The Rat List

John Kiriakou had been in prison long enough to know the rules. Roommates come and go, and the key to survival is learning who you can trust. When his friend Dave got sent to solitary after planting a shank in a child molester's cell, Kiriakou and his other roommate Frank did what friends do: they cleaned out Dave's locker before the cops could get to it, stashing his belongings under their own bunks. But when Kiriakou picked up one of the books he had loaned Dave, a piece of paper fell out. In Dave's handwriting, it read "Rat List"—a roster of names and an accounting of bad things each person had done, which the list itself indicated Dave had already taken to the authorities. The first name on top was Kiriakou's own.

The Con Man Next Door

Kiriakou had met Dave Phillips in Pakistan in 2002, when Kiriakou was working counterterrorism for the CIA and Dave was a defense contractor doing intelligence work. They crossed paths again at Loretto prison and became friends. Dave had a detailed, elaborate story about how he ended up in prison—maintaining his innocence while facing fifty-four years, then taking a nine-year plea deal. Kiriakou believed him. He stopped looking at Dave critically, which turned out to be a costly mistake.