Breaking Cover: My Secret Life in the CIA and What It Taught Me about What's Worth Fighting for

The CIA is looking for walking contradictions. Recruiters seek people who can keep a secret, yet pull classified information out of others; who love their country, but are willing to leave it behind to head into dangerous places; who live double lives, but can be trusted with some of the nation's most highly sensitive tasks.

Michele Rigby Assad was one of those people.

Michele Rigby Assad is a former undercover officer in the National Clandestine Service of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency. Trained as a counterterrorism specialist, Michele served her country for ten years, working in Iraq and other secret Middle Eastern locations. Upon retirement from active service, Michele and her husband Joseph (also a former agent) began leading teams to aid Christian refugees, including a rescue mission to Iraq that was featured on ABC's 20/20. Michele holds a master's degree in Contemporary Arab Studies from Georgetown University. Today she serves as an international management consultant, splitting her time between the Middle East, Florida, and Washington, D.C.