The Death of Deception

Spy The Lie – Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, Susan Carnicero, with Don Tennant –

(St. Martin’s Press)

Have you ever been in a situation, workplace or social, were something struck you as being just not right about the person that is across from you. Call it instinct, call it a sixth sense, if you’re superhero inclined call it Spidey-sense or call it whatever you’d like; your internal detection system has noted that there is a problem.

Now imagine that there is a system that can take that internal sense for deception and take it to the next level through a program that has been developed by folks who made their living by spotting deception in the high stakes world of international intelligence at the CIA. Imagine no more…that system exists and is available in the form of;  Spy The Lie – Former CIA Case Officers Teach You How to Detect Deception, by Philip Houston, Michael Floyd, Susan Carnicero, with Don Tennant.

Houston developed the techniques to detect deception in counter-terrorism operations and criminal investigation to protect the security of the United States. Now they show you how to take that skillset and transfer it to work and social situations. No you won’t have to visit your favorite hardware store to buy powerful spotlights and a length of rubber hose. The techniques they detail, involve the ability to pick up on both verbal and non-verbal clues that indicate deception.

While much of the material involves a level of technical information to digest, but the anecdotal examples give real world incites that make the technical easily digestible. The authors do an amazing job of showcasing the deception in verbal cues from the Bob Costas interview of Jerry Sandusky prior to his criminal trial.

While the insights and techniques provide in this book are not a magic bullet for detecting deception. The authors clearly developed these processes through trail and error over the course of time and through a variety of situations and with time and practice you will be able to hone your skills.