Overworld

As the son of a senior intelligence officer, Larry J. Kolb was born into the world of spies. As he grew older, he resisted numerous invitations to follow in his father's footsteps, choosing instead to become a businessman and hobnob with the wealthy and famous. Ultimately however, he was recruited as an agent by Miles Copeland, one of the founders of the CIA. In Overworld, Kolb describes his life in espionage.

<< Previous

In any case, in the parliamentary elections in India, no party won a clear majority. The Congress decided to stay out of the government, and the Janata Party formed the government with the backing of several other parties. The documents that were supplied by Kolb to newspapers were exposed as forgeries, and the new government in India decided to pursue the case. Kolb was a wanted man, trying to evade the CBI investigators who had flown to the US to interrogate him. The real kicker about the affair comes towards the end of the book. According to Kolb, the real beneficiary of the scandal was Chandrasekhar, a close friend of Chandraswamy. By discrediting V P Singh, Chandrasekhar would have emerged as the favorite for the position of prime minister, should the Janata Party win the election. The author provides a whole new perspective of Chandraswamy, one which readers of Indian newspapers are unlikely to have come across. His description of Chandraswamy's apartment in New York (provided to him by Khashoggi) and the man himself are hilarious.

The Chandraswamy that Kolb describes, whether at a meal, or being given a massage by his masseuse, is not someone familiar to the Indian public.

Kolb professes a deep and genuine admiration and affection for Mohammed Ali, who comes across as a vibrant, warm individual. Similarly, another person whom he admires is Daniel Ortega, the leader of the Sandinista movement in Nicaragua, and once the President of the country. When he lost the presidential election to the US backed candidate, there was some doubt as to whether Ortega would relinquish power. So, Chandraswamy, to whom Ortega had taken a liking, was sent to Nicaragua accompanied by Kolb, to pry out information from Ortega about his intentions. In any event, Ortega stepped down, and is still the leader of the opposition.

Several other well known characters make an appearance in the book, among them Dawood Ibrahim and Imelda Marcos. And also, somewhat improbably, Dodi Al-Fayed and Ram Jethmalani too find mentions in the book.

The last part of the book is totally different in tone and mood from the earlier chapters. Kolb is no longer mingling with the rich and famous; instead, he writes of moving from safe house to safe house, trying with the help of his friends in the intelligence community to evade CBI officials who are searching for him, in order to interrogate him in connection with the St. Kitts case. And less believably, he also describes a scene in Las Vegas where he dodges agents from RAW, who have followed him to the city and are hanging around menacingly in the hotel, in the best traditions of spy fiction.

And this, finally is the problem with the book. While the characters Kolb describes are always colorful and the incidents interesting and plausible, somehow, his role in the St. Kitts affair, and the consequences of his actions seem to be somewhat exaggerated. Since one of the essential skills for a spy is dissimulation, the reader is also never quite sure what to believe, and how much to believe. Nonetheless, the average reader is likely to find the book interesting. Aficionados of conspiracy theories and people who want a different view on how the world works will enjoy the book even more.