The Great Pretense: A Tour Through the Boneyards of the CIA’ s War for Drugs offers readers a journey to the boneyards of the CIA's “ war for drugs” in Latin America and beyond, with all of its complexities and moral dilemmas. Conroy’ s book, part memoir and part exposé and thriller, is based on Conroy’ s lived experience over decades of reporting on national security and the illegal drug trade. It emphasizes the vital role of authentic journalism in a landscape marked with manipulation and deceit by powerful entities, such as the CIA. The book highlights the challenges of investigating the intricate relationship between intelligence operations, law enforcers and narco-traffickers. The book also reveals, with evidence, how the CIA operates in the drug war — against other U.S. agencies, or with them, and in ignoring or even enabling cartel drug trafficking — all in pursuit of intelligence-gathering and other opaque national security goals. Conroy’ s 40-year journalism career has focused heavily on investigative reporting — as an editor-in-chief, managing editor and reporter. His work has been published online and in print for a range of publications, including daily newspapers; alter