Get the truth: Former CIA officers teach you how to persuade anyone to tell all

Icon Books, $35

When faced with the words “CIA interrogation” I conjure up action hero (and ex-CIA agent) Liam Neeson and his gravely voice in the Taken movie franchise. But this is the book that returns the subtlety to the CIA, and chucks out the butcher’s cleaver.

Through a series of anecdotes (craftily redacted to protect the people involved), readers glimpse the world of the US intelligence agency – how subtle twists of words revealed one of the largest leaks by a senior agent, for example, or how one decades-long trusted asset was outed as a double agent.

The stories themselves are worthy of Hollywood treatment. But what stays with the reader are the learnt skills of CIA officers about how to elicit truth by sitting across a table from someone with a cup of coffee.

There’s a problem with the book: it’s too short, and while nice, too anecdotal. Still, if you’re a person that reads between the lines, it might be the perfect book to get your kid to admit to stealing cookies from the jar. ( JC)