A Spy at Home

A Spy at Home

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3.66 of 5 stars 3.66  ·  rating details  ·  35 ratings  ·  23 reviews
When Dad becomes the lone caregiver for a dependent adult son, Dad has to answer the terrifying question: What happens if I die first?

A retired CIA operative comes to believe he wasted his professional life not only promoting questionable American policies, but missing life with his family. Suddenly, his wife is gone, and he must learn all that she knew about caring for t...more
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Published January 11th 2010
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Community Reviews

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Lainy
Jan 02, 2012 Lainy rated it 4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Lainy by: the author
I usually use the blurb from Goodreads but I believe it contains a big spoiler so I won't and have spoken to the author to have it changed. Garrison is a retired CIA agent trying to find his place at home with his wife and adult dependant son. After being gone more often than not he has missed a huge chunk of Noah's life and the challenges Louisa has had to deal with. When tragedy strikes Garrison must find a way to step up to the mark and take care of all of Noah's needs.

The story gives us some...more
Kayleigh Murphy
A Spy at Home is the spy story you rarely hear about. James Bond this isn't, there are no car chases, or nifty gadgets that looks like toothpaste but are really nuclear bombs, and there any steamy moments between the spy and the femme fatale. Instead this is the concluding chapter of that tale, or the less sexy older brother, if you will. After years of conscientious work for the CIA Garrison finds himself questioning his position in the CIA, and the CIA's position around the world, and decides...more
Benjamin Jones
Mr. Rinaldo contacted me via my blog and offered me the chance to review his novel A Spy At Home and, being the lover of books that I am (especially free books), I took him up on that offer. I'm glad that I did.

The title threw me off - I was expecting some kind of Jason Bourne type of thing (don't ask me why) - but the story is SO MUCH MORE than simply being about a spy and really can't be categorized as being in one genre. This book is one part about the spy life but also touches more upon the...more
Rachel Cotterill
This is a very unusual novel. It's written in first person, from the perspective of an (almost) retired CIA agent, and while there are occasional brief flashbacks to Garrison's life in the field this makes up only a small proportion of the book. This is a long way from being a typical spy thriller, but it's an interesting read.

In the prologue, Garrison reveals that he shot his wife, something he clearly regrets, although it's at least half way through the book before the manner of this is reveal...more
Danielle
A Spy at Home was an enjoyable read. I don't often read books written in the first person and it was a different experience. The premise of the book is so serious I was worried that it might be too heavy for me. It wasn't though. The story opens up on the narrator, Garrison Stonebrook, telling his wife how he came to steal 9.5 million dollars from the US government.

There are plenty of times in the book that I found myself laughing at the way these two very "normal" characters handled being crimi...more
Kathleen
At first glance, you would assume that this book would solely be a suspenseful spy thriller, but I quickly discovered that A Spy At Home is so much more than that. Told in the first person narrative, retired CIA operative Garrison Stonebrook tells his story about the precarious balance he had to maintain between being a CIA operative, and his relationship with his wife Louisa and adopted son Noah, who has Down syndrome. The storyline is very intriguing as it intertwines the suspenseful adventure...more
Michele
This, and other reviews can be found on my blog Just a Lil' Lost

A retired CIA agent is dealing with being home with his family after many bouts of working abroad in secrecy. He must figure out how to raise his son Noah with Down Syndrome after his wife is suddenly gone and the idea that he might die before his son spurs him into action, making sure Noah will be taken care of. Coupled with the fact that he's trying to lay low with the large sum of money he had siphoned into his own offshore bank...more
Kathy LaMee
I was so taken by this story of love and family, I literally couldn’t put it down. A Spy at Home offers a refreshing change of pace and perspective on the life (and retirement) of a CIA operative.

Recruited his senior year of college, Garrison Stonebrook is a CIA operative whose main function is setting up African rebels with weapons and money. In the twilight days of his career, he recognizes all the money the governmenthas wasted on failed coup attempts and countless rebellions, and decides to...more
Jenny Hilborne
A Spy at Home by Joseph Rinaldo is a work of fiction, although you might not realize it, written in first person. Two stories work side by side: Garrison's life as a former spy and his life as a family man. The two lives don't blend easily. Garrison wants to be in two places at once.

Rinaldo does an excellent job balancing the two conflicting sides of Garrison. Despite the dangerous elements of smuggling, money laundering and dealing with rebel forces, I didn't find the first half of the story as...more
Stephen England
A Spy at Home is the type of spy thriller you seldom see. If you're looking for your next Jack Bauer fix, you should probably look elsewhere. There are no car chases, no frenzied shootouts.

On second thought, pull up a chair and download the book--you won't regret it. In this, his first foray into the spy genre, Joseph Rinaldo has crafted a tale full of realism and pathos. This is the story of Garrison Stonebrook, a retired field officer from the Central Intelligence Agency. It's the story of hi...more
Samantha Leighanne
**I received this book from the author in exchange from an honest review.**

Just from reading the title, if you're expecting some crazy, suspenseful spy drama, that's not what this is. There's a lot more to it than that.
Garrison spent most of his adult life traveling, working for the CIA in foreign countries. His wife, Louisa and son Noah, who has down syndrome, live their lives in his absence and when he finally retires, he has the task of learning about his son and adjusting to his wife all ove...more
Monica
I received this book from the author requesting a review. I enjoy reading and will try any book and post a review.
A Spy at Home is the story about a retired CIA agent, his wife Louisa and their son Noah. You learn how Garrison and Louisa met and how they finally have a son. Their son Noah is not biologically theirs but a child that is rescued from a neighbors house after a fire. Noah has Downs Syndrome and most likely would not be adopted. Louisa has fallen in love with the baby and they decide...more
ABookVacation
3.5 stars

