Donald Bain. The CIA’s Control of Candy Jones. 1976.

“Further outside evidence is important in evaluating Candy’s story” (xiii) –Herbert Spiegel, M.D.

Do we ask of a book like this “is it credible?” It doesn’t seem like it isn’t. But perhaps Candy Jones is delusional, a possibility the author doesn’t interrogate. How surprised would I be if this turned out to be true? Not very, especially the author’s suggestion that Candy Jones never actually performed any important intelligence missions, and was purely a guinea pig for a demented psychiatrist and his state-sponsored project.

Do we ask of a book like this"does it make good fiction?" This book makes excellent fiction. To tell a story in the form of an investigative report with transcribed audio tapes of hypnosis sessions is structurally brilliant. I sense the author is intentionally deploying information about Candy Jones to create an escalation of astonishment. I find this book solid and well written, and more tempting than the novel I was supposed to be reading for class.