Goodreads asked Toby Harnden:

Where did you get the idea for your most recent book?

Toby Harnden I covered the 9/11 attacks as a journalist in Washington DC and wrote about the death of CIA officer Johnny "Micheal" Spann less than three months later. I saw video footage of his comrade David Tyson escaping from the southern compound of the Qala-i Janghi fort and was captivated with thoughts of what he must have gone through. I managed to track David down in 2013 but he could say little because he was still in the CIA. He retired in 2020 and told me he was ready to talk.

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