The Reluctant Spy is the timely story of Calvin Evan, a smart, but flawed CIA agent, beginning with the 1979 Iranian revolution. Cal develops a critical Iranian operative and becomes embroiled in the audacious, yet little honored effort to liberate the American embassy hostages. Romantically, he’s caught between his love for a rescued refugee and the aggressive intentions of his boss’ manipulative daughter. Ensnaring him, the savvy daughter navigates his career away from the political fallout of the mission’s failure and directs him to the battleground of the 1980’s- the Nicaraguan Contra war where Cal runs an illegal funding operation. Morally conflicted and victimized by his erratic behavior, he slips into a burned out funk, posted to Switzerland. There, amidst the rise of Middle Eastern terrorism, his past pulls him into conflict with his former Iranian asset, possibly a double agent, and reunites him with his long ago betrayed love, now a death squad target.
The Reluctant Spy is the tale of Cal’s torment in trying to reconcile his heroic and destructive behaviors, his successes and failures, and his search for happiness and contentment. The backdrop of his struggles is the American foreign policy establishment’s often futile efforts to influence and control global events while carrying on insidious bureaucratic warfare.
John H. Goodwin is a 1981 graduate of Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service, Magna Cum Laude. John used his experience living abroad and knowledge of foreign cultures and American political and military affairs history in writing The Reluctant Spy. John manages global investment portfolios for wealthy American and international families at Morgan Stanley’s Private Wealth Management business.
