This is not a very exciting book, but it is well written and that is a decent endorsement. Not only does little happen but Smith argues for more military contractors to aid the State Dept. and Defense Dept. after the war environment the US faced after 9/11 and the special operation to strike in Afghanistan. Smith wants contractors to aid even other countries (as he did, selectively). This book was published in 2015, which is ancient history relatively speaking. Smith is ex-CIA but most of the book is his working for Blackwater or his private security corporation. If you enjoy espionage books, this might of interest. There are some good philosophical points Smith makes in Gray Work, but they are rare. Smith will probably write another book and hopefully it is will be fiction. This book’s disclaimers make Gray Work almost fiction anyway.
Some observations made by Smith: Benghazi embassy attack was not Hillary Clinton running guns to rebels throughout the region, but a chaotic buildup of militias vying for position to dominate the country’s civil government. Smith says the CIA led the attack to defeat the Taliban and Al-Qaida in Afghanistan after 9/11, not US Army Special Forces. Smith claims he could have green lit the assassination of Syria’s Assad by moles in Assad’s security detail but couldn’t authorize it since Smith didn’t work for the CIA at the time. Here is a passage which is illustrative about Smith and how he saw his work as a contractor, working for the State Department’s aims, but using the CIA’s means: “Governments all have a basic goal of protecting what they have—their lands, their people, their independence—essentially their way of life…But people misunderstand warfare and think it is an end unto itself. But on the international stage, war is nothing more than another tool of diplomacy. If your country doesn’t’ have a credible, powerful military force capable of bringing pain, death, and destruction to an enemy, then your diplomats can’t get much done, because you simply aren’t powerful—there’s no threat they can wield...But warfare is a last ditch diplomatic tool to force the opponent to give in, give up, and go along. Spy or covert operations can postpone wars—and alter their outcomes if already under way…Then, after diplomacy, but before warfare, your government might use that stolen information, and that’s where covert action might come into play. It’s a toll, perhaps just below conventional warfare on the scale of aggression, and is basically from calculated violence to political shenanigans, all manipulated to reduce the power of your adversary to the point of them giving up or coming to the negotiating table. Power for your side grows when the other side doesn’t know your intentions; when they don’t know what you’re doing they end up pouring resources into ineffective defenses.” (Ch. 12) The title phrase comes from Smith's understanding of white and black moral actions being either governmental or covert (CIA) with "gray work" being done by Special Operators or CIA contractors. No special operations people would agree with this definition.

I still enjoyed reading this because Smith really tries to keep audience thumbing through the pages. There are no endnotes, index, nor bibliography. Glossary. Footnotes are asterisked with links to digital sources. B&W photos.

About as true to life as a James Bond novel. Double-oh-nothing: the Spy Who Lied to Me. Some sort of recruitment/propaganda piece for the CIA and the US government in general.

...still, it's so over the top and ridiculous, it's kind of entertaining. It's the story of Jamie McBadAss, a true god fearing American Patriot spreading Freedom to the middle-east with bullets and gritty one-liners. The way he writes himself into every important historic event makes me think of Forest Gump except as if it was written by Andy McNab. It's full of many biographical elements and needless dramatisation including dialogue and an omniscient narrator.

The author has no self-awareness. He's making scathing comments about foreigners (or as he calls them: bad guys) being savage religious zealots who are the only thing stopping this world from being heaven on earth (them and Obama) whilst himself name dropping Jesus every other line and promising his second coming like some crazed prophet who just happens to make a living from *killing people for money*. ( )

Smith makes a compelling argument for the continued use of private contractors in today’s world of political and military unrest. His story is an interesting one as he describes how he worked for the CIA and from there became involved in the increasing world of private contractors in a variety of settings. His story is more interesting than fictionalized stories in the same venue because his tales are true, at least as far as his telling can be. I enjoyed the different perspective he provides for events in history and see where much can be learned from those working outside the box. ( )