Rating: 
Summary: Stupendous!
Review: This book tells the story of two sisters who, as young children, were put into a top secret government experiment/program known as Bluebird (later offshoots were MkUltra, Monarch, and others), the purpose of which was to create "Manchurian Candidates" - mind controlled spies and assassins. Although portions of these programs go back to the 1930's, it was not until after WWII, that the CIA began training children. Children are better subjects for programming, since they dissociate more readily. Based on research by such persons as Dr. George Estabrooks, Dr. Sidney Gottleib, Dr. Jose Delgado, and others, including Nazi scientists (such as Dr. Hubertus Strughold) secretly brought into this country by the CIA, government programmers, using electro-shock, drugs, and hypnosis, as well as other forms of torture and brainwashing, were able to create multiple personalities in the children. The children would then continue to be able to lead their normal everyday lives without anyone suspecting their involvment in covert government operations. One of the sisters, Cheryl, became a "Black Widow" - trained to seduce and, if necessary, kill targeted men. The other sister, Lynn, was primarily trained as a combat leader, meant to lead groups in case of attack on our government or other secret missions, such as taking out a traitor, or rescuing the kidnapped child of someone deemed important to the government.The sisters' stories are not the first to surface on Projects Bluebird, MkUltra, or Monarch. But, what is different about "Secret Weapons" is that, while it contains useful time lines and lists and an important collection of declassified documents, it pulls together a vast amount of corroborated information and conveys it within the context of a straightforward semi-autobiographical story. Furthermore, the combined recollections of the sisters, along with the research of co-writers Dale Griffis, PhD, former police captain, internationally known law enforcement specialist, and consultant on cult-related abuse, and Ted Schwartz, best selling author of over 100 books and several thousand articles, many on multiple personality disorder, tell the story more clearly than it ever has been told before. It is very well-researched, well-organized, well-written, easy to read, but make no mistake: it is a tour de force. The scariest thing is that, while the Monarch Program was officially disbanded in the 1970s after congressional hearings, there is evidence that related programs still exist, and that there are many mind control victims still out there, still being used covertly by government "handlers." No one has the right to take over another person's mind and body. It is against all laws of humanity. As Lynn writes: "What angers me is the loss of control. At any moment someone could come to me, be dressed the right way and use the right code, and I no longer have free will. I will do anything that person requests."
Rating:
Summary: "The Truth Will Set Us Free"
Review: This incredible book is a treasure trove of information on the covert experiments performed on innocent children during the cold war. The Herhsa's sisters story is told by a talented writer,Ted Swarz, who brings to life the brainwashing experiments used to create Manchurian Candidates. Dale Griffin, through his investigative quest, has provided us with the proof that Children were used as human guinea pigs to perfect these heinous programs. If we are to understand any of this, we must look beyond our preconceived notions that things like this only happen elsewhere. We cannot deny what comes out of our own government's declassified top-secret files. Colin Ross's book Bluebird, gave us the proof of the deliberate creation of multiple Personality for covert use and how it was achieved. Now we have the heart rending account of its effect on two innocent women. A must read for anyone who values their freedom and their own pursuit of life and liberty.
Rating: 
Summary: Needs a discerning read
Review: This is a groundbreaking book and a compelling read. It's not that no good books on this subject have been written before, it's that the drama, the detail, and the quality of writing combine to deliver a fresh real-life and believable first person look at an area abandoned by the Clinton commission. Others have commented on the story line, content and strengths of the book. This critique will focus on weaknesses. It would, however, be a mistake to take the book completely at face value. In an effort to avoid the criticism that is often levelled at books where some of the content has been based on hypnotically aided recall, the authors have relied totally on material that arose spontaneously as therapeutic reintegration of the multiple personalities progressed. Some small fraction of this material will inevitably be disinformation cleverly conceived to sew doubt in the minds of the therapists and readers alike. The authors dutifully transcribed the material. It is left to us to decide/guess which of the more doubtful passages are screen memories. The CIA is very good at going to outrageous lengths to make someone sound crazy like when they held a gun to Sister Diana Ortiz in Guatemala and had her murder a fellow prisoner on threat of her own life so that they could videotape it and use the material for blackmail. More to the point here is that handlers can pile screen memory on top of screen memory on top of screen memory to create a hall of mirrors that is very confusing to all trying to find the truth. It is enough to know that sick minds are at work and need to be thwarted. The bulk of the book is in keeping with what has been documented by researchers and therapists from their FOIA material and practice (as in the Greenbaum speech). As such the preponderance of the evidence against CIA project leaders is so damning that we can now safely apply the British standard, guilty until proven innocent to their efforts, since those responsible have invoked a scorched earth policy of massive document destruction. This book and others of this genre are important and need to be widely read with both an open and a critical mind. There is no way they can be swallowed whole. One thing we can see with certainty from the book is how hellish it is to live with tormenting memories of the past gnawing at your brain, distorting your reality. The social and political issues raised need desperately to be addressed. The practices described, which have been in active use for decades, are despicable and need to be stopped as soon as humanly possible.
Rating:
Summary: An important book on CIA covert activities
Review: This nicely composed book lays the groundwork for a deeper understanding of highly secretive CIA covert projects that have used children as unwitting mind-controlled operatives (such as those intentionally programmed to lead 'double lives'). The Hersha sisters are survivors of these projects and should be commended for their courage in coming forth to share their testimony. The book is quick-paced and gently written to inform but not to alarm the sleeping public and is of comparatively limited scope. The four authors avoid making moral judgements, perhaps choosing not to ruffle too many feathers. Their 'flag-waving' orientation walks a very thin line, though, and seems to support justification of such unconscionable programs based on the need to fight our nation's perceived enemies -- foreign and domestic. This theme occurs repeatedly throughout the otherwise non-repetitive contents. Can such programs truly be tolerated by an open and democratic society? If so, where does that ultimately take us as a freedom-loving people? For a more complete picture of the extent to which our nation has been tragically impacted by these secret programs and the corruption that is possible, the interested reader should consider reading this book in tandem with another, such as Thanks For The Memories by Brice Taylor (whose pioneering testimony supports and dovetails quite well with that of the Hersha sisters) and picks up where they leave off. Both are a must read!!
Rating:
Summary: Scary Beyond Imagination
Review: When I first heard the premise, my initial reaction two-fold: 1) despite the world's army of writers, this premise was well beyond anything that had yet been written, and 2) it made perfect sense. Motives effortlessly drive the characters, and although I admit that I needed to flex my imagination here and there to maintain belief, it is probable that this effort was largely due to the author's lack of writing experience (with only this book making them such.) The most frightening part of this book for me, although shocking, was not what happened to the girls, but the sympathy I found in myself for the perpetrators. With prevailing beliefs after WWII centering around sacrifice for country, the world was a very different place. Or was it?
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