
In True Face
A Woman's Life in the CIA, Unmasked
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Narrated by:
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Barbara Benjamin-Creel
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By:
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Jonna Mendez
About this listen
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 PublicAffairsListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“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
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Story
In the wake of World War II, four agents were critical in helping build a new organization that we now know as the CIA. Adelaide Hawkins, Mary Hutchison, Eloise Page, and Elizabeth Sudmeier, called the “wise gals” by their male colleagues because of their sharp sense of humor and even quicker intelligence, were not the stereotypical femme fatale of spy novels.
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Intriguing untold history
- By Andrea Guzman on 12-15-22
By: Nathalia Holt
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The Spy in Moscow Station
- A Counterspy's Hunt for a Deadly Cold War Threat
- By: Eric Haseltine
- Narrated by: Eric Haseltine
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In the late 1970s, the National Security Agency still did not officially exist - those in the know referred to it dryly as the No Such Agency. So why, when NSA engineer Charles Gandy filed for a visa to visit Moscow, did the Russian Foreign Ministry assert with confidence that he was a spy? Outsmarting honey traps and encroaching deep enough into enemy territory to perform complicated technical investigations, Gandy accomplished his mission in Russia but discovered more than State and CIA wanted him to know.
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Dull Dull Dull
- By DVN on 09-02-19
By: Eric Haseltine
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Black Ops
- The Life of a CIA Shadow Warrior
- By: Ric Prado
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Enrique Prado found himself in his first firefight at age seven. The son of a middle-class Cuban family caught in the midst of the Castro Revolution, his family fled their war-torn home for the hope of a better life in America. Fifty years later, the Cuban refugee retired from the Central Intelligence Agency as the CIA equivalent of a two-star general. Black Ops is the story of Ric’s legendary career that spanned two eras, the Cold War and the Age of Terrorism.
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Impressive and Inspiring!
- By medardo on 03-12-22
By: Ric Prado
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The Billion Dollar Spy
- A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal
- By: David E. Hoffman
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 11 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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While getting into his car on the evening of February 16, 1978, the chief of the CIA's Moscow station was handed an envelope by an unknown Russian. Its contents stunned the Americans: details of top-secret Soviet research and development in military technology that was totally unknown to the United States.
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Compelling as historical thriller, character study
- By Mr. Pointy on 08-25-15
By: David E. Hoffman
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Shadow Cell
- An Insider Account of America's New Spy War
- By: Andrew Bustamante, Jihi Bustamante
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Andrew and Jihi Bustamante were a “tandem couple”: married spies who’d dedicated their lives to the CIA. They met as trainees at Langley, and got married while hunting terrorists across the globe. Then, suddenly, they were assigned to a mission so sensitive and explosive that the CIA still has never acknowledged it.
By: Andrew Bustamante, and others
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Countdown to Zero Day
- Stuxnet and the Launch of the World's First Digital Weapon
- By: Kim Zetter
- Narrated by: Joe Ochman
- Length: 13 hrs
- Unabridged
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The virus now known as Stuxnet was unlike any other piece of malware built before: Rather than simply hijacking targeted computers or stealing information from them, it proved that a piece of code could escape the digital realm and wreak actual, physical destruction—in this case, on an Iranian nuclear facility.
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Amazingly detailed, sober and above all, damning
- By Greg on 11-22-14
By: Kim Zetter
What listeners say about In True Face
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- Katherine H.
- 07-20-24
Engaging and genuine
Well written, well performed. I highly recommend this book to anyone curious about the CIA, particularly its female operatives.
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- D. Baugher
- 07-26-24
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.
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- Michael Eaton
- 04-18-25
The Power of Women
Jonna Mendez’s memoir is an exciting and inspiring tale of a life in the secret and all-consuming world of the CIA. But, even more powerful and important is a profoundly telling lesson on the sadly often misogynisticly ignored potential in half of the human race. Despite the disparaging and damaging words and actions directed toward women by the current executive branch, Jonna and Tony Mendez’s lives demonstrate the incredible strength and wisdom of those many women who walk beside us men as equal and sometimes superior partners.
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- Adrienne
- 06-20-24
History inspiring inside Look
Insights into CIA OP from woman’s perspective and experiences, including dealing with shedding light on and addressing misogyny
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- Anonymous User
- 03-28-25
The empowering of women
Told with easy listening voice the struggles she was faced with. Felt strong as a woman🥰
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- Maggie May
- 03-11-24
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.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Patti Tilles
- 04-04-24
The romance between Jonna and Tony
I loved the narration and the exciting life Jonna had. Best part was meeting with president Bush!
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1 person found this helpful
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- Mayssie girl
- 09-22-24
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
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- 🛸
- 07-11-24
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!
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- asia k
- 03-12-24
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 .
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