Ghosts of Panama

A Strongman Out of Control, A Murdered Marine, and the Special Agents Caught in the Middle of an Invasion

By: Mark Harmon, Leon Carroll

Narrated by: Mark Harmon

The next-true life NCIS story from New York Times bestselling authors Mark Harmon and Leon Carroll, Jr.

Read by the author.

Panama, 1989. The once warm relationship between United States and Gen. Manuel Noriega has eroded dangerously. Newly elected President George Bush has declared the strongman a drug trafficker and a rigger of elections. Intimidation on the streets is a daily reality for U.S. personnel and their families. The nation is a powder keg.

Naval Investigative Service (NIS) Special Agent Rick Yell has worked the job in Panama since 1986, and lives there with his wife Annya and infant child. Like most NIS agents, he’s a civilian with no military rank with a specialty in working criminal cases. The dynamic changes suddenly when Yell inadvertently develops an intelligence source with unparalleled access to the Noriega regime. Now the agent is thrust into a world of spy-versus-spy, of secret meetings and hidden documents.

Yell’s source – known as “The Old Man” – warns when Cuban military personnel arrive and identifies anti-American officers within the Panamanian Defense Forces, provides information about an imprisoned CIA asset and helps track Noriega’s movements, agitating for the dictator’s kidnapping. The reports created by Yell and his NIS colleagues shape the decisions made in Washington D.C., CIA headquarters in Langley and the innermost sanctums of Pentagon.

The powder keg is lit on December 16, 1989, when a young U.S. Marine is gunned down at a checkpoint in Panama City. Yell and his cadre of trusted agents deploy immediately to investigate the killing, and what they determine will decide the fate of two nations. When President Bush hears the details they uncover, he orders an invasion that puts Yell’s family, informants and fellow agents directly in harm’s way.

Using a blend of research and interviews with the NIS agents who were directly involved, Ghosts of Panama reveals the untold, clandestine story of counterintelligence professionals placed in a pressure cooker assignment of historic proportions.

©2024 Mark Harmon (P)2024 Harper Select

Educational

Ghosts of Panama

By Mark Harmon & Leon Carroll

I leaned a lot about the men and women who lived the hard times in Panama during Noriega’s escapades and the invasion. A lot of sacrifices were made, lives were ended or changed, and “cops” found themselves wrapped up in something far larger than they were accustomed to dealing with.
The book was interesting and educational.

Great Story that many Americans have forgotten

First off great story, well written and narrated! I was a young airman stationed at Howard Air Force Base during this time. The entire story rings, true and fills in a few gaps for why we did the things we did. I was there more than a year before, and after the invasion. For those who question why we invaded I can only say that now almost 35 years later, Panama still has a booming economy, free and fair elections, and the canal has not only been expanded, but maintained for the world’s commerce to sail through. The relative success of Operation Just Cause facilitated a quick and decisive Gulf War response. I had the opportunity to return to serve in Panama just a few short years after the invasion and I was so surprised and happy to find that the Panamanian people had recovered after the invasion and the places that were unsafe when I left in 1990 were safe for Americans as well as Panamanians. Thank you to all of the people highlighted in this story for for your service. Your actions were transparent to those of us living and working in Panama. You are the true heroes along with the 27,000 people present to restore democracy.

Inside look at a historical crisis

Well researched.
Flowing narrative.
Limited scope.
Interesting topic.
Builds tension.
I would highlt recommend this book.

Good story

Good story, but I often got lost in all the acronyms. Not sure there is another way to write it. I guess if it’s a military/government story, it is what is. Overall, though I enjoyed it.

Superb story and enthralling narration keeps you spellbound to the end.

The collaboration between Leon Carroll, a real NCIS special agent, and Mark Harmon, a superb actor and storyteller, is a magical. Together they offer us a front seat view of the Panama Invasion events.

The the day by day movements and personal stories.

I had left Panama in 1972 after my service obligation was over.
Reading this historical account of the US military movement to remove Manuel Noriega from office and power.
The odd thing was, to me, was he was placed in power by the US government.
Noriega was a cruel man and took pleasure from torturing people who were arrested.
The book was written by interviews of people who were living in the Canal Zone or on base at one of many Forts and Naval Stations.
Hearing from the people who witnessed the events is eye opening to see the violence that was occurring around them.
The Panamanian soldiers were better trained and armed than first thought. And because this the fighting was brutal.
I had visited many of the places that were mentioned in the story and that made the story more compelling.

Ghosts of Panama

I enjoyed listening to this book.. very informative.. gave me many deals I had no idea

Excellent overall and more coherent than Ghosts of Honolulu.

Mark Harmon does an exceptional job on both the book and the narration. He is much more relaxed and confident in this second book. The annoying repetition of acronyms, people and place names are not nearly as bad as Ghosts of Honolulu. This book is a hit. Bring us some more intriguing historical novels and your smooth narration. Looking forward to your next one !

I've really liked it ready to listen to his second book

they did an excellent job on this book and I'm getting ready to listen to his second book

Unclear writing and lousy narration

Good attempt to chronicle an intervention that ultimately proved successful and liberating, but framed in the narrow, although often interesting, perspective of one man. Spoiled by Harmons narration and horrible pronounciation. Among others, he pronounced Torrijos (Norriega’s predecessor as though he were trying to say Trujillo, the long ago dictator of the Dominican Republic.