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"Spies lie with the impunity and lie with the enemy. They double-cross without conscience and kill without confession. If a spy wasn't a criminal before the secret service, he became one in the process. As one intelligence officer put it, he 'must be prepared to be a villain, to be ruthless and dishonest in one role while being honest and tolerant in another. Second, he must be, or try to be a good showman.' Like none other, Dusko Popov was born for the role," (3).

I enjoyed how the author, Larry Loftis, starts the book off with this quote. Before starting to read, I had a completely different thought about what the spy, Dusko Popov, would be like. This also shows the style of the author. Similar to Devil in the White City, Larry Loftis provides detailed description for something that could otherwise be explained in a sentence or two, which makes the book really enjoyable. It also shows how he wastes no time getting right into it. Within the first few pages, Loftis started talking about Popov's induction as a spy and his first missions.

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"It was from this hive of refugees, diplomats, spies, informers, and secret police that Dusko would collect his honey. And implant his stinger" (34).

This quote came from a chapter of the book called "The Bee Hive" which talked about Lisbon, Portugal during World War II. I thought it was a very interesting metaphor that captured the atmosphere perfectly with the wide variety of spies, police and politicians that comprised the capital of Portugal. It conveys the tension that filled the city and shows what Dusko Popov had to deal with as a spy himself. Again, it resembles the style of Devil in the White City by having a descriptive and intense ending to a paragraph, giving the reader a desire to read on.

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"'Popov, are you a Serb or a Croat?' Dusko stirred. It had finally come. The question he feared most allowed no suitable answers. If he admitted being a Serb, it amounted to a death sentence. All Serbs were pro-Allied, most affiliated with the pro-British royalists... But if Dusko said he was a Croat, even the slightest checking would reveal his true heritage and he'd be caught in the lie" (60).

Not only does this passage illustrate the suspense that Larry Loftis creates, but it also explores the other aspect of the story; history. As Devil in the White City had a dual story about the building of the Chicago Fair and murder, the story of Dusko Popov and his days as a spies is also accompanied by a detailed account of World War II history. While I do feel like the history aspect appears a bit too often, it's interesting to learn about World War II along the way, and it contributes to the storyline as it introduces key elements of the war.

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"Popov, meanwhile, settled into Manhattan. On September 2 he moved into a penthouse two blocks form the Central Park, on the twenty-second floor of a new building at 530 Park Avenue. Since he could not provide the landlord with references, he paid a year's rent -$3,600- in advance. He had the apartment furnished - artwork, books, hi-fi equipment - but there would be no housewarming celebration. The next day he received a letter from home bringing news about the ongoing Ustase genocide in Belgrade. Tragically, his uncle Jovan had refused to run away. He was killed, along with Dusko's aunt and two cousins. one cousin, Bata - a world champion water polo player - was crucified on a barn door. He took four days to die" (98).

I chose this passage, as I believe it provides good insight into the life of Dusko; the life of a spy. It starts off by saying all of the benefits of being the high life that comes with being a spy, as they are well paid by governments to carry out jobs and live in different areas, getting to know high class people. Larry Loftis shows this wealth through how much Dusko pays for rent, which would be a lot of money at the time, and what he furnishes it with. However, I think what comes next is Loftis' way of saying that being a spy comes with a price. He does this by contrasting the benefits that spies get to the death of his family, and shows that Dusko couldn't do anything to help them because he was caught up in being a spy. I never really thought about the drawbacks like this that come with being a spy.

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"But disregard of danger, of death itself, never eradicates fear. 'Nearly all bullfighters are brave,' Hemingway wrote, "and yet nearly all bullfighters are frightened at some moment before the fight begins.' The same held true for Dusko. 'There is always the feeling of danger,' he would say after the war. 'Fear can never be eliminated. You can throttle it, hold it down, but you can never get rid of it until the thing that causes it has disappeared,'" (145).

This quote had many aspects that surprised me. First, I thought it was interesting how Larry Loftis was able to incorporate a quote from Ernest Hemingway into his book about spies, murder and espionage, as they don't seem like they would fit together well. However, I think that it was a purposeful addition to the story, as it helped to clarify and relate to the life of Dusko. Secondly, it surprised me that Dusko said he got fear all of the time. When I think of a spy, I think of a cold-blooded killer with no feelings, yet I forget that they are actually human, and Larry Loftis is able to remind us of the fact that they fear things too. Larry Loftis used the credibility of a quote from Dusko to effectively get his point across to the reader.

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"Further, 'TRICYCLE stressed the fact that he was ready to take almost any risks to achieve anything that would be really useful.' Few agents, double or otherwise, invite risk. Fewer still actively seek danger. Dusko wanted both," (166).

