Books › By way of deception
By way of deception
First published 1990 · 440 pages
A tense, unvarnished descent into the shadowy, morally compromised world of elite international espionage.
What it feels like
Reading this book feels like sitting in a dimly lit room with a defector who is finally ready to spill the darkest secrets of a legendary institution. The pacing is brisk, reading more like a high-stakes geopolitical thriller than a standard memoir, yet the mood is steeped in a chilling, paranoid reality. It strips away the glamorous mythos of the spy world, replacing it with a gritty, unvarnished look at the moral compromises, ruthless tactics, and institutional arrogance that drive global intelligence. The prose is direct and journalistic, focused entirely on delivering explosive revelations with urgent clarity. It will thoroughly captivate readers who crave the unromanticized truth about covert operations, state-sanctioned violence, and the heavy personal cost of whistleblowing.
- Mood
- tense
- paranoid
- shadowy
- gritty
- Tone
- cynical
- journalistic
- critical
- urgent
- unvarnished
- Pace
- brisk
- Themes
- moral cost of espionage · institutional corruption · reality behind the myth · geopolitical manipulation · disillusionment
- The writing
- Direct, journalistic, and heavily detailed, prioritizing explosive facts over literary flourish.
- The arc
- Moves from the thrilling allure of elite recruitment to a chilling, profound disillusionment with the ruthless realities of state power.
- Who it's for
- Readers fascinated by the gritty, unromanticized realities of global espionage and the dark underbelly of legendary intelligence agencies.
Content notes
- assassination
- warfare
- political corruption
- violence
About the book
The first time the Mossad came calling, they wanted Victor Ostrovsky for their assassination unit, the kidon. He turned them down. The next time, he agreed to enter the grueling three-year training program to become a katsa, or intelligence case officer, for the legendary Israeli spy organization. By Way of Deception is the explosive chronicle of his experiences in the Mossad, and of two decades of their frightening and often ruthless covert activities around the world. Penetrating far deeper than the bestselling Every Spy a Prince, it is an insider's account of Mossad tactics and exploits. In chilling detail, Ostrovsky asserts that the Mossad refused to share critical knowledge of a planned suicide mission in Beirut, leading to the death of hundreds of U.S. Marines and French troops. He tells how they tracked Yasser Arafat by recruiting his driver and bodyguard; how they withheld information on the whereabouts of American hostages, paving the way for the Iran-Contra scandal; and how their intervention into secret UN negotiations led to the sudden resignation of ambassador Andrew Young and the downfall of his career. By Way of Deception describes the shocking scope and depth of the Mossad's influence, disclosing how Jewish communities in the U.S., Europe, and South America are armed and trained by the organization in secret "self-defense" units, and how Mossad agents facilitate the drug trade in order to pay the enormous costs of its far-flung, clandestine operation. And it portrays a network that has grown dangerously out of control, as internal squabbles have led to the escape of terrorists and the pursuit of "policies" completely at odds with the interests of the state of Israel. This document is possibly the most important and controversial book of its kind since Spycatcher.
Description from Open Library.
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