Agent Storm My Life Inside Al Qaeda

He was the Western convert who would plunge deep inside al-Qaeda. He named his first son Osama after 9/11 and became a Jihadist. But then - after a sudden loss of faith - Morten Storm made a life-changing decision. He became a double agent for the CIA, MI6 and MI5. Filled with hair-raising close calls and duplicity, Storm's story builds to the climactic finale when he must betray his friend and mentor al-Awlaki - al-Qaeda's biggest threat to the West. Storm is trusted to find al-Awlaki a wife from Europe. She becomes the bait for a possible American drone strike . . . 'Brother, let's go, just me and you, and do this mission. I need you to be there with me.' 'I'm with you, brother,' I replied, feeling the words sounded less than convincing. He embraced me. 'This is the best, Murad, the best. We get to be shuhada [martyrs]. There's nothing better than this, remember that.' 'I know. This is paradise. We are mujahideen and this is what we fight for,' I replied, summoning all the conviction I could manage. He wants me to die with him, I thought. How am I going to get out of this? 'A spy-thriller written in spy-thriller prose. . . There are not others [books] in which the main protagonist has also played such an extensive role for western security services, and, more crucially, is prepared to reveal so much.' Jason Burke, Guardian 'A rollicking read and a rare insider's account of Western spying in the age of al-Qaeda, where the risk if exposed is not Cold War-style expulsion but gruesome execution.' New York Times 'Reads like a first-rate spy thriller, but it is in fact a stunning and true inside account of the workings, personalities and mindsets of the leaders and operatives of al-Qaeda . . . indispensable.' Washington Times 'You couldn't make it up . . . Agent Storm couldn't really be less like Bond.' Christina Lamb, Sunday Times 'This book reads like a screenplay for a James Bond movie written by Joel and Ethan Coen. Storm's story has such immediacy that it seems to have leapt from yesterday's headlines.' Washington Post 'The most detailed, compelling, and human look at modern espionage in the lethal world of jihadist terrorism that we are likely to get. Truly gripping.' Mark Stout, former CIA officer and Director, Global Security Studies, Johns Hopkins University 'An astonishing and unknown tale of the exploits, change of allegiances, double crosses and inner workings of al Qaeda terrorist groups and the Western intelligence agencies charged with stopping them. Hard to put down.' Mitch Silber, former Director of Intelligence Analysis at the NYPD and author of The Al Qaeda Factor 'Gripping, nerve-shredding, terrifying.' Daily Mail 'Chilling. Homeland's Sergeant Brody come to life.' GQ