This quote possesses more insight into the character of a spy. Throughout the account of his life and career as a spy, Loftis has shown that Dusko fails to step down from any challenge, and does anything he can to complete his objectives, no matter how dangerous or crazy it seems. I think this is what made Dusko such a successful spy and essential part of the operations carried out during World War II. Dusko greatly stands out from a common citizen, and even to any other spy as he was so good and dangerous at what he did, and with this mindset, he was unstoppable. I definitely would not want to be on the opposing side of him.

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"About this time, Dusko went to the Aviz front desk to retrieve his package from the safe. A few moments later, the employee returned empty-handed. The safe was empty. The missing money had two possible explanations, Dusko knew: Either an employee had stolen the package, or the Abwehr was on to him," (197).

This quote speaks to the uncertainty that seems to come with the job of being a spy. Throughout the book, Dusko constantly second-guesses decisions, actions and information as he never knows what the truth is. This seems to be a common theme with the career of a spy, especially a double-agent, as you never know who or what is telling the truth, and always have to be looking over your shoulder. However if a spy makes a mistake, it isn't typically a simple punishment; it's usually a bullet to the head. Not knowing the truth is something that even the most highly trained spies seem to struggle with, knowing that the operation, and their lives, rest on what usually is a leap of faith. In this case, if Dusko thinks that the employee stole his money, he could fail to recognize that the Germans caught on to him and are hunting him down, but if he thinks the Germans are on to him but aren't he could mess up the whole operation with false accusations.

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"As he turned to leave, Johnny called out. '...Nothing...I just wanted to have a look at you,' he said. "It's going to be a while. I feel we are...going in different directions. Auf-' Johnny's voice broke off. 'Goodbye.' Dusko shuddered. Johnny's change of words thundered with an ominous permanence. He was about to say, Auf Wiedersehen - 'Until I see you again,'" (214).

This passage was different from the majority of the book, as it almost read like a story. I liked the change in direction, as it added an element of emotion to the story. I think Loftis purposely did this so that readers could feel that this action from Dusko's best friend Johnny really had an effect on him. This also contrasted from the rest of the story, as it was usually about actions or politics of WWII, but this was a more personal story. It also shows that being a spy can have a tremendous effect on relationships, as it pushed the friends in two different directions. Again, although Dusko is a spy and has such control over himself, this action breaks him which shows the effect that close ones can have on a person.

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"As Dusko turned to leave, he heaved and started vomiting. First the contents of his stomach, and then five years of stress and intrigue. 'I vomited my sins and my shame and my pain,' he wrote. The sleeping pills, the benzedrine, the seducers and shadows, truth serum and car bombs - all gone. The lies, the danger, the hatred - no more. The clutch of the Nazi claws , pinning him as prey to be devoured, had finally been broken. Dusko had survived the lion's mouth," (258).

This passage is the concluding remark about the story of Dusko Popov during WWII. Loftis makes this passage extremely effective, as he is able to condense a substantial amount of information and description into such a short sequence of sentences. Following a surprising and heart-wrenching ending, the passage sums up the entire book well. One of the effects it has is that it explains what the life of a spy does to the human who undergoes all of the operations. It lists all of the factors that spies have to deal with, and have to keep inside, hidden from their enemies over many years. And now he is literally able to let it all go. This passage also relates the story of Dusko to the overarching metaphor of the story, which is also the title, that he made a trip into the lion's mouth (Germany's grip) and came out successful.

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Scathing (adjective) - witheringly scornful; severely critical

"Instead, William Stott of British Security Coordination notified Sam Foxworth and shortly thereafter sent him a scathing memo, criticizing the FBI over their handling of TRICYCLE" (138).

OG Sentence - When the food critic found a hair in his meal, he wrote a scathing review of the restaurant.

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Pejorative (adj) - having a  disparaging, derogatory, or belittling effect or force

"The word spy carries with it a certain pejorative connotation" (3).

OG Sentence - Using pejorative words makes others feel bad about themselves.

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Sybaritic (adj) - characterized by or loving luxury or sensuous pleasure

"What happened a few nights later, however, could only have been replicated in the sybaritic mind of Ian Fleming" (38).

OG Sentence - James Bond's sybaritic taste in cars led hin to continuously purchase Aston Martins

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Virtuoso (noun) - a person who has special knowledge or skill in a field

"'One out of hundred thousand has the capacity to be a virtuoso, and one out of a million actually become one'" (44).

OG Sentence - Even though the virtuoso died over two centuries ago, his piano music is still being performed on a daily basis.