Overview

Rainy Street Stories is a composition of powerful reflections on today's espionage, terrorism, and secret wars. These stories, essays, and poems by John Davis, himself a retired intelligence officer, take place from Europe, to Asia, and back to the Americas. He lived overseas for many years, where he served as a soldier, civil servant, and gifted linguist. Davis writes with a thoughtful, compassionate, and fair assessment of his lifetime lived during wars and conflicts which were his generation's legacy from World War II. He recounts mysterious, sometimes strangely suggestive, even curiously puzzling tales. Each will cause the reader to think. Davis draws from actual encounters in unusual circumstances, in conversations at utterly unexpected times, and chance meetings, historical site visits, or his readings to illustrate his reflections. Moreover, he is influenced by carefully listening to others who experienced history, from careful study of human nature, observation of international events, but also by remaining open to surprises, the better to distill the essence of a hidden truth. Those people about whom he speculates, events he interprets, motives he muses about, or wonders he reveals will remain with you for a long time. These are not writings to be read in a night, but to be reflected upon over the coming years.

Full Product Details

9781936800124

Table of Contents

Reviews

John Davis ..., now retired after 40 years of service to our country, has just completed a book of poetry, essays and remembrances that give us, the readers, a glimpse of the secret world of espionage war...--D. Clark MacPherson, SoHo Journal. Poet and counterspy John W. Davis has written a cache of messages about deceit and loyalty, evil and good, danger and safety in his new Rainy Street Stories. His collection strings essays and incidents with poetic impressions interspersed like clues leading down the narrow alley that skirts the border of promise and betrayal, protection and sabotage. This unusual memoir reveals nothing and still tells everything about Davis' real-life career in Cold War espionage...-- Kay Campbell, Huntsville Times award winning journalist. A wonderful testimony to the crucial importance of truth, goodness and, yes, Grace, in keeping our all too human character from going badly, sometimes horrifically astray. ... an unwavering affirmation of the enduring power of virtuous principles in this often cruel and cynical world. .--Gray Sutherland, author, poet and translator. Rainy Street Stories is a remarkable collection ... that like gaslights in the fog help us glimpse the spectral outlines of a shattered world. That shattered world is our world, or the world we once believed we lived in, a world of goodness and moral coherence, but which has been turned by our own greed and violence into a killing field. But ... the broken pieces are not scattered beyond recovery, but are waiting for our commitment to reintegrate them ....--Rev. Mr. George Dardess, PhD., former professor of English, Tufts University and author of Meeting Islam, A Guide for Christians. A riveting book that reflects not only how the intelligence community operates but also defines Mr. John Davis' character. Mr. Davis offers important insights into the historical as well as current challenges the Intelligence Community faces. The factual accounts cited in his book are a must read for all operational and analytical professionals serving in the intelligence community.--Louis J. Kubik, US Marine Corps Reserve, retired, Department of Defense Civilian Counterintelligence Officer with two separate tours with the CIA.

Author Information

John William Davis is a graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, his hometown. He is a retired Army officer and federal civil servant whose life's travels brought him into contact with a host of different people in the most unlikely of circumstances. A linguist, former combat arms and counterintelligence officer, he is an observer of the world, the better to try to understand. He lives with his wife Jane in Athens, Alabama, near his three grown sons.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available