CI: Team Red: An Army Counterintelligence Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

~ (Author), (Author) "IT WAS ONE OF THOSE DAYS THAT STARTED lousy and went rapidly downhill, beginning when DeLuca was called in to meet with Lieutenant Colonel Stanley..." (more)
Key Phrases: leg rig, flex cuffs, sat phone, Alf Wajeh, Walter Ford, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Into the Heart of Terror In a story so explosive that he can only tell it as fiction, former counterintelligence special agent David DeBatto takes us onto a new kind of battlefield, beyond the reach of reporters, and into the covert ops of elite tactical intelligence teams. Their number one job: to pierce the secrets of an enemy-before the enemy reaches us... Staff Sgt. David DeLuca had a love/hate relationship with the Armed Forces. Then came 9/11. After a career as a street cop, he went to war-and put his skills to work in a secret army within an army. Part detective, con man, spy, and soldier, DeLuca is now hunting a Saddam loyalist Centcom thought was dead. To catch his prey, he'll have to outmaneuver him using microscopic forensic evidence, high-tech espionage tools, and gut instincts. But as he follows a deadly trail out of the Sunni Triangle into Iran, a horrifying picture is coming clear to DeLuca and his elite "red" team: a terrorist group already has its fangs in the USA-and needs to be hunted down and eliminated right now...

About the Author

David DeBatto is a former U.S. Army Counterintelligence Special Agent and Army instructor that served in Iraq in 2003 during Operation Iraqi Freedom. Prior to his tour in Iraq, David was an instructor in the Army Counterintelligence Agent course. While in Iraq, he functioned as a Team Leader of a Tactical Human Intelligence Team (THT) in the heart of the Sunni Triangle. His team's responsibilities included; tracking down the infamous "55 Playing Card" Iraqi fugitives, searching for WMD as well as high level Ba'ath Party and top Iraqi military leaders. His team's intelligence collection efforts lead to the capture of one of the "55" as well as several Iraqi generals, intelligence operatives and large caches of conventional weapons and top secret documents. He was medically discharged in March of 2004 after twelve years of service as a result of serious injuries suffered during an intelligence gathering mission just outside of Balad, Iraq at a location affectionately nicknamed "Mortarville" by American troops. David developed close working relationships and the trust of several top Iraqi leaders and was able, because of those relationships, to obtain valuable information not readily available to other America officials; military or civilian. He can regularly be seen giving news analysis of events in the Middle East and the Global War on Terrorism on numerous radio and television networks including; FOX NEWS, CNN, NPR MSNBC and others. David is widely quoted as a source for terrorism and national security related stories by several leading news organizations and has written articles for; The American Prospect, Salon, Vanity Fair, The New Standard and Spiegel Television in Germany.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing (May 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446615676
• ISBN-13: 978-0446615679
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,192,768 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Good Details, Lousy Fiction, June 8, 2005

By	zorba (Bala Cynwyd, Pa USA) - See all my reviews

While I found the details about C.I. and the war in Iraq interesting, as a novel this book reads like an army field manual. Cliched characters, plodding plot, a dull protagonist, little suspense, etc. I got about two-thirds of the way through the book and decided to toss it. I got to where I just didn't care any longer about any of the characters or the plot. I sense the author didn't care either.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Liaison Cards, January 25, 2006

By	David B. O'Connor (Boston, Massachusetts 02115) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Climbing down from my shelf after having been CI in the early 60's, I was thoroughly impressed by the effort to portray the value of positive liaison operations expressed by DeBatto and Nelson. For years the neglect of this one facet of many in the Counterintelligence (industrial) gem, left many veterans of the trade questioning how CI special agents could function when stifled by budgets and sterilized by policies.
This story tells how leadership is weathered in guts and hearts not polished on the shoulders. And yet, while citing the errors of uniformed bureaucracry, vanity and venality, it gives a full play of the human dimensions that make an effective special agent - CI.
In background investigations of yore one would be asked about the loyalty, integrity, discretion, morales and character of a subject to be considered for a position of trust and responsibility. Positive answers to that would compose the image of CI individuals collectively.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Did the Russians weaponize smallpox? If so, where is it?, June 20, 2005

By	Lupo - See all my reviews

If you enjoy Crichton or Clancy you will like this book. I found the story captivating, with several twists. It will make a good movie. Sure, the characters are typical for this genre. They are a stylized, tough, extra-ordinarily competent, and very lucky group. The underlying plot relates to a bioterror threat against the US. Seriously, if something like this hasn't happened already, it will. While I'm sure my present job providing medical support to our troops in Iraq has influenced my perspective, if you're reading this, read the book.