Ghosts of Panama
A Strongman Out of Control, A Murdered Marine, and the Special Agents Caught in the Middle of an Invasion
Mark Harmon ; Leon Carroll
- The
- next-true
- life
- NCIS
- story
- from
- New
- York
- Times
- bestselling
- authors
- Mark
- Harmon
- and
- Leon
- Carroll,
- Jr.Panama,
- 1989.
- The
- once
- warm
- relationship
- between
- United
- States
- and
- Gen.
- Manuel
- Noriega
- has
- eroded
- dangerously.
- Newly
- elected
- President
- George
- Bush
- has
- declared
- the
- strongman
- a
- drug
- trafficker
- and
- a
- rigger
- of
- elections.
- Intimidation
- on
- the
- streets
- is
- a
- daily
- reality
- for
- U.S.
- personnel
- and
- their
- families.
- The
- nation
- is
- a
- powder
- keg.Naval
- Investigative
- Service
- (NIS)
- Special
- Agent
- Rick
- Yell
- has
- worked
- the
- job
- in
- Panama
- since
- 1986,
- and
- lives
- there
- with
- his
- wife
- Annya
- and
- infant
- child.
- Like
- most
- NIS
- agents,
- he’s
- a
- civilian
- with
- no
- military
- rank
- with
- a
- specialty
- in
- working
- criminal
- cases.
- The
- dynamic
- changes
- suddenly
- when
- Yell
- inadvertently
- develops
- an
- intelligence
- source
- with
- unparalleled
- access
- to
- the
- Noriega
- regime.
- Now
- the
- agent
- is
- thrust
- into
- a
- world
- of
- spy-versus-spy,
- of
- secret
- meetings
- and
- hidden
- documents.Yell’s
- source
- –
- known
- as
- “The
- Old
- Man”
- –
- warns
- when
- Cuban
- military
- personnel
- arrive
- and
- identifies
- anti-American
- officers
- within
- the
- Panamanian
- Defense
- Forces,
- provides
- information
- about
- an
- imprisoned
- CIA
- asset
- and
- helps
- track
- Noriega’s
- movements,
- agitating
- for
- the
- dictator’s
- kidnapping.
- The
- reports
- created
- by
- Yell
- and
- his
- NIS
- colleagues
- shape
- the
- decisions
- made
- in
- Washington
- D.C.,
- CIA
- headquarters
- in
- Langley
- and
- the
- innermost
- sanctums
- of
- Pentagon.The
- powder
- keg
- is
- lit
- on
- December
- 16,
- 1989,
- when
- a
- young
- U.S.
- Marine
- is
- gunned
- down
- at
- a
- checkpoint
- in
- Panama
- City.
- Yell
- and
- his
- cadre
- of
- trusted
- agents
- deploy
- immediately
- to
- investigate
- the
- killing,
- and
- what
- they
- determine
- will
- decide
- the
- fate
- of
- two
- nations.
- When
- President
- Bush
- hears
- the
- details
- they
- uncover,
- he
- orders
- an
- invasion
- that
- puts
- Yell’s
- family,
- informants
- and
- fellow
- agents
- directly
- in
- harm’s
- way.Using
- a
- blend
- of
- research
- and
- interviews
- with
- the
- NIS
- agents
- who
- were
- directly
- involved,
- Ghosts
- of
- Panama
- reveals
- the
- untold,
- clandestine
- story
- of
- counterintelligence
- professionals
- placed
- in
- a
- pressure
- cooker
- assignment
- of
- historic proportions.
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