Summary of In True Face by Jonna Mendez: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked

By GP SUMMARY

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Summary of In True Face by Jonna Mendez: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked

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Donna Hiestand Mendez, coauthor of The Moscow Rules and Argo, shares her story of being a female spy during the Cold War. Initially a contract wife, Mendez developed a talent for espionage and took on more significant roles. She lived under cover, served tours globally, and eventually became Chief of Disguise at the CIA's Office of Technical Service. True Face is a captivating account of Mendez's extraordinary spy career.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Mar 17, 2024
• ISBN: 9783755472186

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Summary of

In True Face

A

Summary of Jonna Mendez’s book

A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked

GP SUMMARY

Summary of In True Face by Jonna Mendez: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked

By GP SUMMARY© 2023, GP SUMMARY.

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This is an unofficial summary & analysis of Jonna Mendez’s In True Face: A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked designed to enrich your reading experience.

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Close Call

The narrator, a single, unescorted woman, was instructed to wait at the airport for an official car to arrive. She retrieved a large shawl from her housekeeper and lifelong friend, Maggie, to cover her pale skin. The next morning, she was to report to the field office, where the Chief of Station informed her that a terrorist group member had been attempting to make contact with him. The terrorist claimed to have information about a planned hijacking of another American airline, Pan Am. The Chief informed her team, including three case officers, an intel analyst, and one support person, to keep their eyes on the terrorist.

The narrator, who had been flown in to direct a photo-training operation, had only hours to disguise the Chief. She bought a shalwar kameez, sandals, and a custom mustache to make the Chief look local and understated. She also gave the Chief a cigar and a leather portfolio, suggesting he enter the lobby of the hotel like he owned the place.

The other officers and the narrator de-Americanized themselves, removing wedding rings, cigarettes, and changing into locally bought clothes and shoes. They then went to the hotel, where the narrator entered as the affluent tourist she was impersonating. The nervous young guy in their group questioned her role in the operational chain, as field work had long been considered men's work.

The narrator recounts her experience as a CIA operative in a high-stakes operation involving a terrorist. She was part of a group of casuals who were tasked with observing the terrorist's presence and potentially a planeful of American passengers. The operative chose a rug shop off the lobby to have a direct line of sight into the meeting site. As the meeting approached, the operative felt trapped inside an invisible, almost electric circuit, as she made eye contact with the terrorist.

The operative's mind flashed back to the Wall of Stars in the lobby of CIA Headquarters in Langley, each star representing a CIA employee who died in the line of duty. As the terrorist held her stare, she felt increasingly sure she was about to die. However, she was not invited to celebrate with the men or her friend.

The next day, the local English language newspaper reported the terrorist's arrest by local police. The Chief had debriefed him on the hijacking threat and informed the Chief that he had identified four of his people in the hotel, including the operative. The details did not appear in the news the next morning.

Decades later, the narrator still vividly remembers the rush of cold terror that ran through her as her eyes locked with the terrorist's. Inside the CIA, information is both precious and potentially dangerous, and success earned no applause or expectation. The CIA was a career she loved, doing work that mattered and making a difference, making history in some small way.

A First-Time Expat

At twenty years old, the author landed in Europe as a civilian, thanks to Sherrie, his best friend from Wichita. When she got engaged to a military man assigned to Europe, the author hesitated to attend her nuptials in Fulda, Germany. They were dating Don, an upperclassman at Wichita State University, an English lit major like them. When they attended the wedding, they both told themselves that they would be back.

The author spent most of their childhood in a large house on twenty acres that butted up against the Wichita city line. Their sister Jennifer was their near constant companion, and their two younger sisters, Holly and Heidi, were eleven and seventeen years younger than the author. One of the most distinct early childhood memories occurred during a game of hide-and-seek with the neighborhood kids. The author had a daredevil streak that occasionally placed them in the spotlight, such as jumping from a barn to the ground floor and climbing to the top of an air traffic control tower.

By the time the author received Sherrie's wedding invitation, Jennifer had bolted from their home for Aspen and the soaring vistas of the Colorado Rockies. As much as they enjoyed their college life with Don, part of them also knew that they too was ready to seek out new adventures.

After Sherrie and Dave's wedding, the author fell in love with Germany, its landscape, and its people. With little money on hand, they boarded a train to Frankfurt and checked into a cheap hotel overlooking the Hauptbahnhof. One of the author's jobs was in the surgical wing at the hospital in Wichita, which gave her the confidence to know that she could support herself even on a faraway continent.

In Frankfurt, the author began cold-calling American organizations for jobs, eventually finding a job at Chase Manhattan Bank. Despite not speaking German and having no work permit or bank experience, she was offered a job by the bank. She enrolled in evening German classes at Berlitz and worked for the President of the bank, doing his English correspondence. The