If this was a collection of short stories it would be great. The disgruntled angle detracts from the stories, and is unsatisfying on its own merits.

First, the good. I won't spoil the stories by repeating them. I'll just say that they are satisfying, and intriguing. Some of the stories have been duplicated -- e.g. in Spy Games -- but the author goes through them in much greater detail here.

Now, the bad. The complaints sound more like whining, and the allegations sound conspiratorial. That Israel has banned this book makes it sexier, but on its merits, it is difficult to believe the parochialism, narrow-mindedness, and short-sightedness that the author extrapolates from a few select (questionable) incidents. E.g. the Israelis keeping their mouths shut about the Beirut bombings. I'm only surprised there wasn't more discussing of the Liberty Incident.

As long as you don't expect the wrong things, this book is a good read.

As expected, anything coming from Victor Ostrovsky will be negative and against Israel. The book is filled with real events, which the author dramatically changed and turned Israel responsible for them. No wonder this book is banned in Israel. In fact, because of the ban, many people believe that this book has true accounts of Mossad activities. True, the book gets interesting, but the author's motive to run down the Israel for everything happening around the world spoils it. This book is a perfect example of blaming a country and its intelligence agency for your own mistakes. I absolutely agree with J. A Magill's review, this book has no credible source of information, except the fact that Ostrovsky once worked for Mossad.

Vindictiveness is the word behind this book. Absolutely one sided, and nothing to prove what author says. All I can say is that I want my money and most importantly my time back. I doubt if I can have either.

This book is best read along with its followup, The Other Side of Deception. The author is/was a true patriot who was honored to serve his country. He reveals many thrilling tales of derring-do, the grinding routine of spycraft and his shock and disillusionment with the personal corruption and immorality of many fellow agents.

According to the author, the Mossad nominally answers only to the Prime Minister but often acts on its own agenda and in many cases against the interests of Israel and any prospects for peace. The assassination arm conducts killings authorized by secret Star Chamber-like hearings. Illegal arms sales to unsavory regimes fund operations. A tiny staff conducts worldwide operations with the assistance of local Jews. He refers to staff by their first names only which made it amusing when "Ephraim" wrote his own book, reviewed and panned by Ostrovsky.

Great Book, well written and very enlightening

THis book is simply fascinating. What is really fascinating is that it notes that the Mossad training included an in-depth review of JFK's assassination, including several unreleased films (how were they taken?) of the assassination, pictures of the area, topography, aerial photo's and where the assassins were. How can the Mossad have such detailed knowledge unless the Mossad studied the assassination BEFORE it happened, not AFTER!