Kate’s 2¢: “The wolf and the watchman a father a son and the CIA” by Scott Johnson

“The wolf and the watchman a father a son and the CIA” by Scott Johnson

Not to be confused with Natt och Dag, Niklas “The Wolf and The Watchman”

Kate’s 2¢: There is a plethora of in-depth biographies of authors and reviews of their books, that state the title, author, published date, and genre; as well as,     describing what the book is about, setting, and character(s), so, Kate’s 2¢ merely shares my thoughts about what I read.  I’m just saying…

   Before I wrote my own auto-biography, I read as many other biographies and auto-biographies as I could. There are many different ways to write one and, it usually depends on if you’ve had a plain vanilla life or one chock full of trauma, heart-break and drama. 

   Johnson’s life is full of strife, doubt and near death experiences as he travels around the world’s hot spots on assignment for Newsweek, while trying to parse the duplicity of his Father and the father’s life of a CIA spy.

   The men in my life, who served over-seas, don’t talk about their experiences in the hot spots. my father with the Navy  during WWII, my brother with the Army in Vietnam, my nephew as an Army Airborn and then UN Peace unit, and currently my 21-year old grandson who is a Marine are mum about their experiences. I thought, at first, that it was a guy thing, but, even my aunt, who was in the Navy, never talked about what she did. Apparently, it takes a journalist to tell the tale when the warriors won’t or can’t. As Johnson’s father told him: …These tribal/religious/cultural wars have been going on for generations and our intervention isn’t going to make it stop.

   The take away from all this is that war is a lose/lose situation.

   I liked this book, because it was a fast paced personal account that shed some light on several dark times in our country’s history.

   Peter Johnson, the narrator I listened to, does a good job. I don’t know if he’s related to Scott C. Johnson, but I’ve enjoyed other books Peter has narrated.

From the WEB:

Growing up, Scott C. Johnson always suspected that his father was different. Only as a teenager did he discover the truth: his father was a spy, one of the CIA’s most trusted officers.…

From NLS/BARD/LOC:

The wolf and the watchman: a father, a son, and the CIA DB78454

Johnson, Scott C. Reading time: 10 hours, 3 minutes.

Read by Peter Johnson.

Biography

Former Newsweek foreign correspondent contemplates his childhood abroad and describes the sense of betrayal he felt when he learned that his dad was a spy. Discusses his own career as a journalist in hot spots such as Afghanistan and Iraq–and occasionally crossing paths with his father. Strong language. 2012.

See www.KateChamberlin.com/BLOG

The wolf and the watchman DB95349

Natt och Dag, Niklas. Reading time: 13 hours, 43 minutes.

Read by Caspar Rundegren.

Mystery and Detective Stories

1793. A year after the death of King Gustav III, paranoia and whispered conspiracies fill the land. Mickel Cardell, a disabled ex-soldier and former night watchman, finds a mutilated body. He teams with lawyer Cecil Winge to find the perpetrator. Translated from the original 2017 Swedish edition. Unrated. Commercial audiobook. 2019.