Larry J. Kolb

Larry J. Kolb is the author of "Overworld: The LIfe and Times of a Reluctant Spy" (New York: Riverhead Books, 2004) and "America at Night: The True Story of Two Rogue CIA Operatives, Homeland Security Failures,Dirty Money, and a Plot to Steal the 2004 U.S. Presidential Election- by the Former Intelliigence Agent Who Foiled Their Plan" (New York: Riverhead Books, 2007).

Prior to his career as an author, Kolb, by his own account, worked as a close advisor to Muhammad Ali and Adnan Khashoggi and as a spy with CIA co-founder Miles Copeland, Jr., with whom he was involved in intrigues in Pakistan, Iran, the Philippines, Nicaragua, and elsewhere, until Kolb was forced to retire to a safehouse in Florida to avoid extradition to India.

As Kolb recounts in "Overworld," his father was a highly-placed US intelligence official, and Kolb grew up in various places around the world, following his father's assignments. Kolb resisted various efforts at recruitment by official intelligence agencies until he was recruited by Copeland. Of "Overworld," James Ellroy said, "A terrific memoir. Larry Kolb explicates the world of espionage and secrets with sagaciousness and savvy."

Upon the publication of "Overworld," Kolb was again recruited, this time by the Department of Homeland Security, to help investigate two white collar criminals with connections to the CIA. Kolb's investigation of Robert Sensi and Richard Hirschfeld led him to what he saw as a conspiracy to smear the John Kerry 2004 presidential campaign with links to Al Qaeda. This became the subject of his 2007 book America at Night, which was reviewed by the "New York Times" on January 25, 2007.

Kolb, who was born in Virginia, currently lives in Florida.

ee also

*Jerris Leonard

External links

* [http://www.larryjkolb.com Larry J. Kolb's website] - includes extensive documentation and photographs of the stories recounted in Kolb's books
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8noQEunADM Interview on AlJazeera English (21 May 2007)]