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O hat do CIA operatives learn in spy school? And what do spies think about during spy class?

“I noticed Paul for the first time during CIA 101. I hadn’t spotted him at first, but during some of the dull moments I caught him eyeing me, hands behind his head, fingers interlocked, leaning back in his chair. I decided I didn’t mind. He was an Army Captain from Mississippi, still serving in the Reserves, and a long distance runner. He had a very lean athlete’s body and a predatory, vulpine face, with hollows under his high cheekbones. He spoke with a slow Mississippi drawl. He flirted with me during the breaks, but he flirted with the other women too.

During those lectures on CIA accounting principles, I imagined Paul pulling my head back with my hair and exposing my neck, then pinning my arms against the wall …”


Oelena Keller has just completed a doctorate in Oriental Studies. Living in Manhattan, unemployed, and dismayed by her dull job prospects, she sends her resume to the CIA on a whim. Within weeks she is contacted by a CIA recruiter, who asks her how she would feel about convincing another human being to commit treason.

Despite her checkered past, she passes the background investigation, the polygraph, and a battery of bizarre CIA aptitude tests. She enters on duty as a Clandestine Service Trainee. Living under cover as a government budget analyst, she is suddenly isolated by a layer of lies from her family and her past. Sanskrit and Pali, she discovers, are completely irrelevant to the education in espionage she receives at the Farm, the CIA's covert training facility.

The loneliness and isolation of life under cover lead Selena into a relationship with Stan, a brilliant but darkly paranoid fellow student who cannot put a spy's habits aside, even in the bedroom. She learns that spies who fall in love with one another enter a wilderness of mirrors, where deception and betrayal are nothing less than professional obligations.

A wonderful, pitch-perfect roman ŕ clef that blends satire, romance and tragedy, Loose Lips offers a unique insight into the culture of the CIA. This first novel establishes Claire Berlinski's reputation as a storyteller of hilarious gifts and profound insight.