In True Face

A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked

De: Jonna Mendez

Narrado por: Barbara Benjamin-Creel

The bestselling coauthor of The Moscow Rules and Argo tells her riveting, courageous story of being a female spy at the height of the Cold War

Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a “contract wife” performing secretarial duties for the CIA as a convenience to her husband, a young officer stationed in Europe. She needed his permission to open a bank account or shut off the gas to their apartment. Yet Mendez had a talent for espionage, too, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles at the Agency. She parlayed her interest in photography into an operational role overseas, an unlikely area for a woman in the CIA. Often underestimated, occasionally undermined, she lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, rising first to become an international spy and ultimately to Chief of Disguise at CIA’s Office of Technical Service.

In True Face recounts not only the drama of Mendez’s high-stakes work—how this savvy operator parlayed her “everywoman” appeal into incredible subterfuge—but also the grit and good fortune it took for her to navigate a misogynistic world. This is the story of an incredible spy career and what it took to achieve it.

©2024 Jonna Mendez (P)2024 PublicAffairs

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Mendez details her fascinating career in this gripping memoir… an entertaining and enlightening glimpse inside the opaque world of spycraft.” —Publishers Weekly

“Fans of true espionage will enjoy Mendez’s stories of a formative era in intelligence history.” —Kirkus

History inspiring inside Look

Insights into CIA OP from woman’s perspective and experiences, including dealing with shedding light on and addressing misogyny

Unbalanced

I enjoyed the book, but the author attempted to tell two stories. One was the story of a life in the CIA and the other was the struggle of a woman trying to make it in a heavily male dominated world. Telling both stories is fine, even interesting, but the balance was heavy on the latter and would have been more interesting, to me at least, with more focus on the espionage and spycraft. I am, however, a man. So there’s that.

Engaging and genuine

Well written, well performed. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about the CIA, particularly its female operatives.

Get it get it get it you will not be sorry

Joanna Mendez is one of my idols and this book is not only about her life but about women in general rising the ranks. She is a beautiful person and I am so glad she shared her story. I only wish that I could hear her voice. But the voice actor did a very good job.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling in the CIA

Whoever wrote the glorified secretary review clearly didn't finish the book.

Ms. Mendez did start out shifting papers and taking dictation, but she went on to travel the world, protect the vulnerable, practice and teach mad photography skills, and become a master (and chief) of disguise. She also paved the way for the generations of women who came and will come after her.

There's a lot that she really couldn't reveal about her time in the CIA, but she did share quite a bit. It seems as if it was an exciting, but also isolated way to live. Even with a partner in the same business.

No spoilers from me. I recommend this read and/or listen.

The romance between Jonna and Tony

I loved the narration and the exciting life Jonna had. Best part was meeting with president Bush!

Honest view of a woman’s life on the CIA

This book was not expected. I expected lots of spy stories but it was really more about the struggle of women to be see as equals and be given opportunities. Very enlightening

Fascinating & Enjoyable

As a female that enjoys non-fiction espionage books, I really loved this book!
I love traveling to the cities mentioned in this book and I occasionally work on movie sets so I’m familiar with disguises and reading the energy of the room in scenes, just like field agents do. It’s hard to believe the cia doesn’t employ more female agents as we can easily shift the energy of any room full of men, just like Jonna did when she was caught in the alley way with drug cartels and escaped effortlessly with her aura.
Thank you for sharing your stories, Jonna! I really enjoyed this book!

Painful

Very little about CIA mostly about “because I’m a woman”. Insufferable having to listen to her victimhood.

High expectations but sadly not what I was hoping for

I appreciate challenge of being a woman in CIA - if you are looking for colorful stories - this isn’t the book . I really wanted to like this book , especially as a woman myself . I found it disappointing .