On February 28, 2013, Greek-American CIA agent John Kiriakou began serving a thirty-month prison sentence. His crime: he publicly reported the CIA's use of torture on detainees who were members of Al-Qaeda, violating the law regarding the protection of undercover intelligence officers' identities. The Imprisoned Agent contains Kiriakou's memoirs from the twenty-three months he spent in prison. Using twenty essential skills he learned during his operational training with the CIA, he managed to stay safe and at the top of the prison social hierarchy.

The book is simultaneously a scathing depiction of everyday life in prison and at times a humorous and at other times a poignant commentary on the American correctional system. John Kiriakou is a former CIA officer, former senior investigator for the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, and former counter-terrorism consultant for ABC News. In 2012, Kiriakou was honored with the Joe A. Callaway Award for Civic Courage. In 2015, he received the First Amendment Award from PEN Center USA, in 2016 he was awarded the first Blueprint International Whistleblowing Prize for Bravery and Integrity in the Public Interest and also in 2016, the Sam Adams Award for Integrity in Intelligence.

Kiriakou is the author of the books The Spy (published by Livani, 2013) and The Convenient Terrorist: Abu Zubaydah and the Weird Wonderland of America’s Secret Wars.

“An unusual and distinctive book: part memoir from prison, part manual of CIA techniques. In fact, it contains so many valuable insights that the CIA should distribute it to its new recruits. Bypass the censors—for your own good.” BARRY EISLER, former CIA officer and author of the bestseller The God’s Eye View

“John Kiriakou has not taken the easy road in his life—he has stood up to state power for years. The CIA could not silence him when, after fifteen years in analyst and operational positions, he revealed that the CIA was torturing its captives, an act of heroism that cost him two years of freedom. The Imprisoned Agent is a book that everyone must read.” DANIEL ELLSBERG, author of the book Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers

“The Obama administration and the U.S. state apparatus decided to punish John Kiriakou as an example. They succeeded to a degree they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams. This man took the heat for all of us. We owe him eternal gratitude.” MARC ASH, publisher, Reader Supported News