This novel has a very conversational tone, which was difficult for me to get used to in the beginning, but the more I read the more I enjoyed this writing style. Garrison, the protagonist, explains the story of his life, his thoughts and concerns, while amplifying his outrageous and mostly hilarious interactions as both a CIA operative and a father/husband. One of Garrison’s main issues is that of how to care for his mentally challenged son, especially with the looming truth that his so...more
Tima
Written in first person, the book appears to be an autobiography of a retired CIA agent. He begins his story by telling how he came into a fortune of approx. 10 million dollars. He lives with his wife and a son with Downs Syndrome.

The story was well written and I liked the way the author kept the feel of an autobiography through out the book. The son with Downs Syndrome was portrayed very accurately, I felt. The details seemed correct and the story was fun to read, even when the subject matter w...more
Wendy Ewurum
THE STORY:
A CIA operative has had it with his job. He is not proud of his the parts he plays in inducing revolutions in African countries and facilitating the funding of such operations, supporting whichever side favours his country’s goal in that activity. In his last operation he stashes away 9.5 million US dollars through untraceable accounts for his retirement.
From his journal, written before his death we read accounts of his life covering both his past in the CIA and his personal life as he...more
Jan
Garrison is a retired CIA agent who skimmed some money off his last mission and hides it while he and his wife try to figure out how to use it safely without bringing any spotlight on them. His wife Louisa is a director of nursing for her job and they are raising Noah who has down's syndrome. Lots of twist and turns to make the story interesting and a worthy read. If you aren't paying attention you may think the ending is abrupt but the author is telling you in his own way what happened by doing...more
Olga
For Garrison retiring from the CIA means returning to his wife and son and learning to be a husband and father full-time. Not the easiest thing for a guy who spent most of his life under-cover, especially since his past life is never really in the past - the quiet, frugal family is hiding millions of dollars in an off-shore account and terrorists whose money Garrison stole are after them. And what will happen to Noah if both his parents die before him?

With a title like A Spy At Home it is easy...more
Darcus
Sep 28, 2011 Darcus rated it 2 of 5 stars
Shelves: arcs
A Spy At Home is a very different type of book than I would normally read. It was out of my genre range, written differently than I prefer, yet when I got a request to read and review this book, I accepted it. Normally I wouldn't accept the book if it was so far out of my "league", so to speak. But I did and I will admit that I thought this book was going to be completely different than what it was.

Aside from it being out of my genre range, the only real problem I had with this book was how it w...more
Karen
A retired CIA operative comes to believe he wasted his professional life not only promoting questionable American policies, but missing life with his family. To ease the pain he diverts millions that the CIA expected him to use funding a coup attempt that would establish a pro-American government in an African country. Seeing the coup would fail, Garrison decides to save the money for himself. You, the reader, can decide if he's a villain with evil intent, a hero with altruistic motives, or a re...more
Margaret Bender
“A Spy at Home” is a great read. Garrison is a retired CIA operative who spent most of his career on secret missions in third world countries. When we join Garrison and his story he is reminiscing about his life. What did he do right? What could he have done differently? Did he fail his family? These are all questions we ask ourselves and as Garrison reminds us, we do pay for our mistakes in some way.

On a personal note, Garrison has an adult son with Down syndrome. Noah was adopted as an infant...more
Erin O'Riordan
In this poignant novel, a CIA operative juggles a dangerous mission in Africa - and an even more dangerous "retirement plan" - with raising a child with Down Syndrome. Garrison has managed to embezzle nearly 10 million dollars from the agency, money he hides in a Swiss bank account, indulging only in a vacation home in Martinique. He and his nurse wife, Louisa, try to think of ways to give the money to charity without being caught. When tragedy befalls Louisa, Garrison is forced to figure out ho...more
Sylvia Ney
Wonderfully unique tale of an ex CIA agent worrying about raising a child with mental disabilities. The need to provide for a beloved child after his death is a completely relatable and moving story. The characters had some wonderfully poignant conversations and the author did a good job providing tension. Unfortunately, formating, spelling and grammatical errors interrupted the flow of an otherwise enjoyable tale.
Iroulito91
Apr 09, 2013 Iroulito91 marked it as to-read
Tiffany Froedge
Mar 25, 2013 Tiffany Froedge marked it as to-read
Melissa Williams
Feb 08, 2013 Melissa Williams marked it as to-read
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Feb 04, 2013 Crystel marked it as to-read
Karen Haslam
Dec 17, 2012 Karen Haslam marked it as to-read
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Raves by The Review Girl! 1 2 Sep 26, 2011 10:33am  
A SPY AT HOME - 5-star Amazon review! 1 3 Aug 24, 2011 09:20am  
Indie Snippet 1 1 Aug 01, 2011 11:50am  
A Spy at Home (Kindle Edition)
Born in Illinois, I nevertheless spent most of my formative years in Kentucky. I attended The Ohio State University and am an avid Buckeyes fan. I currently work in finance, am married, and am the father of a wonderful young woman with Down syndrome.

I have written nine books, and I am self-publishing each through Amazon's KDP program. Two of these, A Spy At Home & Hazardous Choices, are curren...more
More about Joseph Rinaldo...
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