Espionage [Paperback]

Gene Coyle (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 10, 2004

CIA officer Shawn Reilly recruits foreign officials to spy for the United States. He thinks of his job as selling dreams to people who need money, need their egos stroked or want revenge on their bosses or government. After spending many years in the hellholes of the world, he has wound up in the twilight of his career in Lisbon, Portugal where he faces a "by the book" boss, a crumbling marriage and Boris, the chief of the Russian intelligence service in Portugal who is likewise targeting Shawn. At the same time, the Libyan intelligence service is trying to lure a Central Asian chemical weapons specialist to Libya and the Russian service is on the tail of the Kazak scientist. Boris' attractive daughter, visiting from Moscow, is swept up in the plots within plots, where as in the real world of espionage, all is not necessarily as it first appears. The various threads of intrigue come together in Lisbon. In addition to performing his professional duties Shawn is forced to face the question for an aging spy of just what really matters in life - one's duty or love. The Dream Merchant of Lisbon goes into the minds of the major players to explore the psychology of espionage, based on the author's true life experiences in that shadowy world.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mr. Coyle has spent 29 years as an operations officer in the CIA's Directorate of Operations, spending almost half of that time abroad undercover. Having become an "open" employee of the Agency, he now teaches at a major university. His first hand experience in many foreign lands and knowledge of how people are actually recruited to become spies allows him to tell a fictional, yet realistic tale of espionage. He is a recipient of the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit.

Product Details

• Paperback: 290 pages
• Publisher: Xlibris, Corp. (November 10, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413473687
• ISBN-13: 978-1413473681
• Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,027,899 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good Read: The Dream Merchant of Venice, January 9, 2007

By 

G. Ridley (Madison, WI USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dream Merchant of Lisbon: The Game of Espionage (Paperback)

this moved fast, was realistic, offered a behind the scenes look at how embassies and espionage work but plenty happened too, people get killed and things. I heard the author lecture this year and he convinced a room full of people that he had been an undercover agent of the CIA assigned around the world thru the cold war. So I thought the book had credibility as well. Gordon Ridley

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Realistic and Intriguing, March 21, 2006

By 

Nicholas Alexander "HoosierFan" (Bloomington, IN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Dream Merchant of Lisbon: The Game of Espionage (Paperback)

Gripping narrative of CIA operative Riley caught in the middle murder, espionage and a forbidden love affair with the wife of a Soviet Station Chief.