
Survive Like a Spy: Real CIA Operatives Reveal How They Stay Safe in a Dangerous World and How You Can Too
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars | 940 ratings
Price: 13.78
Last update: 01-26-2025
About this item
Follow-up to the New York Times best seller Spy Secrets That Can Save Your Life - revealing high-stakes techniques and survival secrets from real intelligence officers in life-or-death situations around the world
Everyone loves a good spy story, but most of the ones we hear are fictional. That's because the most dangerous and important spycraft is done in secret, often without anyone even noticing.
In Survive Like a Spy, best-selling author and former CIA officer Jason Hanson takes the listener deep inside the world of espionage, revealing true stories and expert tactics from real agents engaged in life-threatening missions around the world.
With breathtaking accounts of spy missions in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Korea, Japan, and elsewhere, the book reveals how to:
- Achieve mental sharpness to be ready for anything
- Escape if taken hostage
- Defend yourself if detailed by foreign cops
- Set up a perfect safe site
- Assume a fake identity
- Master the "Weapons of Mass Influence" to recruit others to build rapport and make allies when you need them most
Top reviews from the United States

5.0 out of 5 stars Good to have....
This new book Survive Like a Spy is an extension of Hanson's teachings from his first book and website articles. There's not a whole lot of new info if you are a member but many good examples of how to do and put into practice maneuvers if need be.
The point I got from the first book, the member's articles and this book isn't much different from good ole' common sense.
1. When it comes to personal safety don't ever come off as being an easy target. Always be vigilant to your surroundings. Don't come off as looking scared or nervous. Many new self defense courses are teaching that now.
2. When it comes to personal property do the obvious--don't be an easy target yet again. Light up areas that are dark. Clear unnecessary brush and branches that an intruder can use to their advantage. If you have the money invest in security cameras.
3. Hanson is big on cyber crime. He explains where not to use wifi and what he uses to circumvent any body trying to hack into his system.
4. How to legally hide money in the States.
5. In this new book there are many examples of how to detect if you're being followed.on foot.
6. This one I feel is much more important than what was presented in the book and I want to touch on it because I feel it is underrepresented and I'll give it away for free: A password or simple phrase that only you and your significant other know in case something should ever go awry in your lives. I first came upon this by the book by the Bounty Hunter Dog. He and his wife had this code and it came to fruition while Dog was in jail in Mexico. While journalists and the Feds were questioning Dog's wife trying to get info from her some of these individuals were telling her they had spoken to Dog. She couldn't get in contact with him while he was in his Mexican jail cell. So while these individuals were claiming that they were speaking to she blew them away by saying "ok, if what you're telling me is true then Dog would have given you the password so I would know you're telling me the truth". Of course these guys didn't have the password and this actually worked in the couples favor as Dog would make it of Mexico and alive. A password is a good thing to have. You never know.
All in all this book along with the first book is actually good if you want to make life difficult for others to find you or your money.

5.0 out of 5 stars A Fascinating and Useful Read
In each chapter, Jason explains lessons to be learned for us civilians to prepare us for whatever may be coming in the uncertain future. The image of the CIA operator preparing to traverse and work in a (somewhat) hostile environment to accomplish their assigned mission really helps to understand and reinforce the material of the lessons. I gained a great appreciation of the skill and calmness of CIA operators ("spies"), who are not being played by actors on a movie set. I now have a true appreciation of what it takes to learn the environment I am in and preparing for how to traverse it safely in times of danger, including how to traverse the environment realistically while determining whether I am being followed.
This book is a great value at a good price.

4.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for everyone
Based on the title alone, you’d think it might be written for would-be spies, or authors writing spy novels (as I am), but it contains useful advice for daily living in a sometimes-dangerous world.
The book’s pattern is to narrate an actual spy operation (with names and other details changed) and then provide take-aways of value in your everyday life, or in emergency situations you may encounter.
The author provides good advice for general preparedness in terms of equipment to consider, places to store things, basics for protecting yourself and your family, ways to stay out of danger in the first place, computer and home security, travel safety, etc.
My only quibble is a minor one. On a couple of occasions, it’s a bit of a stretch to go from the real-life spy mission he describes to the preparedness lesson you’re supposed to draw from that. Still, I get it—it’s hard to fit an actual example to every important point you try to make. Some are bound to be weaker connections than others.
Still, it’s a marvelous book, full of actionable advice that just might save your life. So long as you’re not an actual spy or a hermit, I highly recommend you read it.

5.0 out of 5 stars Learn to avoid trouble and gain peace of mind
These books are well worth it to get you thinking and keep yourself out of trouble. Go ahead, read them!